A striking number of young people who have grown up in youth welfare institutions struggle with homelessness, drug abuse, or experiences of violence. In the HtR_CaL project, Koblenz University of Applied Sciences is investigating the reasons and developing a help concept to support the young people and to pave their way to a self-determined, healthy life.  

Trier University of Applied Sciences is developing a sensor in the VITASENS project that monitors senior citizens in their homes and sounds the alarm if they suddenly fall or their heartbeat or breathing stops. Unlike many conventional systems, the sensor does not have to be worn on the body, nor does it take pictures of the rooms and the people in them, thus protecting the privacy of the people being monitored and ensuring data protection.

Teflon^Ⓡ is commonly known as a useful coating for cookware. At Mannheim University of Applied Sciences, however, a team of researchers is looking at a completely different application for the material: In the PTFE Transferfilme project, the scientists are investigating how well Teflon^Ⓡ – also known as polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE – is suited as a solid lubricant for sleeve bearings in machines.

In recent years, the fingerprint has become more and more part of our everyday lives. Many smartphones and laptops now have a fingerprint scanner that restricts access to the device, and modern identity documents also record this biometric feature. In the 3D-Finger project, biometrics experts from Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (H-BRS) are currently developing a device that can record three-dimensional fingerprints. Since it also registers deeper skin structures, the 3D prints can hardly be faked.

How much sound will the new soundproof windows absorb? Will the street noise on my doorstep get worse if there are new traffic lights at the next intersection? And how much will I benefit from the planned noise barrier on the nearby railroad tracks? People often ask questions like these when something is being built or rebuilt in their neighbourhood. With the HEAR project, part of the i_city partnership, a team from Wölfel Engineering GmbH is working on a simple solution to this problem: They want to make noise forecasts audible so that everyone involved can find out how a construction project will affect the soundscape around them before it starts.

Algorithms are now everywhere: they determine what we see in social networks or on shopping sites, translate texts, calculate production processes in modern factories and control the first autonomous vehicles. But in medical practice, artificial intelligence (AI) is still not very widespread. The HTW Berlin wants to change this: In the deepHEALTH project, a research team is developing deep learning methods based on neural networks, which are to be used in medical diagnostics and research.

For various reasons, opiate addicts are often on the margins of society and are treated as such - even by doctors and therapists in the context of psychosocial support. In the Checkpoint-S project, a team of researchers at Merseburg University of Applied Sciences wants to provide them with a smartphone app that will help them to better understand their disease themselves and to talk to their doctor at eye level during treatment.

A research team at the TH Ostwestfalen-Lippe is investigating new ways of determining the quality and shelf life of food. Thus, the scientists from the research partnership smartFoodTechnologyOWL want to prevent food waste.

With a contactless monitoring system, a group of scientists from Nuremberg Tech wants to alleviate the difficult start in life for premature babies. In the NeoWatch project, the team around project leader Prof. Dr. Christine Niebler and doctoral student Johanna Gleichauf is developing a sophisticated sensor technology that can monitor the most important vital parameters of the child without touch.

Bus and train are back in fashion - since the beginning of the climate protests, local and long-distance public transport has become the topic of the future. A team of researchers at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences has been developing modern IT solutions for public transport for years. In its current project VSB-ÖP, the team is focusing on the systems in the background that organize local public transport: How can public transport companies make use of big-data and smart-data approaches or artificial intelligence (AI) to plan their timetables, routes and personnel more successfully?