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EELISA Innovation Talk Celebrates Female Innovation with Inspiring Speakers

The EELISA Innovation Talk, hosted by Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), took place on 03.05.2023. This hybrid event was a colloboration between the European Excellence Initiative for Leveraging Innovation in Higher Education (EELISA), Siemens and the FAU focussing on the theme of female innovation. The event featured three accomplished speakers, Laura Engelhardt, Lisa Gradow, and Dr. Isabel Schellinger, who shared their experiences and insights on creating more platforms for female innovators.

Laura Engelhardt, Head of Technology and Innovation Strategy at Siemens, shared her expertise in innovation and technology strategy, and discussed the importance of diversity in driving innovation. Lisa Gradow, Board Member of the German Startup Association, Serial Founder, and Investor, spoke about her entrepreneurial journey and the challenges she faced as a female founder. Dr. Isabel Schellinger, Medical Doctor, Researcher, Member of “Die Junge Akademie”, and Founder & CEO of Angiolutions, shared her inspiring story of pursuing her passion for medical innovation and founding her own company.

The highlight of the event was the focus on celebrating female innovation and inspiring young women to pursue their own innovative ideas. The speakers shared valuable insights and advice for female innovators, including the importance of networking, perseverance, and self-belief. The event provided a platform for participants to connect with like-minded individuals and to be part of a growing community of female innovators.

Overall, the EELISA Innovation Talk was a great success, promoting diversity and innovation in entrepreneurship. The event was a reminder of the importance of creating more opportunities and platforms for female innovators, and the need to support and encourage the next generation of female leaders in innovation.

We were fortunate to have some of the most renowned experts in Power Electronics share their knowledge and insights with us during the conference. We are grateful to all of our speakers for their participation and engagement.

For those who were unable to attend the conference, or would like to revisit any of the presentations, we are pleased to share that the complete recording of the event is now available just below on this site.

Thank you to everyone who participated, we look forward to seeing you at the next conference!

Thank you! | Highlights of 2022

New year is approaching, and we want take the opportunity to look back at another innovative year at Siemens RIE Erlangen-Nuremberg! Much has happened this year for our community, to develop research and collaborate within the ecosystem. Thank you to everyone who, with their passionate and continued effort, made this year of innovative and diverse programs possible!

We are proud to launch new formats for our community such as FemTechTalk, Talentegrate, successful partnerships with the student group BEST or launching the FAU-Siemens Reverse Mentoring Program. Another proud inception this year was the study program e-mobility ACES.Research has always been a key focus of the Siemens RIE Erlangen-Nuremberg. In 2022, we successfully launched the “Forschungsbereichskoordinator:innen”-Program.

As always, we looked at the whole ecosystem and collaborated with EELISA or introduced an IT toolkit together with the start-up incubator Zollhof.

With all of these efforts are fostering a unique community, which came together during our highlight this year: Our annual Siemens RIE Conference, which took place in October! If you missed it or want to watch it again you can do so on YouTube.

Inspired by these many highlights this year, we are already planning a number of exciting events and new formats in 2023. Until then, we from the Siemens RIE-team wish everyone merry Christmas and a happy new year.

What a successful cooperation implies for all participants

For more than a decade, a comprehensive practice-oriented cooperation on various levels between Siemens Smart Infrastructure Supply Chain Logistics and the Chair of Supply Chain Management at FAU is in place.

The first activities within the scope of the cooperation focused on surveys, analysis of performance indicators, and evaluations, especially in the area of logistics and supply chain performance. In addition to a common understanding between Supply Chain Logistics and the Chair of Supply Chain Management, new fields of activity have developed from these seed cells.

The mutual trust resulting from the intensified cooperation also has an impact on the chair: As an integrated partner, we work together on various future-oriented fields, such as:

• Competence management
• Foresight
• Global trends
• Employer Branding & Talent Acquisition to combat the War of Talents
• Mutual learning (Reverse Mentoring)

„For me, cooperation with science is an important element in questioning internal viewpoints that have grown historically. Knowledge generation and application emerge from social interaction. Research units, economic expertise, and operative challenges are the basis of a fundamental supply chain strategy for me,“ says Sven Markert, responsible for Supply Chain Logistics in Smart Infrastructure.

Reverse Mentoring

Cooperation between Siemens and FAU has always been innovative. Therefore, we also thought: Why not switch roles in mentoring?

Right on the cutting edge of the zeitgeist, the last reverse mentoring session covered the topics of „well-being, values, and appreciation“. In a pleasant atmosphere, including a campfire, grilled sausages and drinks, Supply Chain Logistics, the chair, and the students were able to discuss in concrete terms what the fears of the GenZ are, what mental well-being means to them, what values are important to the participants, what significance appreciation has, and how this appreciation needs to be expressed.

Reverse mentoring is thus a further building block of cooperation and, according to Sven Markert, „one of the fastest, most direct and, above all, most attractive methods of competence development for all participants.“

For over a decade this cooperation has been running very successfully, is appreciated by both sides, and proves to be useful for both parties, reflected in each project. Therefore, the perspective and focus on both sides lie in the next decade – at least.

FAU Siemens RIE Conference Power x Electronics 2022

„Ecosystems don’t divide a cake, but build a bigger one together“ – these were the opening words of Dr. Roland Busch, CEO of Siemens, together with Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger, President of the FAU, at our FAU Siemens RIE Conference Power x Electronics this year. Insights into cutting-edge research, inspiring innovators and impactful start-ups – all this and more was part of our conference this year.

After a warm welcome by Dr. Roland Busch and Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger we were excited about our first keynote by Prof. Dr. Jörg Schulze on semiconductors. He was followed by Prof. Dr. Rolf Hellinger who provided insights into what impact power electronics have for us as an all-electric society – answering the question „Why do we need power electronics?“ by showing us leading innovations and applications from Siemens. Further, it was also our distinct pleasure to welcome Prof. Dr. Dieckerhoff from TU Berlin for another keynote.

One highlight of our event was our panel talk on the future transformation of applications. Dr. Peter Friedrichs from Infineon, Andreas Groeger from Siemens, Prof. Dr. Albert Heuberger and Prof. Dr. Roland Nagy from the FAU, Judith Klein from Zollhof and Dr. Sven Baumann from the „Fachverband Electronic Components and Systems“ had an insightful debate on stage. Our panel was then followed by Dr. Sebastian Reitelshöfer from the FAU and Mirjam Mantel from Siemens illustrating a successful FAPS x Siemens collaboration. Finally, our conference was concluded by the pitches from innovative start-ups: Evolonic, Ceus UG and Powerlyze GmbH before networking over lunch with all the great minds that joined our conference. We are looking forward to seeing everyone again at our RIE Conference 2023!

PhD & Alumni Networking Night 2022

What an evening! Our PhD & Alumni Networking Night was an exciting start into our FAU Siemens RIE Event Week 2022! It not only was a great opportunity to see again so many of our alumni and get to know new innovators, but we had the pleasure of joining a virtual lab tour around the labs at FAPS. With popcorn, drinks and inspirings insights into cutting-edge technology, our PhD & Alumni Networking Night was a great evening setting the stage for our FAU Siemens RIE Conference Power x Electronics the next day!

Autonomous Systems | New Lecture at FAU

We are excited to announce that the FAU is offering a innovative new lecture about autonomous systems! The lecture series will cover a broad variety of topics inspired shaped by academic and industry experts alike! Topics will include mechanics and mechatronics, simulation, internet of things, regulatory aspects and much more.

What’s in it for you?

• The lecture will enable you to describe and discuss autonomous systems and their components.
• In the end, you can design hardware and software and their interactions in a targeted manner.
• You will be able to scale solutions by networking.
• You will receive thought-provoking inspiration from leading industry professionals.
• You can develop practical implementation options for industrial applications from theoretical considerations.
• The lecture provides the unique opportunity to discuss innovative topics with like-minded students.

The lecture is headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Philipp Beckerle and Anany Dwivedi (coordinator) and takes place Monday from 2pm to 4pm. You can find more information on StudOn.

More data – more responsibilities

Conscious and un-conscious bias is everywhere around us. Not only humans carry it within them, also data, and code can be biased. An Artificial Intelligence might discriminate you without the chance of even noticing it.

In this interview Inga Zins met Hila (Siemens) and Eva FAU Erlangen Nürnberg), two outstanding women who fight for more knowledge and discussion about bias in AI. Learn from them where there is bias in data in our everyday and what we need to do to take the chance of creating a less biased world with the help of AI.

Read more: https://ecosystem.siemens.com/researchandinnovation/more-data-more-responsibilities

Contact:
Inga Zins – inga.zins@siemens.com
Constanze Welter – constanze.welter@siemens.com
Ann-Kathrin Wenzel – ann-kathrin.wenzel@fau.de

FemTechTalk – “Can AI counteract discrimination?”

Last week at our 3rd FemTechTalk of the Siemens RIE Erlangen-Nürnberg we had the joy to welcome Eva Gengler from FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg and Hila Safi from Siemens.

The two outstanding female speakers gave exciting insights into the topic of how data can counteract discrimination, followed by great discussions with international students, researchers, and co-workers. Obviously, we do have issues with unconscious and conscious bias and this is reflected in the data we use to train our machines. AI acts as a mirror of our society, therefore we must create technology that is effective and fair for everyone.

This was a truly eye-opening and thought-provoking FemTechTalk. The next FemTechTalk is also very promising and will be about female founders. Stay tuned!

HACK|BAY Challenge Nr. 1 powered by Siemens

Join team Siemens online or on-site on May 30 & 31 on their mission to leverage a great robotics ecosystem.

The Siemens Challenge on Automated Guided Vehicles is provided by Siemens Digital Industries Factory Automation and it’s all about coding and hacking in a robotics ecosystem! The robotics platform is supplied by Siemens. As it’s an open-source playground, the challenge is to set up a mobile robot by connecting partial solutions comparable to apps on your smartphone. You can have fun and code your idea such as applications with sensors, localization, autonomous navigation, logistics or healthcare. Sounds interesting?

Find out more about the challenge and the great prizes that are waiting for you (up to €3.500) via https://www.hackbay.de

First FAU Erlangen-Nuremberg and Siemens RIE FemTechTalk

Female in Action. Listening, learning, cooking, while increasing your personal network and sharing personal experiences?  It works!

This was shown by the first global RIE FemTechTalk led by FAU and Siemens on March 16, 2022. With over 100 participants the online talk on Data and AI was a great success!

FemTechTalk offers you a platform to build and strengthen relationships with other women of academia and industry. The talk format focuses on creating an exchange between women in the working world, sharing experiences with young female students, Ph.D. candidates and postdocs. It is intended to be easily accessible to everyone and offer you new inspiration, motivation and encouragement.

Of course, time is precious, which is why everyone can participate from anywhere – during dinner, at the gym on the treadmill, going for a walk, or cooking. The FemTechTalk team and speakers are looking forward to new encounters, interesting conversations, and exciting questions from and with you.

Great news – the next FemTechTalk is just around the corner. On May 4, 2022, our wonderful speakers Karina Rempel and Jasmin Noll will talk about: Leadership as a state of mind. Don’t miss it! Get more information here: https://www.rie.fau.de/femtechtalk/
or directly sign up here: https://eveeno.com/femtechtalk.

Tech for Sustainability Challenge: Interview with Jonas Lang, Winner “Metro Electricity Bill Challenge”

Jonas Lang is one of the winners of the Tech for Sustainability Challenge (see article above). Constanze Welter, who manages the Siemens RIE Erlangen-Nuremberg, asks him about his contribution to the challenge and being a “high school student” at FAU Erlangen.

Due to two changes of school, I was two years behind all my peers. A friend who had already graduated told me about his studies at that time and through a graduation party I was so captivated by university life that I applied for an early study. The incentive to study while in school was to make up for the „lost“ years.

So, I became a 16-year-old high school student who attended mathematics lectures at the university half of the week. In the second semester, I changed to economics with a focus on finance and controlling. Since then, I study in the 7th semester half of the week at FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, and the other half I attend regular Q12 classes at my school.

Why did you participate in Siemens’ Tech for Sustainability Challenge?

During my summer job at the Siemens Electronics Plant Erlangen, a LinkedIn post with the challenge was suggested to me. I was excited to solve big corporate issues with the help of my idea. Unfortunately, I was unable to participate in the challenge until mid-September, as I had previously been accepted for another student position at Siemens but was later turned down due to my missing matriculation number. This unfortunate coincidence spurred me on even more to win the challenge and gain a foothold at Siemens and the „corporate world“.

Can you explain your solution for the „Metro Electricity Bill Challenge“?

The Siemens product (EOO) existed already and the task was to find a suitable pricing strategy including a „proof of concept“. By comparing the different recuperation levels of the optimized (with EOO) and unoptimized (without EOO) trains, the effective savings through EOO can be proved to the customer. By allocating the savings to the individual customer and a suitable CO2 certificate, a transparent pricing model can be developed based on the number of users and the distance traveled, which is constantly changing and adapting to the market.

What did you find the most difficult part of the challenge?

Since I don’t have a technical background, I found the „proof of concept“ particularly difficult, since I was supposed to make the pricing model transparent by evaluating train data. In the end, I was able to find a suitable and feasible solution with the support of challenge owner Jacob Kohlruss from Siemens Mobility.

Do you take anything away from the challenge for yourself?

Absolutely. The pitch training and mentoring in particular helped me to develop personally a lot! Before the challenge, it was difficult for me to present something in front of many people. Through the numerous meetings during the challenge, my presentations became more structured and my appearance in front of an audience more confident.

What’s next for you?

I’m currently in a 3-month internship at ZOLLHOF, where I can prove and expand the innovation and prototyping skills I’ve gained.

Afterwards, I would like to work as an intern at Siemens between my high school graduation and my studies, preferably in the field of consulting or venture capital, before doing my bachelor’s degree at a business school like WHU or HSG.

Jonas Lang

https://ecosystem.siemens.com/techforsustainability/tech-for-sustainability-campaign