FOREWORD BY THE CHAIRMAN OF The International Advisory Council of B-IT THE B-IT FOUNDATION RWTH Aachen University, University of Bonn, Since its inception seven years ago, the Bonn-Rhine-Sieg University of Applied Sci- Bonn-Aachen International Center for Infor- ences, have, in cooperation with the Fraun- mation Technology (B-IT) has pioneered hofer Board of Management, established an excellence in international graduate educa- International Advisory Council. Its mission is Helmut Dockter tion for applied information technology. The to ensure the relevance of B-IT’s educational key to this success has been a unique coop- efforts for careers in the business world, eration between two leading universities, a to monitor B-IT’s international competitive- young university of applied sciences, and the ness, and to foster B-IT’s development by Fraunhofer society for applied research. giving recommendations and guidelines. The rectors of the participating universities have The B-IT Master programs excel in many re- appointed Prof. Dr. Gerhard Barth as Found- gards. Due to careful selection and intensive ing President; Barth is well known as founder education, student success rates are among of the German AI research institute DFKI, as the highest in North Rhine-Westphalia, rang- top manager in companies such as Daimler- ing up to over 90%. In 2010, B-IT students Chrysler, Alcatel, and Dresdner Bank, and Prof. Dr. Gerhard Barth have successfully participated in worldwide more recently as partner in a consultancy research competitions, winning e.g. two firm. In addition, the council includes five in- RoboCup robotics championships, as well as ternationally renowned representatives from best student paper awards in several interna- academia and industry: tional conferences. Research contributions of B-IT Professors were demonstrated, among • Prof. Dr. Gerhard Fischer, others, to millions of visitors at the German- University of Colorado, Boulder Chinese Pavilion of the Expo-2010 in Shang- • Prof. Dr. Ossama Khatib, Robotics Lab, hai/China. Stanford University, Palo Alto • Prof. Dr. Thomas Lengauer, Max-Planck B-IT graduates are not just in great demand Institute for Informatics, Saarbrücken by industry, but have also been offered pres- • Prof. Dr. Hermann Maurer, Media Lab, tigious doctoral fellowships by institutions University of Graz such as Cambridge University, ETH Zurich, Stanford University, and the University of Oxford. Meanwhile, several early B-IT mas- ter graduates have already completed their doctorates. The new government of North Rhine-Westphalia, now led by Hannelore Kraft as Prime Minister and Svenja Schulze as Minister of Innovation, Science and Research, continues to place great emphasis on activat- ing top talents and high-quality international education. I invite young talents from all over the world to take advantage of B-IT‘s inter- nationally renowned graduate programs, and would like to thank the directors, faculty, and B-IT main building. students of B-IT for their successful work. Helmut Dockter Vice Minister of Innovation, Science and Research NRW, Chairman, B-IT Foundation Council 2 B-IT Report 2010 [ The success of the Bonn-Aachen Internation- offers its own Research School for doctoral al Center for Information Technology (B-IT) studies in eight areas of applied IT; in spring has continued in the academic year 2009- 2010, the number of doctoral scholarships 2010, with record numbers of highly qualified awarded by the B-IT Research School grew graduates in Media Informatics, Life Science to 27. In fall 2010, the master programs in Informatics, and Autonomous Systems as well Media Informatics and Life Science Infor- as an excellent placement record, new re- matics underwent a rigorous evaluation as Prof. Dr. Armin B. Cremers search grants and highly visible public events. part of their re-accreditation by the national University of Bonn ASIIN Agency. This did not stop at formal The international visibility of the B-IT interna- documents, but also included the analysis tional research-integrated master programs of exams and theses as well as interviews has grown further. The Media Informatics with faculty and students. For the first time group of Prof. Jan Borchers co-designed one in Germany, the new European accreditation of the most successful exhibits at the EXPO agency EQANIE joined an ASIIN evaluation 2010 world exhibition in Shanghai; German with international reviewers, such that the president Horst Köhler and Chancellor Angela study programs are now also accredited at Prof. Dr. Matthias Jarke Merkel were just two among the hundred the European level. Reviewers were particu- RWTH Aachen University thousands of visitors attracted by this exhibit. larly impressed with the enthusiasm and and Fraunhofer FIT Major media attention was also gained by quality of the B-IT student group. one of the most downloaded courses in the iTunes University collection, and the opening We would like to extend our cordial thanks to of Germany’s first Fab Lab in his group. B-IT the B-IT Foundation Council led by Chairman student teams from his group as well as the Helmut Dockter, Vice Minister of Innovation, groups of B-IT professors v.z. Gathen and Science and Research NRW and Secretary Bauckhage won best student paper or best Hans Stender, to the B-IT Advisory Board led Prof. Dr. Kurt-Ulrich Witt student demo awards at a number of interna- by Founding President Gerhard Barth, to the Bonn-Rhine-Sieg University tional conferences and exhibitions. Continu- B-IT Faculty and especially the study coor- of Applied Sciences ing their success story of the previous year, dinators Martin Hofmann-Apitius, Gerhard the B-IT-Bots team of the Master Program in Kraetzschmar and Otto Spaniol, to our assist- Autonomous Systems mentored by profes- ant directors Alexandra Reitelmann, Jürgen sors Kraetzschmar and Plöger ranked among Rapp, Gertraud Peinel, Christoph Quix, Stefan the top-3 in two major RoboCup tourna- Lüttringhaus-Kappel, Thomas Bode and Iman ments. B-IT also organized a number of in- Awaad, but most of all to the B-IT students for dustry and science events in Bonn itself. Not their enthusiasm and excellent cooperation. surprisingly, B-IT graduates continue to be in high demand by employers in both industry This report intends to inform stakeholders, and research. existing and future students and doctoral candidates, as well as the interested public Many B-IT students do not stop with a Master about the B-IT activities in the academic year degree but follow up with doctoral studies at 2009-2010. Enjoy reading it! well-known universities. By now, early gradu- ates from all three B-IT master programs Armin B. Cremers, University of Bonn have succeeded in finishing doctoral degrees Matthias Jarke, and continue their research careers at the RWTH Aachen University and Fraunhofer FIT post-doctoral level. Since late 2008, B-IT also Kurt-Ulrich Witt, Bonn-Rhine-Sieg University of Applied Sciences B-IT Report 2010 3 [ The southwest of North Rhine-Westphalia is The B-IT Universities Institute offers English one of the largest, most vibrant locations in language Master of Science (M.Sc.) programs the European media and telecom industry. in Media Informatics and Life Science Infor- It is also one of the most innovative and matics, whereas the University of Applied fast-growing biotech regions in Germany, and Sciences offers a Master Program in Autono- there is much interest in the emerging fields mous Systems. The Master Programs prepare of mechatronics and robotics. To make it the students for successful international careers optimal place to study for professional work that require technical excellence and leader- in these fields, the Bonn-Aachen International ship, creativity and the ability to innovate. Center for Information Technology (B-IT) has B-IT master programs are distinguished by been established as a joint venture of RWTH their international orientation (structured Aachen University, University of Bonn, Bonn- according to the European ECTS standard), Rhine-Sieg University of Applied Science (BRS their focus on IT competence, and the deep U) and the research institutes of the Fraun- integration of teaching and research. hofer Institute Center Birlinghoven Castle. A second goal of B-IT is the optimization B-IT offers highly selective International Mas- and acceleration of existing undergraduate ter Programs in Applied IT, as well as summer computer science curricula at Bonn University / winter schools for qualified undergraduate and RWTH Aachen University for selected top computer science students. Most courses students. B-IT’s International Program of Ex- take place in the beautiful B-IT building next cellence (IPEC) pursues this goal by compact to the former office of the German Chancel- course modules delivered in summer and lor on the banks of the River Rhine in Bonn. winter schools during the semester breaks. Admission to the B-IT Master Programs is The B-IT Research School offers doctoral linked to, and conditional upon, placement training with partial financial support from in research lab courses at the participating NRW state. Fraunhofer institutes. Students in good stand- ing are offered financial support during these For the participating universities, the B-IT lab courses. programs have also helped pave the way towards a smooth transition from the tra- Africa 1% ditional German diploma system to the Germany 7% Bachelor-Master system following the Bo- Rest of Asia 14% logna accord; for example, the B-IT master programs were the first to be accredited Pakistan 10% Rest of Europe 22% within the participating universities in 2004- 2005. The success of the B-IT programs is also demonstrated by a very good placement record, both in science and industry. The Americas 4% B-IT is financially supported by a 56 M€ Foundation initiated through the Bonn-Berlin India 27% program of the German federal government, China 15% as well as by matching NRW state funds.