Tag: Sustainability

PowerMate: Empowering Users To Save Gas By Using Real Time Consumption Tracking

CIL projects, DTLab_Coop

In a world of increasing gas prices and sustainability concerns, private households are feeling more and more under pressure and are yearning for insights into their consumption and a way to reduce gas usage. For this reason, and to tackle the ubiquitous effects of climate change, the Umweltinstitut Munich has joined forces with Hochschule München to create a game-changing solution for monitoring household gas consumption.

Project team HM (from left to right: Nicolas Bissing; Bryan Liegsalz; Matthias Nieweg; Nicolas Dorenberg; Antonino Grasso)
Further team members: Moritz Stadler; Alexander Schreiner; Chi-Yuan Lee

Simplifying Gas Consumption Management

Today, the Bundesnetzagentur estimates that 85% of private households are unable to track their gas consumption during a year, leaving many surprised confused and ill-equipped to make informed decisions when receiving the annual gas bill from their gas provider. People are therefore seeking effective ways to better control their gas consumption and reduce their emissions as well as annual gas bill. The potential for savings in the private sector is immense, as Gunnar Luderer, leading researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, states that a “30 percent reduction in gas consumption is possible and important.”

Introducing the PowerMate App

That is where PowerMate comes into play. During the Co-Innovation Lab at Hochschule München, an interdisciplinary team of 8 computer science and business administration students has developed PowerMate. PowerMate, is a user-friendly app that provides customers with a compact device, seamlessly connected to their gas meter, along with an intuitive app interface to view real-time gas consumption data. The app not only offers valuable insights into gas usage habits. Users are able to identify spikes in gas consumption and, in case of above average gas consumption, are informed to change their heating behaviour, empowering them to reduce gas consumption. The aim is to simplify gas consumption management and empower users to adjust their heating behaviour to save energy.

User Interface of the PowerMate App

“At PowerMate, we believe that managing your gas consumption should be simple and easy,” says Antonino Grasso, member of the development team of PowerMate. “With PowerMate, users will be able to make quick decisions about their energy consumption and instantly adjust their energy usage, which will lead to a reduction in consumption, as well as cost-savings.”

Using PowerMate is simple and straightforward. Customers can easily connect an old smartphone or sensor to their gas counter and download the app to start visualizing their gas usage. The app provides personalized insights and tips for saving money on gas bills.

Leonard Burtscher from the Umweltinstitut München, who acted as client and advisor during the project states: ” am very satisfied with the cooperation with the student team and see a lot of potential in the developed solution”.

About the Digital Innovation Lab and the Co-Innovation Lab

This solution was designed in a joint project between the Digital Transformation Lab and the Co-Innovation Lab of Hochschule München guided by the lecturers Prof. Dr. Holger Günzel, Prof. Dr. Lars Brehm, Prof. Dr. Johannes Ebke and Hans-Jürgen Haak. The Co-Innovation Lab offers students a virtual platform for learning how to work as a consulting team by creating temporary partnerships between companies, students, and lecturers.

For more information about the Co-Innovation Lab, contact holger.guenzel@hm.edu or lars.brehm@hm.edu.

This Co-Innovation Lab project was carried out in cooperation with the Digital Transformation Lab (DT.Lab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences:

“The Digital Transformation Lab (DT.Lab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences is dedicated to the major social challenges of our time. Together with stakeholders in the private sector, students develop future-oriented solutions. They are supported by Amazon Web Services with state-of-the-art cloud technologies and the Working Backwards innovation methodology. We live digital transformation.”

More information about the Co-Innovation Lab and the Digital Transformation Lab (DT.Lab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences:

Authors: Project team

UCON simplifies the administration process for the educational event the Digital Impact Day

CIL projects, DTLab_Coop

Get ready for an electrifying experience at The Digital Impact Day (DID) where students from Mid Sweden University, Munich University of Applied Science, and Tampere University of Applied Science work in interdisciplinary teams to develop impactful solutions for the future. With the support of the Co-Innovation Lab, the universities are accelerating their cooperation to new heights through the digital platform UCON. The UCON team, consisting of ten students from Finland and Germany who are experts in computer science and business administration accomplished a great result during the past semester so that the process at the upcoming DID in April becomes simple and seamless for the participating students.

UCON prototype with profile in upper right corner

Innovate, develop concepts, and bring ideas to implementation

With the Digital Impact Day, the three universities want to give students the opportunity to build valuable experience, train their mindset and at the same time create innovative solutions. To further enhance the experience, Sweden, Germany, and Finland partnered up to give students the opportunity to work in international teams. The goal is that the Digital Impact Day becomes a well-recognized and established event at all three institutions and provides students with the opportunity to join multiple times. The UCON team wants to accelerate this goal by developing a central management platform that eases access to the event for students from all three universities.

The team at the final presentation (from left to right and top to bottom): Lea Cowlrick (UCON team), Anna Saam (UCON team), Hans-Jürgen Haak (lecturer), Anne-Mari Sainio (lecturer), Antti Perttula (project leader), Lars Brehm (lecturer), Paula Sutor (UCON team), David Schraudy (UCON team), Alicia Zierahn (UCON team), Karolina Rosdahl (project leader), Sten Wigert (project leader), Holger Günzel (lecturer), Jere Käpyaho (lecturer)

Removing barriers during the customer journey

Currently, students have limited knowledge about the event because the information is difficult to access. Additionally, the process of registering and receiving certificates after the event is completed through individual email correspondence, putting additional strain on the organizers. With the digital platform UCON, students can easily find the necessary information, and the process is streamlined for a better experience.

UCON landing page to access information

UCON leverages the power of automation

The profile is designed as a central point where students can manage all steps before, during, and after the event. The database created in the backend streamlines the work for the organizers so that they can focus on the actual happenings on the day of the event. Through the automatic group assignment, students get to work in an optimal team and enjoy a fun day. After the event they can easily download their UCON certificate and when the next event is just around, simply re-register to be part of the next DID. 

The organizers look forward to the implementation

The project leaders Karolina Rosdahl and Sten Wigert were excited about the solution at the final presentation. “This new system, UCON, will be a great benefit for Digital Impact Days events.”, said Karolina Rosdahl. Her colleague Sten Wigert is excited about trying the prototype at the next DID: “Now all the data is neatly organized turning it into a valuable management tool providing relevant information in a time-critical situation. Facilitating the DID has become considerably easier for management which in turn lifts the experience of participating students.”

About the Digital Innovation Lab and the Co-Innovation Lab

This solution was designed in a joint project between the Digital Transformation Lab and the Co-Innovation Lab of Hochschule München in cooperation with Tampere University of Applied Sciences guided by the lecturers Prof. Dr. Holger Günzel, Prof. Dr. Lars Brehm, Hans-Jürgen Haak, and Anne-Mari Sainio. The Co-Innovation Lab offers students a virtual platform for learning how to work as a consulting team by creating temporary partnerships between companies, students, and lecturers.

For more information about UCON, the Digital Transformation Lab or the Co-Innovation Lab, contact holger.guenzel@hm.edu or lars.brehm@hm.edu.

This Co-Innovation Lab project was carried out in cooperation with the Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences:

“The Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences is dedicated to the major social challenges of our time. Together with stakeholders in the private sector, students develop future-oriented solutions. They are supported by Amazon Web Services with state-of-the-art cloud technologies and the Working Backwards innovation methodology. We live digital transformation.”

More information about the Co-Innovation Lab and the Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences:

Autoren: Team DID

Meet green? How GreenMeet helps to make business meetings more sustainable

CIL projects, DTLab_Coop

Students from Tampere University of Applied Sciences and Munich University of Applied Sciences joined forces with Salesforce in the winter semester of 2023 to develop a solution which contributes to reducing CO2 emissions: GreenMeet.

Screenshot GreenMeet entry page

The digital assistant helps sales representatives to decide whether a meeting should be held virtually or in person and shows the user the emissions of a potential round trip. Based on the importance and sales stage of a potential customer as well as calculated CO2 emissions, a recommendation is given for the best-fitting meeting type.

The problem of conscious meeting decisions

Meetings were often held in person in the past but since the pandemic, they are increasingly conducted online, although personal contact is of great importance, especially in sales. But the world has to change. Companies, societies, and individuals are demanding more environmentally friendly actions instead of travelling around the world for a short business meeting.

Additionally, there are advanced possibilities for more personalized and interactive meetings online, enabled by virtual reality (VR). Hence, sales representatives face the issue of multiple meeting-type options when talking to their customers. Choosing the appropriate one is a challenge – the solution is GreenMeet.

GreenMeet considers all relevant meeting and transport types

In cooperation with the Co-Innovation Lab of Munich University of Applied Sciences, TAMK and Salesforce, the student team developed a digital assistant that calculates CO2 emissions and gives individual recommendations on the appropriate meeting format. For in-person meetings, GreenMeet calculates the CO2 emissions of a trip by plane, train, and car, both electric and gas-powered. For online meetings, the carbon emissions of VR and video meetings are considered. All values are based on trustworthy data provided by the German environmental agency and other scientific sources.                                                                                                                                 

Project team (from top left: Charlotte Sixt, Bastian Forster, Verlinda Ibraimi, Benjamin Schiff, Mona Seith, Joni Foss, Inka Lagerboom, Visa Keskinen, Lotta Viljamaa)  

GreenMeet provides the highest transparency and a meeting-type recommendation engine

Once all information is entered, a bar chart with the CO2 emissions values of each meeting type is shown. Based on this overview and the individual customer importance and sales stage, GreenMeet provides a recommendation for the meeting type. Besides that, it is also shown how much CO2 could be saved by choosing the most environmentally friendly method.

GreenMeet contributes to building a sustainable future together

“In the short project time, a solution with real added value has been created that can be used directly,” says Hans Paulini, Principal Solution Engineer at Salesforce. “By integrating GreenMeet into Salesforce’s travel approval process in the future, employees can be actively supported in making more conscious meeting decisions. And most importantly, they are contributing to the world’s journey to net zero. Many thanks to the student team for the great collaboration!”

Please, test it here: Greenmeet (green-meet-hm-muc.herokuapp.com)

About the Digital Innovation Lab and the Co-Innovation Lab

This solution was designed in a joint project between the Digital Transformation Lab and the Co-Innovation Lab of Hochschule München in cooperation with Tampere University of Applied Sciences guided by the lecturers Prof. Dr. Holger Günzel, Prof. Dr. Lars Brehm, Hans-Jürgen Haak, and Anne-Mari Sainio. The Co-Innovation Lab offers students a virtual platform for learning how to work as a consulting team by creating temporary partnerships between companies, students, and lecturers.

For more information about the MeetGreen, the Digital Transformation Lab or the Co-Innovation Lab, contact holger.guenzel@hm.edu or lars.brehm@hm.edu.

This Co-Innovation Lab project was carried out in cooperation with the Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences:

“The Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences is dedicated to the major social challenges of our time. Together with stakeholders in the private sector, students develop future-oriented solutions. They are supported by Amazon Web Services with state-of-the-art cloud technologies and the Working Backwards innovation methodology. We live digital transformation.”

More information about the Co-Innovation Lab and the Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences:

Autoren: Team MeetGreen

Step-by-step to your perfect event with the Catering Studio Event Planner

CIL projects, DTLab_Coop

Together with the TAMK Catering Studio, the Digital Transformation Lab and the Co-Innovation Lab, a student team from Hochschule München and Tampere University of Applied Sciences designed a recommendation engine for the TAMK Catering Studio. The solution simplifies the process of organizing an event in Tampere University’s catering studio by guiding customers through all important steps of the catering planning process. In the end, the engine recommends suitable and sustainable catering options based on the customer’s preferences.

TAMK Catering Studio Event Planner: Catering recommendations example

Create memorable events at TAMK

The Catering Studio Event Planner helps customers to easily find the best catering services available to them by making recommendations tailored to their wants and needs – so everyone can experience a memorable event at TAMK Catering Studio. This way, there is no need for the customer to mail or call the catering studio anymore when planning an event at TAMK, saving precious time and effort. A simple step-by-step guide requests the most important information about the event, for example the number of guests, preferred date, and budget. In the end, the customer gets three personal catering recommendations – with the most sustainable one highlighted. Plan your event – and do good at the same time!

Happy customer, happy staff

The perfect event for your needs: That’s what the TAMK Catering Studio wants to offer to every single one of their customers. However, consulting every customer individually takes the catering studio staff quite some time – time that could be more effectively used for the event preparation itself. By offering the standardized step-by-step guide, the most important information about the event is clear from the beginning, so that the Catering Studio’s staff can then focus on the details that make the event unforgettable. The staff at TAMK Catering Studio is convinced: “The step-by-step recommendation engine really streamlines the booking process. It has been joyful and rewarding to follow along the team’s competence and their persevering effort for the given assignment. We are truly happy for this product that has been designed to correspond our exact needs. Vielen Dank!”, client Reetta Tuomikoski says about the student team’s innovation.

The interdisciplinary team consisting of Business Administration students from Hochschule München (Arthur Reschke, Maria Gutierrez Escoffie, Nicolas Angel, Saskia Kuzlik, Timon Leuchtmann) and Informatics students from Tampere University of Applied Sciences (Aki Helin, Daniel Bardo, Hilla Härkönen, Hilla Kähkölä, Riku Vesanto) is proud to offer a solution that simplifies the life of both the clients and their customers at the same time.

The interdisciplinary team from TAMK and HM: Maria Lorena Gutierrez Escoffie, Saskia Kuzlik, Timon Leuchtmann, Hilla Kähkölä, Aki Helin, Nicolas Angel, Daniel Bardo, Arthur Reschke, Hilla Hörkönen (from top left to bottom right).

About the Digital Innovation Lab and the Co-Innovation Lab

This solution was designed in a joint project between the Digital Transformation Lab and the Co-Innovation Lab of Hochschule München in cooperation with Tampere University of Applied Sciences guided by the lecturers Prof. Dr. Holger Günzel, Prof. Dr. Lars Brehm, Hans-Jürgen Haak, and Anne-Mari Sainio. The Co-Innovation Lab offers students a virtual platform for learning how to work as a consulting team by creating temporary partnerships between companies, students, and lecturers.

For more information about the Catering Studio Event Planner, the Digital Transformation Lab or the Co-Innovation Lab, contact holger.guenzel@hm.edu or lars.brehm@hm.edu.

This Co-Innovation Lab project was carried out in cooperation with the Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences:

“The Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences is dedicated to the major social challenges of our time. Together with stakeholders in the private sector, students develop future-oriented solutions. They are supported by Amazon Web Services with state-of-the-art cloud technologies and the Working Backwards innovation methodology. We live digital transformation.”

More information about the Co-Innovation Lab and the Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences:

Autoren: Team Catering Studio

“WeAssist” – a digital companion that helps to find the right information at the trade fair “Gemeinsam stark!”

CIL projects, DTLab_Coop

Information overflow on the trade fair „Gemeinsam stark!“? Not with the Digital Companion „WeAssist“! It guides the visitor through the trade fair and helps them to find the information they need at the right place. The web-app was developed by students of HM in cooperation with the University of Tampere (Finland) for the organizer of the trade fair, Rössler Consult GmbH. It is one component to transform the trade fair to the digital age.

HM Project Team: Polina Protsenko (Developer), Pauline Böttcher (Developer), Farhad Muradi (Scrum Master), Jonas Moser (Product Owner), Muhammad Ahmed (Developer)

Background of the trade fair “Gemeinsam stark!”

The consulting firm Rössler Consult GmbH together with the local working group Altbayerisches Donaumoos e.V. organize the regional trade show “Gemeinsam stark!” every two years. Due to the advancing digitalization and the restrictions during the Corona pandemic, digitalization is now to be integrated into the trade fair concept. Klaus Rössler, CEO of Rössler Consult, emphasizes on the importance of the evolution of the fair: “We are still planning our trade and regional show, which has been in place for decades, as a face-to-face event, because personal contact is still very important, especially in rural areas, especially after the low-contact Corona period. Equally imperative, however, is the integration of digital elements in the process, communication, the communication of common cross-sectional goals and especially gamification, which enables fast, flexible and target group-specific action that increases the attractiveness across generations.” The digital web-app could be one component of the new concept.

The problem: Information overflow on the trade fair “Gemeinsam stark!”

Navigating trade fairs in general can be overwhelming, with lots of exhibitors and a packed schedule of events. At the fair “Gemeinsam stark!”, over 8.000 visitors have to find their way around the 1.500 square meter exhibition area with over 60 exhibitors. The problem that visitors are often facing is finding relevant information such as the exact location of each exhibitor, exhibitor’s offers, and an overview presenting this information in a concise and simple way. What was missing, is a guide who helps visitors find the right information at the right place.

The solution: “WeAssist”, the digital companion

The product vision was clear: The Digital Companion WeAssist should help visitors to find the right information at the right place – so they would never get lost. The developed prototype of the digital companion web-app offers a range of features that help visitors to get a structured overview of all areas of the fair. First, one receives detailed information about each exhibitor and even gives the possibility to st personal favorites. Furthermore, “WeAssist” includes a digital trade show map that provides users with a complete overview of the site and shows the exact location of exhibitors and food stands. The different food options are also shown and described in detail. In addition, visitors can find a schedule of events and lectures that will take place during the fair. For possible questions or problems, a FAQ page is available.

International Cooperationin an Agile Environment

An interdisciplinary student team of 9 students from HM and University of Tampere (Finland) worked together on the prototype. To determine the needs of visitors, the students used the “Working Backwards” method of AWS and furthermore conducted an online survey with trade fair visitors. Based on the results, the students developed the app in an agile way, using the Scrum framework. Maximilian Vogl, Project Manager and assistant to the CEO of Lokale Aktionsgruppe Altbayerisches Donaumoos e.V. cherished the approach:“The close cooperation between students, lecturers and our agency was profitable for all sides. Determined and with methodical competence, the interdisciplinary project team developed a functional prototype app for our trade show ‘Gemeinsam stark!’”.

Home Screen of the digital companion “WeAssist”

The professors from Munich University of Applied Science were Prof. Dr.-Ing. Holger Günzel and Prof. Dr. Lars Brehm. Hans Jürgen Haak was the coach concerning agile methods. Anne-Mari Sainio was the lecturer for the Finish students from Tampere University of Applied Sciences.

This Co-Innovation Lab project was carried out in cooperation with the Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences:

“The Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences is dedicated to the major social challenges of our time. Together with stakeholders in the private sector, students develop future-oriented solutions. They are supported by Amazon Web Services with state-of-the-art cloud technologies and the Working Backwards innovation methodology. We live digital transformation.”

More information about the Co-Innovation Lab and the Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences:

Autoren: Team Tradeshow

“PredictiveBMS” helps preserve art at the Museum of London

CIL projects, DTLab_Coop

In a project of the Co-innovation lab of the Munich University of Applied Sciences, a team of bachelor and master students together with the Museum of London tackled the challenge of introducing predictive maintenance to the museum’s Air Handling Units (AHUs). The “predictiveBMS” application developed in the project uses data from the many sensors in the museum’s AHUs and is able to predict when failures will occur based on the already available data. This addresses the problem of AHU downtime, which can damage the museum’s art in the long run, as the museum can currently only react to failures after they occured as there is no way to predict them at the moment.

Possibility to avoid failures and downtimes of the Air Handling Units

So far, the MoL has not been able to predict failures and defects in its AHUs. The AHUs ensure that the environmental conditions in the museum remain within the set parameters that provide an optimal indoor climate for the artworks and protect them from, for example, temperature fluctuations and humidity-related damage. However, AHU failures occur frequently and can cause damage to the museum’s artworks if they fail for an extended period of time.

Co-Innovation Lab develops “predictiveBMS” to forecast failures in Air Handling Units

To improve workflow and detect damage in advance, the new application “predictiveBMS” was developed  for the AHU maintenance at MoL. Building on the continuously collected data from various sensors in the AHUs, the MoL has taken the opportunity to further develop the smart buildings applications. predictiveBMS is based on machine learning and artificial intelligence and provides the engineers of the MoL with an opportunity  to be proactive, as it is now possible to predict failures and outages of the AHUs. The predictiveBMS system provides engineers with a web dashboard that displays all potential failures and sends alerts for faults that might occur. For on the go, predictiveBMS offers an app that can be used from anywhere and informs about potential outages through push notifications.

Facility managers and engineers are looking forward to integrating the solution into their work processes

“The move to use sophisticated learning, forecasting and prediction models in building maintenance is long overdue. We’re excited at the Museum of London to implement predictiveBMS to predict failures and improve operational knowledge and efficiency. This will be a key piece of Facilities Management software going forward.” – Steve Watson, Technical Building Lead (New Museum)

The Museum of London is striving to be carbon free by 2040

The development of a smart building management system that precisely meets the museum’s needs is intended to help achieve the target. The museum wants to be a pioneer in this field, but also a positive influence on other museums in terms of its public responsibility. Smart building management can save not only costs but also large amounts of greenhouse gasses and help to achieve the net zero emissions target set by the British government. In addition, the construction of the new museum, which is currently being designed, offers great potential to make processes and working methods more efficient. The Director of Museum of London (MoL), Sharon Ament has stated that her aim for the New Museum at Smithfield is to build “a new civic space, that is sustainable, for millions of visitors to enjoy, 24 hours a day”

     Project team: (front from left to right:) Ishak Hagi, Fabian Halbig, Jannis Unkrig. (Back from left to right:)
Jana Caven, Lea Neureither, Kathrin Wetzels, Ana Babovic, Tobias Schwarzer, Pascal Severin

Support through Amazon Web Services for project teams

During the development process of the product, the project team was supported by partners from Amazon Web Services (AWS). Lars Schmitz coached the teams at the beginning of the project in Amazon’s “Working Backwards” approach. An approach in which the customer’s problem is fundamentally analyzed and understood prior to the development phase. This process helped the team to thoroughly understand the client’s problem and thus develop an effective solution.

Dieses Co-Innovation Lab Projekt wurde in Kooperation mit dem Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) an der Hochschule München durchgeführt:
Das Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) der Hochschule München widmet sich den großen gesellschaftlichen Herausforderungen unserer Zeit. Zusammen mit Akteuren im öffentlichen Sektor entwickeln Studierende zukunftsweisende Lösungsansätze. Hierbei werden sie von Amazon Web Services mit state-of-the-art Cloud-Technologien und der Innovationsmethodik Working Backwards unterstützt. Wir leben digitale Transformation.

Weitere Informationen über das Co-Innovation Lab und das Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) an der Hochschule München:

Autoren: Team MOL 1

The voice assistant that gives facility management a refreshing appeal

CIL projects, DTLab_Coop

The Museum of London stores the capital of England’s long history from its settlers to modern times and welcomes over one million visitors each year. To realize its vision of becoming a “smart museum” and making use of resources efficiently, once again in the summer semester of 2022, the Museum of London shakes hands with the University of Applied Science Munich students and works together on another project. Accompanying the museum on the way to achieving its goal, a group of ten students has teamed up and developed a solution to integrate the use of the voice assistant ALLRight into facility management at the museum.

The Vision for 2023

Committed to engaging more people and constantly transforming to be a “New Museum”, knowing exactly where and when a malfunction in the building occurs is of great importance for all stakeholders. Within the scope of the previous cooperation projects between the Museum of London and the student teams at MUAS (Andreas Meuser, Syed Muhammed Ali Raza, Tobias Kuch, Lukas Förner, Simon Meier, Richard Nefzger, Florian Kaiser, Daniel Eberhard, Mai Linh Tran, Florian Horder), the main goal always involved the efficient consumption of resources and maintaining the best environment not only for the visitors but also for the preservation of the historical artifacts.

Hurdles in the way

“Usually, when at work, I was constantly concerned about the museum’s condition. I could not quickly and easily get reliable information about the temperatures and humidities in the galleries. I wanted accurate, reliable, and valid information to know that everything was alright”, John, facility manager at the Museum of London said.” However, with ALLright I feel more confident at getting the information I need at any time. And all that can be done simultaneously while I am working on my desk!” However, facility managers at the Museum of London have been having difficulty in quickly finding out the state of the building. Due to various data points and limited access to these data, it involves an inefficient and time-consuming process to pinpoint the problems with the functionality of the building, as they have to check various systems or ask around to find out what is wrong. Instead of having to go through all these troubles, they want to be granted easy and quick access to insights into the building’s functionality, and the most convenient way to get the information they need is via a voice assistant.

Delivering a valuable solution to solve the client’s problem

The intuitive voice assistant ALLRight was developed as a “Skill” based on the foundation of Amazon’s infamous voice assistant Alexa. It answers the 8 critical questions about the condition of the buildings at the Museum of London and gives information about occurring technical problems. With the voice assistant, facility managers can conveniently get a fast and simple overview of the current state of the building. The special feature of ALLRight is the interaction between it and the user as the skill has been developed to be able to include personalization and naturally converse with users.

“The team has surpassed my expectation!”, the client from the Museum of London, Steve Watson – Technical Building Lead – and John Iaciofano – Facility Manager – are very thrilled about the development of the voice assistant ALLRight from the early days until the prototype is completed.

 “ALLright is an exciting game-changer, which makes accessing building information easy, fun, and reliable.  Managing buildings is all about decision-making and ALLright informs me quickly of the relevant information to support important decisions.  This app is a glimpse into the future of building management”, Steve said. He also added when asked about future implementation potentials, “I see a future where buildings become much better structured at the data layer and then voice assistants will have a very rich source of information and analysis available.  Then I see voice assistants becoming more adept at natural language and also having a back-end learning capability that improves with specific buildings, their datasets, and their interactions.”

Dieses Co-Innovation Lab Projekt wurde in Kooperation mit dem Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) an der Hochschule München durchgeführt:
Das Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) der Hochschule München widmet sich den großen gesellschaftlichen Herausforderungen unserer Zeit. Zusammen mit Akteuren im öffentlichen Sektor entwickeln Studierende zukunftsweisende Lösungsansätze. Hierbei werden sie von Amazon Web Services mit state-of-the-art Cloud-Technologien und der Innovationsmethodik Working Backwards unterstützt. Wir leben digitale Transformation.

Weitere Informationen über das Co-Innovation Lab und das Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) an der Hochschule München:

Autoren: Mai Linh Tran

gridX stands for sustainability

CIL projects, DTLab_Coop

As part of the Co-Innovation Lab at Munich University of Applied Sciences, eleven students are helping gridX to demonstrate its commitment to sustainability to the public. The interdisciplinary project team lays the foundation for a transparent sustainability commitment of the company.

The topic of sustainability is becoming increasingly relevant in all areas of life. It is therefore also important for companies to commit themselves to sustainability – especially since sustainability commitment is playing an increasingly important role in the battle for applicants. Companies face the challenge of transparently communicating their environmental, social and economic impact. Currently, it is difficult for job seekers to find information about the sustainable commitment of potential employers. But especially in the current war for talents, companies need to transparently communicate their attractiveness as an employer to the outside world. gridX has recognized this need for action and wants to become active by integrating a sustainability dashboard on the company website.

In the period from March to July 2021, eleven interdisciplinary students from Munich University of Applied Sciences, supported by their coach Prof. Dr.-Ing Holger Günzel (and the other event participants Prof. Dr. Lars Brehm, Prof. Dr. Johannes Ebke, Hans-Jürgen Haak and Lars Schmitz), designed and developed a prototype for an innovative sustainability dashboard for the company gridX – a startup that aims to make a long-term contribution to the energy transition with its products. From the company side, Henry Thierhoff, employee in the Business Intelligence & Marketing department, cooperated with the students and reports enthusiastically about the result of the project: “Especially as a greentech company, it is important for us not only to develop sustainable products, but also to act sustainably as a company. The dashboard helps us to communicate our commitment transparently and we hope to attract new employees who will join us in driving forward the energy transition.”

By implementing the Sustainability Dashboard, gridX is able to stand out from the competition as an employer by displaying all relevant sustainability performance in a bundled, transparent and understandable way in one place on the website.

This Co-Innovation Lab project was carried out in cooperation with the Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences:
The Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences is dedicated to the major social challenges of our time. Together with stakeholders in the public sector, students develop forward-looking solutions. They are supported by Amazon Web Services with state-of-the-art cloud technologies and the Working Backwards innovation methodology. We live digital transformation.

More information about the Co-Innovation Lab and the Digital Transformation Lab (DTLab) at Munich University of Applied Sciences: