Passion, perseverance and creativity characterize the young researchers at the 61st state competition Jugend forscht at Aalen University of Applied Sciences. They competed in seven subject areas with a total of 61 projects, eleven of which qualified last Friday for the national finals from May 28 to 31 in Herzogenaurach. "The projects reflect an enormous range. It is fascinating to see how the young people take up current challenges and develop amazing solutions to them," said Heiko Stangl, State Competition Director of Jugend forscht.
Novel game board stimulates gray cells
Two first prizes were awarded at the state finals in the field of the world of work. 15-year-old Clemens Helling from Wutöschingen wants to make the work of school paramedics and first aiders easier with his "Notifier II". His digital deployment system makes it easier to save logs than conventional systems and there are interfaces for integrating third-party software. In his project "The Brett", Luc Bischoff (19) from Leonberg is researching how classic game principles can be redesigned using modern technology. He also received first prize for his LED game board. His digital game collection enables him to play classic board games as well as learning, reaction and knowledge games. In tests, he was also able to prove that the variable game modes can promote the attention and concentration of the players, among other things.
In the field of biology, the jury was won over by the project "Goodbye peat: so that plants also have a clear conscience". 19-year-old Dennis Schneider and 18-year-old Marah Stehle from Ravensburg developed a peat-free growing medium from regional, organic waste materials such as wood fibres, green compost or carbonized sewage sludge charcoal. In extensive trials, they found that some of their substrate mixtures achieved comparable results to substrates containing peat.
In search of the perfect cheese flavor
To date, there is no vegan substitute product that can compete with cheese in terms of creaminess, melting properties and protein content. Timea Probost (19) from the Heilbronn Youth Research Center wants to change this. In her research, she has already developed, experimentally compared and analyzed various plant-based recipes. In the long term, the aim is to create a good-tasting, sustainable cheese substitute. In Aalen, she won first place in the Chemistry category. 16-year-old Annika Obert from the Xenoplex student research center in Gengenbach, who won the state final in Chemistry last year, also came first again this year. With her project, entitled "Development of a Berlin White-Blue-Green-Brown Accumulator", she wants to enable energy storage solely through the reactions between the oxidation stages of the synthetic color pigment Berlin Blue.
How do satellites behave between a planet and several of its moons? And can their orbits be predicted? In their research work, Alexander Leukert and Leon Heinisch (both aged 17) from Reutlingen are looking for answers to these questions. Among other things, they have designed a model for investigating satellite orbits, making them the first-place winners in the field of Earth and space sciences.
Detecting lung cancer with an AI model
There were also two first places in the field of mathematics/computer science. Alois Bachmann (18 years old) from Heidelberg developed an AI model that learns from healthy tissue and makes abnormalities in diseased tissue visible via reconstruction errors. With his model, which he is constantly optimizing, he is already working promisingly on cancer detection in lungs. Arthur Messerschmidt from Bruchsal and Eric Frommherz from Karlsbad are behind the second winning project "MathBattery - Numerical simulation of ellipsoidal active particles in an accumulator". The two 18-year-olds are analyzing electrochemical processes in lithium-ion cells and showing how particle shape and geometry influence charging behavior.
What happens when the spheres in a Newtonian ball impact pendulum are replaced by repulsive magnets? Johann Hoffmann and Till Kuhny (both 16 years old) from the phaenovum student research center Lörrach-Dreiländereck are investigating this question. Using a specially developed simulation, they were able to predict and understand the complex oscillation patterns of the "bewitched" pendulums. This earned them first place in the physics category.
Intelligent weed control by laser beam
Technology traditionally plays a major role in Baden-Württemberg. Unsurprisingly, this is also the case in Jugend forscht, which is why two projects also came first here. The two 18-year-olds Noah Schittenhelm and Maximilian Scheible from the Student Research Center South Württemberg, Überlingen site, have developed a mobile, compact robot for weed eradication. It can recognize weeds in real time with the help of a self-trained AI and kill them with a laser. Julian Scharnowski from the Heilbronn Youth Research Center designed vacuum-supported, low-cost precision tweezers for the maker, hobby and prototype sector. With his tweezers, circuit boards can be assembled easily and without errors. The 20-year-old was also awarded first place in the technology category.
Public ceremony at the University of Applied Sciences Aalen
The venue for the 61st Jugend forscht Baden-Württemberg state competition was Aalen University of Applied Sciences. Together with the Science Center experimenta and the Landesverband für naturwissenschaftlich-technische Jugendbildung (natec), it is one of the sponsoring institutions of the state competition.
The last day of the competition on March 27 was dedicated to the public with the project exhibition and the ceremony. Numerous guests from the worlds of politics and business attended and paid tribute to the achievements of the young researchers.
Further information such as lists of results or information on the projects in the state finals of Jugend forscht can be found online at: http: //www.jugend-forscht-bw.de.
