Impact Week 2024

For the first time, the annual Impact Week at the TU Hamburg took place under one motto: Sustainability was the slogan.
The aim of Impact Week is to empower students to become "changemakers" for specific topics. The event was initiated and organized by the 2023/2024 student cohort of the University Innovation Fellows (UIF) program. The UIF program at TU Hamburg, in collaboration with Stanford University's d.school, promotes innovation and enables students to act as change agents.
As part of Impact Week, 14 students initially took part in two workshops focusing on design thinking and prototyping. These workshops provided students with methodological approaches to problem solving and developing user-centered ideas. The students then worked in three small groups to develop concrete ideas for improving sustainability on campus. At the final event, the groups presented their innovative solutions and explained the potential impact of their ideas:

1. the "NoWayste" project aims to establish an effective waste management system on campus. The team developed a prototype for a smart waste station equipped with artificial intelligence and image processing technology to sort and manage waste more efficiently. The prototype rewards the correct recycling of materials in the form of payback points, which could be used in the canteens, for example, and is intended to improve waste sorting on campus.
2. the "Be Leaf" project has a plan to expand the green spaces on campus and promote biodiversity. The team is organizing the placement of recycling bins for electronic waste and clothing on campus to recycle these materials sustainably and encourage students to contribute to environmentally friendly practices.
3. the "Sustain You" project focuses on promoting individual well-being through sustainable living habits. It provides students with tools and incentives to develop and maintain environmentally friendly habits and supports them in making sustainable choices in their everyday lives.

At the closing event, the Students‘ Union and the TU Hamburg working groups, namely EnerconnectING AG, Klima AG and DuckING AG, also presented their work and possible future collaborations with the teams.