A night for curious minds

The weather forecast for Friday 31 May wasn’t initially the best: the university’s roughly three hundred organisers and night-time staff had prepared rain contingency plans as a precaution. However, by the end of the Night of Sciences (Nacht der Wissenschaften) at Mittweida University of Applied Sciences at midnight, only a few drops of rain had fallen on the more than 2,000 visitors as they made their way from one building to another on campus.

There was, in fact, plenty to discover, experience and get involved in inside the buildings, especially for the youngest visitors. The very same hands that had just been getting dirty making pottery or seed bombs were now (freshly washed) reaching for the steering wheel of the racing car simulator at the next station, or for the keyboard and mouse, to create their own computer game. Digital and analogue, older and younger people came together in many places, for example in the atrium of the main building. This had been transformed into a games area, where board and card games met digital games and virtual reality.

Crime, too, has a cross-generational appeal; hardly anyone can escape its grasp. The older children learnt during the talk how General and Digital Forensic Science helps to solve serious crimes, whilst the younger ones were able to carry out some very practical crime scene work and solve a (fictitious) crime by securing and analysing evidence.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become indispensable in a great many fields. On Friday evening, so-called generative AI was able to demonstrate its artistic talent by creating fantastical creatures based on keywords provided by visitors. The results were available as printed copies to take away, as were the three-dimensional creations produced using additive manufacturing – in other words, a 3D printer.

Turning your passion into a career through your studies. At Mittweida University of Applied Sciences, this is always possible. It is, however, rather rare for a student to write a 935-page specialist book before even graduating, in order to share their expertise. Max Schlosser, aged 23, a Master’s student in ‘Media Informatics and Interactive Entertainment’, has done just that: his book, ‘Game Development with Unity: The Comprehensive Handbook’, was published four weeks ago. At the Night of Sciences (Nacht der Wissenschaften), he ran a workshop demonstrating just how quickly one’s own game ideas can come to life on a PC.

Photos: Antonia Scherf (2), Helmut Hammer (1, 3–10)