Chemnitz University of Technology Awarded Prizes and German Scholarships for Outstanding Achievements

On December 15, 2022, Chemnitz University of Technology honored outstanding achievements of its members and affiliates in the areas of study, teaching and research as well as in social and intercultural commitment

To honor outstanding achievements of its members and affiliates, Chemnitz University of Technology awarded three teaching prizes, four research prizes, nine university prizes, the prize of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) as well as five Eleonore Dießner Prizes and four Marie Pleißner Prizes during a ceremony in the St. Peter's Church in Chemnitz on December 15, 2022. In addition, Chemnitz University of Technology awarded 94 Germany Scholarships.

The teaching, research and university prizes as well as the Eleonore Dießner and Marie Pleißner Prizes are each endowed with 1,000 euros. The university prizes are awarded jointly by Chemnitz University of Technology and the Society of Friends of Chemnitz University of Technology. The best theses of all faculties and of the Center for Teacher Education (ZLB) were honored. The Eleonore Dießner and Marie Pleißner prizes were awarded to outstanding theses by young female scientists from all faculties and the ZLB of Chemnitz University of Technology.

The President of Chemnitz University of Technology, Prof. Dr. Gerd Strohmeier, warmly congratulated all award winners and scholarship holders. In his speech, the President pointed out that strong students and strong employees at Chemnitz University of Technology achieve strong results in the areas Furthermore, he underlines that the University has strong partners on its side who recognize these efforts. He thanked them for their great support. He also thanked the supervisors of the theses for their engagement.

Further information on the 2022 prize winners:

Teaching Prize for the Use of Digital Technologies to Promote Learning

• Tobias Heß, Research Assistant at the Professorship of Human Locomotion

Tobias Heß received the teaching prize in recognition of the learning-promoting use of digital technologies in his utilization of videos and online discussion platforms for the digital implementation of the practice-oriented exercise "Clinical Gait Analysis". In particular, the online platform BigBlueButton served as a common communication space. OPAL was used to exchange teaching materials. In addition, the use of open-source software enabled the evaluation of digital data sets of various locomotion measurement devices and facilitated the collaboration of small groups. To depict the performance of gait analysis with patients in an online format, Heß developed a video for each exercise unit. For example, he presented the use of various measurement protocols, the handling of the measuring devices and their data interpretation, and the various stations of complex gait analysis with joint and muscle function tests in detail in the video. Guided instructional videos offer the advantage above all that the content can be repeatedly viewed and paused. To check learning progress, Heß integrated regular exercises into his seminar schedule. In addition, he offered online consultations on data analysis, as well as other topics.

This teaching prize was sponsored by GPP Chemnitz - Gesellschaft für Prozeßrechnerprogrammierung mbH.

• Dr. Sylvia Jurchen, Research Assistant at the Professorship of the History of German Literature and Language, and PD Dr. Silvan Wagner, Research Assistant at the Chair of German Medieval Studies at the University of Bayreuth

Teaching Prize for Innovativethe conception of the tandem seminar "The Book of Natural Wisdom", Dr. Sylvia Jurchen and PD Dr. Silvan Wagner brought together two independent seminars in a blended learning format across universities. The focus was on the fables of the Book of Natural Wisdom by Ulrich von Pottenstein, a German translation of the Latin "Speculum Sapientiae", which has not yet been edited. As part of the teaching project, students were asked to make transcriptions of individual fables, analyze the reciprocal references, compile bibliographies, and interpret the fable texts. Transcriptions, notes on intertextual references, and bibliographic data were posted at www.wiki.brevitas.org. After transcribing a fable, for which students in both courses were able to collaborate in real-time and asynchronously via Etherpad, Zoom, and Forum in home study, face-to-face sessions were held in each case to access antecedents of the respective fable and to develop a historical understanding of the core concepts. The results were compiled in Zoom sessions and resulted in a joint interpretation of the respective fable. In this way, nine fable texts were edited online for the first time during the tandem seminar. The resulting research contribution can now be completed in further, analogous seminars.

This teaching prize was sponsored by Wohnen in Chemnitz GmbH.

Teaching Prize for Teaching Young Scientists

• Christian Huber, Research Assistant at the Professorship of Organization and International Management

Christian Huber succeeded in an innovative combination of research and teaching within the framework of an SoTL project (Scholarship of Teaching and Learning). SoTL projects are suitable for teachers who want to develop a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of their didactic interventions and student learning. Huber researched his own teaching in the spirit of SoTL and can base future teaching development processes on the knowledge gained. His teaching is strongly oriented towards the "Shift from Teaching to Learning", furthermore he follows the concept of "Constructive Alignment". Additionally, he aligns his teaching with the principles of the "Principles for Responsible Management Education" in order to promote sustainable management education at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. Huber has been professionalizing himself since he began teaching at Chemnitz University of Technology and successfully completed the certificate program of the Center for University Didactics Saxony. His courses have regularly received excellent evaluations.

• Dr. Fabian Teichert, Research Assistant at the Professorship of Simulation of New Materials

Through his outstanding efforts, Dr. Fabian Teichert has designed, developed, and rebuilt many lectures, tutorials, and seminars for physics and computational science majors. For example, he has completely digitized and parameterized the exercises for the lecture "Theoretical Physics I" for the OPAL learning platform, thus creating an extensive collection of exercises with variable parameters that students can use efficiently for self-study and exam preparation. He combines the theoretical basics with numerical methods and implements small computer programs in direct exchange with the students in order to familiarize them with computer-aided modern physics and already give them an insight into research work. The courses were evaluated by the students as easily understandable and useful.

Research Prize in the Category "DFG - Successful DFG initial application"

• Dr. Philipp Heinrich Kindt, head of the Junior Professorship of Pervasive Computing Systems at the Faculty of Computer Science until the end of the summer semester 2022

Dr. Philipp Heinrich Kindt successfully raised around 334,000 euros as part of the German Research Foundation (DFG)-funded project "Link Establishment in Wireless Networks: From Two to Multiple and Asymmetric Participants”. The project is about optimizing wireless connectivity between devices to minimize energy consumption and connection delays. To do this, in simple terms, when operating two devices with different energy budgets, one information packet to be sent must fall into a receive window of the other device, regardless of the energy budgets of both devices. Constructing appropriate schedules of packets and receiving windows is a major challenge Kindt faces in his project.

• Dr. Karl Kopiske, Research Assistant at the Professorship of Structure and Function of Cognitive Systems

Dr. Karl Kopiske raised more than 250,000 euros for the DFG-funded project "Knowing what went wrong - how do we notice motor perturbations?". As part of the project, Karl Kopiske and Carl Müller are using motion tracking and pupillometry to investigate how people adapt to small motor perturbations when grasping and walking.  In experiments, such disturbances can be, for example, a treadmill that slips away easily or an object to be grasped whose size does not quite correspond to the expectation. The project will investigate when people notice disturbances and whether it is possible to tell when a disturbance is present by looking at the pupil. The research project will help to better understand when and why people consciously adapt to their environment.

Research Prize in the Category "Industry - First successful acquisition of an industry-funded research project"

• Dr. Katrin Müller, Research Assistant at the Professorship of Social Science of Physical Activity and Health

Dr. Katrin Müller received the prize for the project "Effects of COVID-19 as BK No. 3101 or recognized occupational accident on physical resilience, mental health and work ability - a contribution to action safety in rehabilitation management". As part of her long-term study, Müller, in cooperation with the BG Clinic for Occupational Diseases in Bad Reichenhall, is investigating the long-term consequences of an occupational SARS-CoV infection - for example in the health service - with regard to the biopsychosocial health and occupational performance of patients.

Research Prize in the Category: EU - First successful project acquisition from EU funds

• Dr. Minshen Zhu, Research Assistant at the Professorship for Material Systems in Nanoelectronics

Dr. Minshen Zhu won the ERC Starting Grant, which is endowed with more than 1.5 million euros, one of the most prestigious EU grants for excellent top-level research and the first ERC Starting Grant ever awarded to the university. As part of his project "Smart Dust Batteries Integrated with Near-Zero-Power Surveillance (SMADBINS)," Zhu wants to develop the smallest batteries for so-called "smart dust" applications, which, for example, provide the energy for intelligent microsystems and microrobots. Such a battery, which is many times smaller than one millimeter in diameter, does not currently exist.

This research prize was sponsored by Akkodis Germany GmbH.

Research Prize in the Category: Federal Government - First successful acquisition of a project funded by a federal ministry

• Jun.-Prof. Dr. Danny Kowerko, Head of Junior Professorship of Media Computing

Jun.-Prof. Dr. Danny Kowerko received the prize for the project "Ophthalmology meets Diabetology: medical text mining, progression modeling and demonstrator development" funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. This is a sub-project within the superordinate joint project "MiHUBx - Medical Informatics Hub in Saxony". It is part of the funding initiative of the Digital Progress Hub within the Medical Informatics Initiative by the German Federal Government (MII). The sub-project coordinated by Kowerko accounts for around 800,000 euros. As part of their project, Kowerko and his team are contributing their expertise in AI-based detection and progression modeling of diabetic eye diseases. In addition, a research data infrastructure is to be created in the Digital Progress Hub "MiHUBx", which will, among other things, enable the further development and advancement of a database for more reliable and AI-based progression modeling of diabetes-related eye diseases.

Nine University Prizes

The university prizes have been awarded jointly by Chemnitz University of Technology and the Society of Friends of Chemnitz University of Technology every year since 1994. In 2022, the following prize winners received the award:

• Dr. Clemens Göhler (Faculty of Natural Sciences) for his dissertation on "Electro-optical spectroscopy on charge transfer states of organic solar cells in equilibrium". The sponsor of the prize is Härtetechnik & Metallbearbeitung GmbH.

• Dr. Martin Winter (Faculty of Mathematics) for his dissertation on "Spectral Realizations of Symmetric Graphs, Spectral Polytopes and Edge-Transitivity". The sponsor of the prize is eins energie in sachsen GmbH & Co. KG.

• Vera Sophia Evers (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering) for her master's thesis on "Contribution to the development of a secondary material using additives and melt filters, its weldability and potential". The sponsor of the prize is the Society of Friends of Chemnitz University of Technology.

• Dr. Vineeth Kumar Bandari (Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology) for his dissertation on "Smart Motile Autonomous Robotic Tubular Systems (S.M.A.R.T.)". The sponsor of the prize is Siemens AG.

• Dr. Norman Peitek (Faculty of Computer Science) for his dissertation on "A Neuro-Cognitive Perspective of Program Comprehension". The sponsor of the prize is GPP Chemnitz - Gesellschaft für Prozeßrechnerprogrammierung mbH.

• Luisa Closmann (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration) for her master’s thesis on the topic "Implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in a Non-Governmental Organization". The sponsor of the prize is the Society of Friends of Chemnitz University of Technology.

• Dr. Charlotte Bruns (Faculty of Humanities) for her dissertation on "Spatial Images and Their Modes of Use. On the Organization of Seeing in Stereophotography". The sponsor of the prize is the city of Chemnitz.

• Dr. Karin Matko (Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences) for her dissertation on "The Variety and Differential Effectiveness of Meditation Techniques and Yoga Components". The sponsor of the prize is Sparkasse Chemnitz.

• Marie Meischner (Center for Teacher Education) for her state examination thesis on the topic "With Fair-Play to Democracy Awareness: Characteristics of Democracy-Building Physical Education in Elementary Schools." The prize is sponsored by Deutsche Bank AG.

DAAD Award for Outstanding Achievements by Foreign Students or Doctoral Candidates at German Universities

• Linto George Thomas from India, who is studying in the master's program "Advanced Manufacturing"

In addition to his outstanding academic achievements, Linto George Thomas has also distinguished himself through his exceptional social and intercultural commitment. Thus, in addition to his studies and research, he volunteers for the project "F.R.I.E.N.D.S. of Chemnitz University of Technology", which is part of the student initiative "Kulturcampus". Here he supports international students of the Chemnitz University of Technology in their first steps in arriving at the university and in the city of Chemnitz. He is also involved in the university's UNICEF group. In this way, he makes an extremely valuable contribution to student life on campus, especially in the area of intercultural exchange and integration.

Eleonore Dießner and Marie Pleißner Prizes

For the tenth time, the university management and the Equal Opportunity Commission of Chemnitz University of Technology have awarded the Eleonore Dießner Prize and the Marie Pleißner Prize for outstanding theses by young female scientists from all eight faculties and the Center for Teacher Education.

Awards with the Eleonore Dießner Prize                     

• Esther Rauschert (Faculty of Natural Sciences) for her master's thesis entitled "Investigation of the aggregation of a pentamer from naphthalene-1,4,5,8-bis(dicarboximide) and 2,2'-bithiophene units"

• Josie König (Faculty of Mathematics) for her master's thesis on "Low-Rank Tensor Methods for High-Dimensional Gaussian Processes."

• Mei Yun Liu (Faculty of Mechanical Engineering) for her master's thesis on "Measurement System Analysis of an FMCW Radar Sensor for Industrial Use"
   
• Saskia Mareen Heinrich (Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology) for her master's thesis on "Calibration and downstream processing of a multi-camera system based on the Azure Kinect DK and a FLIR Boson® thermal imaging camera"

• Alexa Becker (Faculty of Computer Science) for her master's thesis on "An intra-household communication system for irritable bowel syndrome sufferers"

Awards with the Marie Pleißner Prize

• Johanna Hölig (Faculty of Economics and Business Administration) for her master's thesis entitled "Stories from the 'Outskirts' - A Structured Review of Critical Entrepreneurship Literature as Narratives"
   
• Hannah Zacher (Faculty of Humanities) for her master's thesis on the topic "'Chemnitz zieht an' oder 'Everybody went away'? The Effect of Urban Perception and Behavior in Space on Migration or Staying Plans of Students at Chemnitz University of Technology"

• Nadine Giesemann (Faculty of Behavioral and Social Sciences) for her master's thesis on "The influence of acute and long-term training loads on tissue stiffness of the patella and Achilles tendon in specifically and non-specifically trained strength athletes"
   
• Katrina Körner (Center for Teacher Education) for her state examination thesis on "Accompanying Figures in Textbooks for Teaching Mathematics in Elementary School"

94 Germany Scholarships for Outstanding Students at Chemnitz University of Technology

In the academic year 2022/2023, a total of 94 students from the eight faculties and the Center for Teacher Education at Chemnitz University of Technology were awarded a Germany Scholarship for outstanding achievements in their studies and for society. 61 of these scholarships were newly awarded, and 33 are continuation scholarships.

The scholarship holders will receive 300 euros per month for the next two semesters. This support is made possible by 44 sponsors. The total amount of funding is 338,400 euros. The sponsors include companies, foundations, associations, and private individuals.

Multimedia: On the social media of Chemnitz University of Technology (Instagram) there was and is more information about the ceremony. An Instastory with impressions is available after logging in to Instagram on the web and in the app: www.instagram.com/tuchemnitz

(Authors: Mario Steinebach and Matthias Fejes / Translation: Brent Benofsky)

Matthias Fejes
16.12.2022

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