Practical youth development inspires young technology enthusiasts

Trying out technology like at university, expressing your own creativity, and taking a look behind the scenes—the Summer Academy 2025 at Ansbach University of Applied Sciences on the Feuchtwangen campus offered all this and more. On July 21 and 22, ninth and tenth grade students from secondary schools in the district gained exciting insights into modern technologies – practical, understandable, and with a lot of enthusiasm.

The first workshop began promptly at 9 a.m. with 21 participants interested in technology. After a short welcome and an introduction to the modern campus, the workshop began with an introduction to drone programming.

The focus was on the Tello RoboMasterTT drone. After an introduction to safety aspects and basic operation, the students were able to get hands-on experience – accompanied by expert guidance from laboratory engineer Oliver Abel, who led the workshop.

“The use of drones provides practical knowledge in areas such as sensor technology, programming, and flight physics. Our goal is to show that technology is not dry, but offers interesting, creative, and current applications,” emphasizes Mr. Abel. The drones were initially controlled using smartphones, tablets, or laptops, on which initial flight maneuvers were practiced. The devices were then used in conjunction with the DroneBlocks app, which is based on a visual programming language. This enabled even beginners to perform simple flight maneuvers by assembling command blocks. At the end, all participants proudly presented the flight sequences they had programmed themselves – with creative turns, precise changes of direction, and pinpoint landings.

On Tuesday, the focus was on the future-oriented topic of the Internet of Things (IoT). Twenty-one students explored the question of how everyday devices such as lamps, fans, and motion sensors can be connected via the Internet and worked on building their own smart home.

After a clear introduction to the basics of IoT and its significance for the modern world, the young people were given the opportunity to get hands-on. Using IoT smart home kits, they experimented with sensors, programmed processes, and tested their own small automation solutions.

After a clear introduction to the basics of IoT and its significance for the modern world, the young people were given the opportunity to get hands-on. Using IoT smart home kits, they experimented with sensors, programmed processes, and tested their own small automation solutions.

“Almost everyone is familiar with smart devices – here, students learn what really lies behind them and how they can even program such technology themselves,” explained Regina Weger, research assistant at the Feuchtwangen campus.

Her colleague Md Khalid Mustafa also emphasized the practical relevance: “The students experimented with sensors and actuators, which they combined and programmed according to their own ideas. This gave them a better understanding of the technology – and perhaps also sparked their enthusiasm for future studies.” The day was rounded off with a creative exchange of ideas and a tour of the campus.

The Summer Academy is part of Ansbach University of Applied Sciences’ efforts to promote young talent. It aims to give young people practical insights into technical fields of study at an early stage – and with great success: enthusiastic faces, curious questions, and creative ideas at the end of both workshop days showed how great the interest in innovative technology already is among young people.