Students from all over Germany demonstrated how creative, practical and effective artificial intelligence can be used at the first AI Hackathon @ HNU on November 12th and 13th in the university's Innovation Space. Neu-Ulm (HNU): As part of the renowned IT congress Neu-Ulm In Ulm, five teams developed functioning prototypes for a real-world challenge from the construction industry within just 30 hours. Three of the teams were selected as winners by a jury of experts from science and industry and received a total of €2.000 in prize money, provided by the challenge sponsor, PERI SE.

Some of the teams who competed for victory at the AI ​​Hackathon @ HNU had traveled from afar: In addition to HNU students, students from Darmstadt, Ilmenau, and Erlangen, among other places, participated to tackle a challenge from PERI SE. As a leading manufacturer and supplier of formwork and scaffolding systems, the company was looking for innovative ideas to simplify processes in the AEC (architecture, engineering, construction) industry using generative AI. The event was supported by the leading cloud provider STACKIT, which contributed the technical infrastructure for accessing established AI models. As a special highlight, Neu-UlmMayor Katrin Albsteiger personally presented the prizes to the winners.

Shaping the digital future – practical and with AI expertise

The event is part of HNU's comprehensive commitment to applied AI and digital innovation. "We want to empower students to actively shape the future – with creativity, technological expertise, and entrepreneurial thinking," explains Prof. Dr. Jens Kolb. "The hackathon demonstrates how practical knowledge transfer is at HNU. Students work directly on real-world industry problems and create innovative, forward-looking solutions in a very short time – generating direct added value for companies."

The challenge: to develop an AI-supported system for capturing AEC trends.

PERI's challenge highlighted the high shared standards for research and innovation: Participants were tasked with designing an AI-powered system that continuously identifies trends in the AEC industry, extracts relevant content, and structures it according to innovation fields. This is crucial because digitalization in the AEC sector is developing at a rapid pace. To remain competitive and make informed decisions for product development, companies need a quick, comprehensive overview of current industry trends. The tool aims to derive strategic impetus for research and innovation activities, thereby sustainably strengthening the innovation process.

The challenge focused not only on the result, but also on the collaborative process. Prof. Dr. Alexander Bartel, organizer of the hackathon, emphasizes: "With formats like this, we foster not only technical skills, but also team spirit, innovative thinking, and the courage to try new things. These are key competencies for the digital future."

After the challenge launch, the participants formed interdisciplinary teams to develop their ideas. Initial concepts were discussed over lunch with PERI SE and further refined at the community dinner that evening; those who wanted to continued hacking late into the night. The next morning, the final round of pitch preparation took place, before the three best teams presented their prototypes to the attendees of the IT congress.

Team “finn.py” secured first place.

The jury – consisting of Prof. Dr. Alexander Bartel (HNU), Prof. Dr. Aykan Inan (HNU), Florian Botzenhart (PERI SE), and Vishal Patel (PERI SE) – was impressed by the diversity of ideas and the technical depth of the solutions. “The variety of approaches demonstrated how creatively and practically AI solutions can be developed for the AEC industry. We need precisely this kind of impetus to further advance our research and innovation activities. Some of these solutions have the potential for everyday practical application,” says Florian Botzenhart, Head of Digital Solutions Research & Innovation at PERI SE.

Ultimately, the team "finn.py" (Jonathan Mendoza, Pradeep Singh, Mohamed Bouna) impressed with their solution "Finn.Agent" and secured first place. The functional diversity of the AI ​​agent and its sophisticated visual interface were particularly praised.

The team “The Turing Tribe” (Vladyslav Karpenko, Sebastian Scharlipp, Dacheng Lu) took second place. Third place went to the team “[Please insert name here]” (Tim Wenzel, Julian Schulz, Christian Klein, Nicolas Ringhandt).

Hacking with added value

In addition to the prize money, the students gained experience, new contacts, and valuable insights into real-world innovation practices. STACKIT also emphasized the added value of the hackathon and was impressed by how the students used its own cloud infrastructure and AI models to develop innovative solutions in a very short time. Promoting practical AI skills and emerging talent is part of STACKIT's corporate culture.

Regarding the event framework

The AI ​​Hackathon @ HNU took place as part of the IT Congress Neu-Ulm | Ulm, one of the region's leading IT events. The congress brings together several hundred participants from business and academia each year to discuss current trends and practical IT solutions. Students from HNU and other universities had the opportunity to tackle a real-world challenge using modern technologies in the hackathon held in conjunction with the congress – practical, creative, and with direct industry relevance.

Photo (HNU): Group photo | First row, from left: HNU Vice President Prof. Dr. Jens Kolb, Jonathan Mendoza, Mohamed Bouna, Pradeep Singh (all three from the winning team “finn.py”), Lukas Gaschler (Specialist Digital Service Design, PERI SE), Pitambar Kundu (AI & Automation Engineer, PERI SE), Pavel Kostarev (Research Assistant at TTZ Günzburg), Jenny Huynh (Student Assistant, HNU) // Second row, from left: Osman Dedic, Asim Nayakawadi, Kalpita Birhade (all three from the team “PhoenixAI”), Pramod Pasala, Sanjay Parajuli (both from the team “Loop Dreamers”), Tim Wenzel, Julian Schulz, Christian Klein, Nicolas Ringhandt (all four from the team “[Please insert name]”) //
Third row, from left: Vishal Patel (Head of Digital Solution Development & Technology, PERI SE), jury member Prof. Dr. Aykan Inan, Florian Botzenhart (Head of Digital Solutions Research & Innovation, PERI SE), organizer Prof. Dr. Alexander Bartel, Neu-UlmMayor Katrin Albsteiger, Sebastian Scharlipp, Vladyslav Karpenko, Dacheng Lu (all three from Team “The Turing Tribe”).