In the spirit of computer pioneer Heinz Nixdorf, the University of Paderborn stands for interdisciplinary research and a close connection to the world of work. In July 2018, for the first time, three doctoral candidates from the University of Paderborn were accepted as Software Campus participants. They research different fields:
Stefan Schneider graduates at the Chair for Computer Networks and does his research in the field of network virtualization and 5G. In his IT research project, which he realizes in collaboration with Huawei, he deals with the automatic coordination of network functions (such as firewalls and video optimizer), which as software components can be randomly started or stopped. “Together with Huawei I am trying to develop coordinating approaches, which are practically relevant and can, for example, automatically react to changing requirements.”, Stefan described the project goal. In the event of the project’s success, the findings will be published, and the software made open source, so that it can be used and further developed by Huawei or other parties.
Lisa Nguyen’s research for her doctorate at the Heinz Nixdorf Institute has the goal to improve the usability of program analysis tools for software developers through various aspects. These can range from optimizing the analysis algorithm over implementing its framework to the usability of its user interface. Her Software Campus project focuses on making the user interfaces of program analysis tools more attractive and useful to software developers through gamification. “With this project I’m looking forward to developing suitable UI mechanisms and useful user interfaces for program analysis tools together with Software AG”, says Lisa.
Johannes Blobel is a doctoral candidate at the Chair for Distributed, Embedded Systems and, in cooperation with Software AG, focuses on a new technique to make WLAN more energy-efficient through wake-up receivers and thus also useable for battery-powered IoT devices. “I want to take responsibility within our information society and shape the future. Software Campus offers an ideal opportunity to realize these goals.”
Currently, the project descriptions are drawn up and coordinated so that work on these projects can begin in November. The participants then manage their IT research projects independently; they are, for instance, responsible for project planning, fund management, employee search, and staff leadership.