uni'wissen 01-2016_ENG

Marc Pfeifer is studying embedded systems engineering at the University of Freiburg. He works as a student assistant for computer architecture at the Department of Computer Science, where his duties include serving as a tutor for the Smart-X training program. For his master’s thesis, he is developing a sensor for transport monitoring. He aims to pursue a doctoral degree and start a business to market his business idea. Photo: Thomas Kunz Sabrina Reinshagen studied German linguistics and literature and sociology in Freiburg and German literature in Berlin. She is responsible for marketing and communication in the continuing education program in intelligent embedded microsystems at the University of Freiburg’s Faculty of Engineering. In April 2015 she assumed duties as coordinator of the project “Training Innovators Using Smart-X: Micro Business and Exist Bootcamp,” winner of the University of Freiburg’s Instructional Development Award. Dr. Tobias Schubert is a research group leader in computer architecture at the University of Freiburg’s Department of Computer Science and director of the continuing education pro- gram in intelligent embedded Microsystems. He studied at the University of Frei- burg, majoring in computer science and minoring in microsystems engineering, and earned his PhD in 2008. Besides conducting research on the verification and testing of integrated circuits, his main profession- al interest is advocating application-oriented teaching and knowledge transfer between the university and private businesses. His instructional project “Training Innovators Using Smart-X: Micro Business and Exist Bootcamp” aims to increase awareness among students for self-employment as a career option. Photos: Sandra Meyndt he doesn’t want to just develop innovations but also market them. He says the training program and the workshop helped him to reach his decision. One thing’s for certain: There is not yet a sensor for transport monitoring like Pfeifer’s available on the market. Smart-X is now being adapted to address the needs of companies more directly. In the future, the students will spend more time weighing the benefits of the products they are developing. This is another important step in becoming an entrepreneur, says Schubert: “Away from the technical aspects and toward more usability.” Schubert and his team plan to open up Bootcamp to even more disciplines than before and make it into a center for entrepreneurship education at the university. They also want to get students inter- ested in entrepreneurship from the beginning of their studies on. Then they would have several chances to think about the topic while completing their studies – in seminars and training programs and at courses and advising sessions offered by the university’s Entrepreneurial Office. And suddenly a good business idea is much more than just a opportunity: With the right know-how, it becomes doable. Even for students. www.pr.uni-freiburg.de/go/exist-bootcamp uni wissen 01 2016 “You can’t learn if you don’t try something out.” Further Reading Bertelsmann Stiftung (Ed.) (2009): Generation Unternehmer? Youth Entrepreneurship Education in Deutschland. Gütersloh. Marwedel, P. (2010²): Embedded System Design: Embedded Systems Foundations of Cyber-Physical Systems. Dordrecht/Heidelberg et al. Osterwalder, A. / Pigneur, Y. (2011): Business Model Generation: Ein Handbuch für Visionäre, Spielveränderer und Herausforderer. Frankfurt am Main. 50 Smart-X helps students to develop intelligent technologies – like a coffee machine that fetches cups on its own. Photo: Thomas Kunz uni wissen 012016

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