The programming internship of the University of Siegen, which took place for the third time in cooperation with ifm statmath gmbh, ended on January 31 with a successful closing event at "The SUMMIT" in Siegen. Over a period of twelve weeks, 47 students from different disciplines developed a web application for the predictive maintenance of cyclically wearing consumables – a practical project at the interface between AI research and industrial application.

The focus of this year's internship was the development of software that supports maintenance technicians in industry through AI-supported forecasts. Specifically, the teams worked on three scenarios: monitoring cooling systems to prevent legionella formation in electronics manufacturing, condition-based maintenance of air filtration systems, and condition-based filling of a resin tank. The three scenarios were based on real data sets from ifm statmath customer projects. "This gave the participants authentic insights into the challenges of Industry 4.0," explains Daniel Schneider, Director Software Development ifm statmath.

Agile implementation with expert support

Under the direction of Dr.-Ing. Andreas Hoffmann (Chair of Operating Systems / Distributed Systems at the University of Siegen) as well as Daniel Schneider and Jens Vollmer (Software Developer Industrial AI ifm statmath), the students relied on agile development methods. In weekly Scrum meetings, they adapted their solutions iteratively, focusing on three evaluation criteria: user-friendliness of the visualization interface, precision of maintenance forecasts, and quality of the team presentation.

Highlight: Final at "The SUMMIT"

At the closing event on 31 January 2025, all teams presented their solutions to a jury of experts who took into account the above-mentioned evaluation criteria. This year, the quality of the results was particularly close. In the end, however, the first three places were able to prevail with outstanding performances and were rewarded with prize money totalling 1,000 euros. Another group also stood out with an innovative solution approach. All participants also received certificates for their achievements. Prior to this, the young developers took the opportunity to gain insights into current projects and make contacts for a possible career start during a guided tour of the laboratories of pmd technologies ag. The physical well-being was provided by a small catering.

Success model with a future

"The combination of theoretical knowledge and practical application in cooperation with companies from the field is a real added value for the students," Dr. Andreas Hoffmann sums up. With 47 participants – around 30% more than in the previous year – the programming internship is establishing itself as a permanent fixture in university education. Whether the format will be continued is currently being examined. However, the overarching goal remains unchanged: to strengthen the transfer of knowledge between universities and industry.