For two decades, "Kreative Köpfe" (Creative Minds) has been motivating students to follow their inventiveness and spirit of discovery. Students between the ages of 13 and 18 who are enthusiastic about STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) can take part in the competition organized by the “Junge Kreative Köpfe” foundation and implement their project ideas with the support of experts from local companies. As a sponsoring company, BARTEC has been involved from the very beginning – and for this year´s 21st anniversary we were happy to support three great projects at our company.
Project 1: Shower Meter – 1st place, category: Conservation of resources
Lia Martin (17) and Leo Honold (16), from Commercial School with Economy Gymnasium in Bad Mergentheim invented "Shower meter". They were supported by two companies: Hieber Installation und Handel AG and BARTEC under the supervision of our colleague Thomas Lede. The shower meter is an intelligent flow meter that is mounted on a shower. It measures the amount of water flowing through, the temperature of the water, records the duration of the shower, and uses these values to calculate the cost of the shower and shows this on a display. If the shower lasts too long, the shower meter indicates this with colored LEDs. The aim of this shower meter is to use water more consciously and save costs when showering. Lia and Leo won first place in the category: ‘’Conservation of Resources’’ with this remarkable innovation. Since hardware, software, and mechanics were required here and this was still new territory for the creative minds, it was a great challenge. They had to work on many topics at the same time and even if it didn't work once, they had to keep going and find a solution. In collaboration with the creative minds and in cooperation with the company Hieber Installation und Handel AG from Weikersheim, which provided support with the water installation, BARTEC was able to create a functioning prototype’’, explains proudly Thomas Lede.
Project 2: Automatic Table Soccer Goal Counter – 3rd place, category: Technical Realization
David Traub (15) from St. Bernhard School in Bad Mergentheim, came up with the idea of an automatic table soccer goal counter. He developed his invention under the supervision of Mirco Hohstadt and Kersten Mauritz from BARTEC. The problem with many soccer tables is that the balls fly out of the goal and bounce back if they are kicked too hard. So that such goals can also be counted, an automatic counter that also counts these goals seemed like a useful idea. Something like this could be implemented with a light barrier. With this idea, David won third place in the competition in the category "Technical Realization". His mentors were very happy with the result and Mirco Hohstadt explained: ‘’The first challenge was to find a small football table into which the light barrier and electronics could be integrated. However, we were able to overcome this challenge and support the creative mind by programming the electronics and the display to show the goals.’’
Project 3: Heatable Lunch Box – 3rd place, category: Innovation and Creativity
Maja Karner (13) and Zoé Puxler (14), from Kopernikus-Realschule Bad Mergentheim invented "Heatable Lunch Box". They were supported by Sripriya, Jochen Tessmer and Julia Klein from BARTEC. Their idea was to create a lunchbox for keeping their school meals warm - sandwiches, soups, and so on powered by a power bank, and stowed in a bag. Julia Klein said of the project: "Our students had to apply Ohm's law to ensure that the food stayed warm enough without the risk of burns. BARTEC's expertise in electrical trace heating helped to ensure that the lunch box was safe and warm." With this out-of-the-box innovation, Maja and Zoé placed third in the category: ‘’Innovation and Creativity.’’
We congratulate them and all the young people who took part in the competition!
BARTEC CEO Dr Martin U. Schefter is full of praise for the commitment of our BARTEC mentors: “Once again, our colleagues from BARTEC have shown outstanding support to the students, guiding them in implementing their multitude of creative ideas. We extend our heartfelt gratitude for this exceptional dedication, which went above and beyond their daily responsibilities for the "Creative Minds" project! The remarkable results achieved are a testament to this extraordinary commitment!’’