Twelfth-graders are exploring AI and robotics, microplastics and energy

As part of the 2026/27 seminar course, approximately 90 students from a total of five schools in the region visited Hochschule Offenburg at the invitation of the pepperMINT foundation. There, faculty and staff provided them with hands-on insights into the topics of AI and robotics, as well as microplastics and energy. They also introduced the young adults to scientific research, thereby preparing them for their seminar papers. The participating schools were the Achern Vocational Schools, the Bühl Trade School, the Friedrich-Weinbrenner Trade School in Freiburg, the Lahr Trade School, and the Offenburg Technical and Trade Schools.

On the first day of the course, the students could choose between lectures on the practical application of AI tools, the topic “When AI Agents Begin to Act on Their Own,” the overall energy system using the practical example of electric cars, critical energy analysis, the topic of microplastics, and robotics. On the second day of the course, the program included additional lectures on photovoltaics and solar energy as well as wireless, energy-autonomous sensors, along with information on study opportunities at Hochschule Offenburg and hands-on practice sessions where students applied what they had previously learned. During these practical sessions, the students were able to build model boats with different types of motors and test them side-by-side in the University’s flow channel, apply AI in a practical setting, manufacture solar modules, and design their own electric motor.

The event concluded with a feedback session, during which all participants expressed enthusiasm for the programs offered by the departments of Electrical Engineering, Medical Engineering and Computer Science (EMI) as well as Mechanical and Process Engineering (M+V).