The fall semester 2025 was marked by hands-on learning, current topics, and direct exchange with experts for students in the Management, Communication & IT and Digital Business & Software Engineering degree programs. Three excursions and event visits took students to Munich, Bolzano, and Seefeld, offering valuable insights at the intersection of technology, business, and communication.
Third-semester students enrolled in the bachelor's program in Management, Communication & IT visited “BMW Welt” in Munich as part of their Information Management and Supply Chain Management courses.
The students learned how efficient production processes depend on clean information flow, standardization, and automation, and how technological disruptions such as electromobility influence entire supply chains.
After exploring “BMW Welt” on their own, the students took a two-hour tour of the factory, which highlighted all the steps involved in vehicle production, from the bare chassis to assembly and highly automated processes. The extensive use of robotics and automation, which enables efficient processes and high-quality standards, was particularly impressive.
Another key aspect was the strategic focus on electromobility, which highlighted how significantly production processes and supply chains are changing in the wake of technological and sustainable transformations. For the students, the excursion offered a tangible practical application of theoretical concepts from their courses and thus clear added value for understanding complex industrial processes.
At the same time, students from the Digital Business & Software Engineering program visited SFSCON 2025 at the NOI Techpark in Bolzano. The group was accompanied by Associate Professor Matthias Janetschek and Head of Studies Peter J. Mirski, among others.
The students recognized that open software and data models not only offer technical advantages, but also contribute significantly to innovation, transparency, and digital sovereignty.
As one of the most established European conferences on free and open source software, SFSCON offered a broad program with over 150 speakers, numerous tracks, workshops, a hackathon, and networking formats. The compact, practical sessions on artificial intelligence, open data, and digital sovereignty were particularly relevant for the students.
One highlight was the presentation of AI applications such as automatic bird song recognition, a vivid example of how open data and machine learning can support real scientific questions. Overall, the conference impressively demonstrated the role that open source approaches are increasingly playing in research, business, and public systems.
On December 5, 2025, our Management, Communication & IT students in the fifth semester took part in the 17th European Media Summit in Seefeld as part of the Research in Business Informatics course. They were accompanied by Teaching & Research Assistant Willemijn van Kooten and Head of Studies Peter J. Mirski.
The participation made it clear that technological developments such as AI are only effective if they are conceived in an interdisciplinary manner and communicated in an understandable way between science, business, and the public.
The media summit was held under the motto “Daring to be freer: Europe between progress and regression” and focused on two main topics:
In the morning, the focus was on the future of traditional media, new media formats, and the influence of artificial intelligence. Later, the focus shifted to issues of European sovereignty, global competition, and economic conditions.
The networking opportunities and the preparation for audience questions, for example for the open discussion with Rebecca Guntern, Chief Commercial Officer of Sandoz, were particularly valuable. In her contribution, she provided personal insights into strategic communications work in an internationally active life sciences company and highlighted the importance of credible, responsible communication in a complex economic and social environment.
Even though not all of the prepared questions could be asked due to the tight schedule, the students' intensive engagement with their topics, based on literature and source research, demonstrated a high level of commitment. The preparation and direct contact with a leading figure from the field provided a vivid example of science communication in action and the transfer between theory and practice.
Our students at BMW Welt ©MCI/Piazza
At BMW Welt ©MCI/Piazza
European Media Summit in Seefeld ©MCI/VanKooten
Open discussion with Rebecca Guntern ©MCI/Piazza
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