On October 21, Prof. Dr. Dr. Ozar Mintser from the National Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education (NMAPE) in Kiev, Ukraine, visited the main campus of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT), and the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) in Pfarrkirchen. On his working visit he discussed the prospects of the long-term cooperation of DIT-ECRI with NMAPE.

During the visit Prof. Mintser met with President of DIT, Prof. Sperber, Vice-President for Health Sciences, Prof. Kunhardt, and Prof. Chaltikyan, with whom he discussed the prospects of the long-term cooperation between the two institutions. Prof. Mintser then visited the campus in Pfarrkirchen where he met with ECRI Dean, Prof. Georg Christian Steckenbauer, Prof. Chaltikyan, Prof. Spittler (Program Coordinator, Bachelor of Health Informatics at DIT-ECRI), as well as teaching and research staff of Digital Health, Medical and Health Informatics. During his stay at ECRI Prof. Mintser presented on NMAPE, as well as on advances in Medical Informatics education and research at his institution. The participants then discussed the practical aspects of the cooperation that will include the following main directions: bilateral exchange of students and staff (academic mobility), joint research project and activities, and double-degree study programmes. The parties also discussed a possibility of establishing a new joint satellite campus for Digital Health and Medical Tourism in Western Ukraine.

NMAPE and DIT-ECRI had signed a Memorandum of Understanding and a Cooperation Agreement earlier this year, to advance collaboration in education, research, and development in the domains of Digital Health, Medical and Health Informatics, as well as Medical, Health and Wellness Tourism. Prof. Ozar Mintser (Head of Department of Medical Informatics at NMAPE) and Prof. Georgi Chaltikyan (Program Coordinator, Master of Medical Informatics at DIT-ECRI) first established contact and began designing a collaboration plan in March 2020. They prepared and finalized a set of high-level documents, such as the Memorandum of Understanding, and then organized the working visit of Prof. Mintser to DIT-ECRI.

Established in 1918, NMAPE is one of the leading institutions in Ukraine in medical education and training and biomedical research, serving more than 25,000 physicians and medical graduates each year through postgraduate degree programmes, and certificate programmes in Continuous Medical Education (CME).

Current short films by students of the Deggendorf Institute of Technology (DIT) will be shown at internationally renowned film festivals in Hof, Munich and Fort Lauderdale (Florida, USA) in autumn. All festivals offer their programmes online. Thus, they are accessible to the audience in Bavaria.

Filmmakers like Wim Wenders, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Werner Herzog, Caroline Link or Doris Dörrie have presented their films at the International Hof Film Festival in the past. At the 54th edition of this event from 20 to 25 October, media technology students from DIT will now also be allowed to take part. “Accept”, the bachelor thesis of Manuel Klavers, Maximilian Stahl and Paul Bickhoff has been invited to the short film programme of Germany’s oldest and most renowned film festival. But that’s not all, as Jens Schanze, professor for film and video design at DIT proudly explains: “The team around author and directory Manuel Klavers will also be participating in the 35th Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (6 - 22 November, https://fliff.com/2020filmguide). “Accept” has also made it to Florida, where film entrepreneurs like Martin Scorsese, John Schlesinger, Spike Lee and Ben Kingsley have already been guests”.

The mystery drama “Accept” by the students from Deggendorf tells the story of a girl who hides her true self after the death of her father in order to be able to lead a normal life with her family. When she is pursued by threatening figures, she has to face her fears and learn to accept herself. The film was shot with elaborate equipment in the historical setting of the Oberpfälzer Freilandmuseum.

The new film was also invited to Hof by Prof Schanze. The 30-minute documentary film “Stolz auf dich” portrays a 17-year-old schoolgirl from Deggendorf who wants to make her dream of becoming a kickboxing champion come true. At both European Championships in Macedonia, she will be wearing the jersey of the German national team for her first fight. The film is also part of the programme of the 63rd International Leipzig Festival for Documentary and Animation film.

The short film “2100” by director Lea Blöchinger, which was made during the master’s seminar “Short film” at DIT, was invited to the competition for the Climate Clip Award 2020 at the International Festival of Film Schools. The film is a dystopia of human existence in the year 2100 against the background of global warming. Master student Regina Portje and her fellow students Tim Miller, Moritz Grötsch, Alexander Steil and Lukas Haselberger also took part in the production. Every autumn, a selection of the best films produced at film schools around the world is presented in Munich.

Dr Matthias Huber has been appointed new professor at the European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) in Pfarrkirchen for the winter semester 2020/2021. He will take over the teaching area “Computer Science and Modelling/Energy Systems and Intelligent Buildings”. And he has even more plans. He would like to create a Living Lab for intelligent energy systems in the soon to be newly constructed buildings in Pfarrkirchen, where researchers from science and practice can come together.

Research at the interface between technology and economics with a focus on mathematical modelling, simulation and optimisation is Matthias Huber’s specialty. It all began for him with a double degree in mechanical engineering/energy technology at the Technical University of Munich and economics at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich. After a short detour as management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, he also completed his doctorate in the field of energy system optimisation at the TU Munich. He explains his research activities as follows: “We use mathematical models to represent reality. This is possible for both (energy) technical and economic systems. The mathematical models enable simulation and optimisation procedures”. In addition, new methods of machine learning, i.e. artificial intelligence, play an increasingly important role. This approach is relevant, for example, in the field of renewable energies, both to plan the installed capacities first and to optimise operation. After a phase at the Ifo Institute in Munich, Matthias Huber moved to Siemens AG, where he worked in central research for energy systems.

With the goal of a Living Lab in Pfarrkirchen, Matthias Huber is taking up his area of expertise 100 percent. If he has his way, an intelligent energy system, including a local energy market, is to be created in which both the campus as a smart building and local operators of photovoltaic or combined heat and power plants could participate. The design of such market places is an exciting field of research, he says. He also finds the interface of energy issues with other sectors such as buildings, innovative transport concepts and the importance of energy in agriculture, including new ideas such as vertical farming, interesting.

He is very much looking forward to his time at the European Campus. As a professor, he sees his success in inspiring and educating young people to such an extent that they can successfully go through their professional lives themselves. The native Bavarian is also looking forward to the international environment. Even during his doctorate, he was already travelling internationally in Singapore, Austin and Stanford.

Today, the father of three children prefers to spend his free time outdoors in nature. Hiking, cycling and skiing are among his hobbies. In the evenings he likes to play a round of Schafkopf or let the day come to an end in the beer garden.