Who are you and what do you do? Who are your partners?
I am Tobias Hardes and I work at the University of Paderborn at the chair for Cooperative Mobile Systems Group by Prof. Christoph Sommer.
At our chair we are dealing with mobile wireless networks, for example networked vehicles. In the context of the Software Campus, I work together with IAV GmbH.
When did you join the Software Campus and why are you in the program?
I joined the Software Campus in 2020. I see the Software Campus as a great opportunity to acquire important management skills in the context of a project of my own. Of course, the supporting seminars make a decisive contribution to this. I don’t know of any comparable program that offers the same opportunities and freedom as the Software Campus. The program thus offers an opportunity to learn new skills that cannot be taught at a university in this way. Furthermore, you can gain experience in submitting project applications before the actual project starts. Prior to this, I never did it completely myself, but only supported it temporarily.
What do you expect from the Software Campus?
I had the opportunity to take on management tasks in industry during my working hours. That usually worked, but I also made mistakes and learned a lot. The Software Campus offers the opportunity to make these experiences in an environment where you can test and develop your own skills. In industry, this is often only possible to a limited extent or not even desired – there, mistakes usually mean (heavy) financial losses and further problems. Furthermore, I had been planning the project, which I had brought into the Software Campus myself, for a long time, but never found the time to implement it. The Software Campus offers the possibility to combine both aspects, i.e. to improve oneself through intensive training and to finally start the long planned project. As an additional bonus, contacts are made with other areas of science and industry, where your work can be used outside the university.
What is the content of your IT project and how could it be applied in the future?
I applied with my own project idea, which I had wanted to tackle for a long time. However, the project was more extensive, so I could not work on it in addition to my regular work. The aim of the project is to research efficient and sustainable transport for cities, additionally supported by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs, e.g. delivery drones). For this purpose, an open simulation framework (AirMobiSim) will be developed, which models mobility and energy aspects for air traffic in software. AirMobiSim can be coupled with other frameworks such as “Eclipse SUMO” or “Veins” to also model road traffic and communication between road users. Thus, scenarios of any complexity can be evaluated. The topic can be integrated relatively well into my PhD thesis, so I have an advantage here in many respects. I also think that the project result would help the entire community, since there are currently only very provisional comparative products available. Since the project is provided as an open source solution, it also offers an ideal basis for further development.
Imagine: Internet breakdown for 1 month – what are you doing?
If the internet would break down not only for me but globally (which is unlikely because of the decentralised approach), we would all have a big problem. Our financial system no longer exists, supermarkets, pharmacies are out of goods and our electricity grid would probably collapse. All in all, it’s a bit hard to imagine what I would do then.
