NEWS: A great success for TUM!
Since February 2022, the EuroTeQ Collider at TUM has been taking place under the theme “Leave no waste behind.”
We are delighted about three successful rounds with more than 70 students from different study programs in each semester. In the last three rounds, a total of 45 challenges were offered by industry, academia, or students themselves. Groups of 4-6 Collider participants worked on each challenge over several weeks. At the end of the Collider, the solutions were presented at the TUM level. The three best teams were then invited to the EuroTeQaThon at the European level, where they competed against the winning teams from the six EuroTeQ universities from Paris, Eindhoven, Tallinn, Prague, Copenhagen, and Munich in a European context. Our TUM teams were very successful at all levels!
Of the three rounds of the EuroTeQ Collider, TUM has achieved complete success, with three winning teams at the European level. In the first round of the EuroTeQ Collider, Advan.ce, won the EuroTeQaThon in Summer 2022! In the third round, two of our TUM teams were able to convince the jury on the European Level. We are delighted to announce that, out of the three winning teams on the European level, two TUM teams won the EuroTeQaThon in Summer 2023: The Himalayan Legos and SoftAware. This year, the winning teams received prize money of 750 Euros.
What's next?
The next EuroTeQ Collider is planned for Summer 2024! The new theme will be announced shortly, and we are very much looking forward to more exciting challenges, motivated challenge collaborators, and enthusiastic students!
EuroTeQ Collider
What is the EuroTeQ Collider?
The EuroTeQ Collider is a challenge-based learning format and was created by the EuroTeQ universities. The Technical University of Munich (TUM) has joined forces with six leading universities (Paris, Eindhoven, Tallinn, Prague, Copenhagen, and Munich) of science and technology to foster the European spirit in a EuroTeQ format, known as the EuroTeQ Collider. The goal is to promote an innovative engineering education across Europe. ’Collider’ is the chosen term to emphasize a core value that the most creative and innovative solutions often emerge from the collision of ideas from a diverse group.
At each of the six EuroTeQ universities, the EuroTeQ Collider project weeks co-occur, with local colliders operating independently. During these project weeks, interdisciplinary and heterogeneous groups consisting of students, vocational trainees, and employees from various companies work on different challenges.
An independent jury then selects the best projects, and the teams are invited to the EuroTeQaThon. The EuroTeQathon is a three-day event where the winning teams from all EuroTeQ universities come together to exchange ideas, boost creativity and innovation, and, if possible, find synergies between projects from partner universities. The final pitches are evaluated by a high-level jury comprising representatives from industry, European public institutions, NGOs, and the EuroTeQ Advisory Board.
Theme of the EuroTeQ Collider 2022/23: Leave no waste behind
The way we live today generates massive amounts of waste. Many initiatives are aware of this fact and attempt to halt this trend by optimizing processes and reducing waste. But there is still a lot to do! Waste is everywhere, not only in the use of packaging, the overuse of natural resources, the non-use of surpluses, or the non-management of certain types of waste (chemical and nuclear waste). It also results from the non-optimization of specific processes (energy losses in electricity generation, efficiency of extraction of certain materials), from our inability to find sustainable alternatives (fossil fuels) or to consume differently (buy instead of repair). The process of waste reduction has just begun. What contribution will you make to succeed in leaving no waste?
Project weeks description
The module "EuroTeQ Collider" is a seminar that allows students to apply and deepen their knowledge on topics related to the theme “Leave no waste behind”. Within this overarching theme, we are offering real-world challenges provided by TUM faculties, student organizations, and industry partners.
For each challenge, interdisciplinary (and international) teams of students, trainees, and professionals are formed to develop solutions for a desirable future, test and validate tools, and prototype their solutions. The goal is to connect participants with diverse profiles and personalities to foster creativity, innovation, and shared understanding, enabling them to envision new approaches and design disruptive solutions. All teams are prepared for the project weeks with various workshops (team building, design thinking, project management) at the beginning of the collider. Afterwards, the teams work on their challenges in groups and are supported by the Collider team and the challenge collaborators, who serve as mentors, with regular mentoring sessions. An intensive working weekend is the highlight of the local TUM Collider, to boost the productivity and motivation of the groups. During this weekend, teams receive coaching input on their presentation skills and feedback on their pitches.
The winners at the TUM level are selected based on their final presentation at the end of the Collider project weeks and are invited to the EuroTeQaThon in Prague.
Join the EuroTeQ Collider as a Challenge Collaborator and/or participant
1) Become a Challenge Collaborator and submit a challenge on the topic "Leave no waste behind". Companies can submit challenges, TUM chairs/professorships/program coordinators, as well as students and trainees.
2) Become a participant: Interested students can register in TUMonline. The module can be found under the name "EuroTeQ Collider". Interested trainees/employees from companies can register as participants via email. Contact: veronica.becker@tum.de
FAQs
- We do not have a deadline for the next Collider yet, but it will be announced shortly. For challenge submission, please fill out this Template and send it to veronica.becker@tum.de
- Companies, TUM chairs/ professorships/ program coordinators, or students and trainees can submit challenges.
Each challenge collaborator is also a mentor. Mentors should support the teams on a professional level and be available to answer questions during the project weeks. This means a maximum time commitment of. 10 hours in the period from 17 April to 2 June. For students submitting a challenge, we will help to find a suitable mentor
- You will receive an invitation to the launch event of the Collider. Here, all challenge collaborators are asked to present their challenges (approximately 5 minutes per challenge), and students have the opportunity to ask questions.
- The participants have one week to indicate their three preferences via a survey and will then be matched to the challenges accordingly.
- Each Challenge Collaborator will be informed shortly after the matching process if a group has selected the challenge.
- The EuroTeQ Team will offer a Workshop for all challenge collaborators and mentors. Participation is voluntary.
- Before the official start of the project weeks, students are prepared with several workshops for their projects.
- During the project weeks, each team works independently on their challenge and is supported by their challenge collaborator and the EuroTeQ Collider Team with weekly check-in sessions.
- An independent jury will select the winning teams on the TUM level, and the three best teams are invited to the EuroTeQaThon on the European Level.