Our second “Green ICT Camp” for students took place from March 24 - 28, 2025. 30 promising young talents from universities all over Germany were able to explore sustainable electronics in practical workshops and meet directly with experts from industry and research. The date for the last planned camp has already been set: September 1-5, 2025 in Dresden. 01.-05. September in Dresden.
A highlight of the camp was the excursion to the Siemens facilities in Amberg, which took place on the very first day. This visit offered the camp participants the opportunity to experience cutting-edge technological innovations first-hand and bridge the gap between academic knowledge and industrial application. They explored a future vision of the digital factory and experienced how cutting-edge IT and manufacturing technologies are reshaping industrial production.
Another special moment of the week was the excursion to the FMD Institute Fraunhofer IIS, where several experts provided insights into pioneering research. The participants explored 5G applications in the fields of logistics, autonomous driving and industrial positioning. They were introduced to mioty® wireless technology (a low-power solution for applications such as moisture monitoring in agriculture), and learned about the smart screw (a sensor-based component for improving industrial safety). Open access research and the “click-through demonstrator” were also presented, illustrating the advances in machine learning applications.
The third exciting excursion was to the FMD Institute Fraunhofer IISB, where the students explored important research areas in small groups. These included the vehicle test center with power electronics and charging technologies, the student project Evolonic, which deals with drone-based detection of forest fires, and a clean room tour, where high-precision semiconductor production was visited.
Networking was also an important part of the camp: at a traditional Bavarian evening, which went beyond traditional networking thanks to the great atmosphere among the participants, contacts were made and teamwork was strengthened. Other exciting camp activities included a design thinking soft skills workshop and a panel discussion with experts from research and industry.
The gala evening, where the students presented the results of their workshops, was once again the grand finale of this year's event. The groups' topics were the resource requirements of AI, energy-saving embedded systems and system monitoring with energy-autonomous sensors.
A big thank you to all the students who contributed to the success of the program with a lot of energy, creative ideas and commitment. Their commitment throughout the week made the camp a lively place for intensive technical discussions and constructive networking.
The camp was organized at Fraunhofer IIS in collaboration with Fraunhofer IZM. It was sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.. The next camp will take place from September 1 to 5, 2025, in Dresden at the Fraunhofer IPMS.