Excursion to Leibniz-Rechenzentrum and UnternehmerTUM

4.2.2020 | 04.02.2020 | DIT PR - On January 21 Medical and Health Informatics students of European Campus Rottal-Inn (ECRI) participated in an exclusive field trip to the Research Campus Garching. There they visited Leibniz-Rechenzentrum (LRZ) of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities, one of the largest and most prominent supercomputing centres, and UnternehmerTUM of the Technical University of Munich, a centre for Innovation and Business Creation. The field trip was organized within the framework of Master Medical Informatics. LRZ is the IT service provider for all Munich universities as well as a growing number of research organisations throughout Bavaria. In addition to this regional focus, it also plays an important role as one of the members of the Gauss Centre for Supercomputing (GCS), delivering top-tier high performance computing (HPC) services on the national and European level. The guided tour in LRZ commenced with a visit to the Virtual Reality and Visualization centre (V2C). The demo of V2C inside its Powerwall and 5-Sided Projection was a unique experience for the students. Followed, was the visit to the 'SuperMUC-NG’ in the "Twin-cube" - supercomputer building. Its 26.9 Petaflops, 719 Terabytes memory, 50 Petabytes external data storage and 100 Gbit/s internet connectivity, makes it the 8th best in the world, providing first-class information technology for researchers in the fields of physics, chemistry, life sciences, geography, climate research, and engineering. The tour also detailed the hardware specifics, backup, archiving and also the highly efficient cooling system. The next session of the visit included a presentation on the history of LRZ, services offered by LRZ, future requirements for IT services and possible cooperation opportunities. The visit at LRZ concluded with a Q&A. Next, the group visited UnternehmerTUM, a place that offers founders and start-ups a complete service, from the initial idea all the way to initial public offering (IPO). The visit to this creativity centre began with an extensive look at Maker Space. This 1500-square-metre high-tech workshop is equipped with state-of-the-art machines, tools and software and gives access to its members as well as the public to realize innovative ideas in the form of prototypes and small batch production. The unique place offered by UnternehmerTUM is available to the national and international innovation and entrepreneurial scene. A demo of 3D printers and laser and water jet cutters that make it possible to fabricate new shapes and to process every type of material was an enthralling experience for the students. Followed was the visit to BioKitchen, another initiative of UnterneherTUM, which provides a place where one can work on biological or chemical ideas and turn it into a product. There the highlights were the current polymerase chain reaction in genetical material duplication and a soon to be released DNA printer. Later the same evening the students could also participate in the Tech-Challenge Demo Day, an innovation pitch event were tech-fans with backgrounds in Informatics, Management or Electronics showcased their unique products. The first-hand experience of many prototypes created a profound sense of inspiration in most students.

Master Medical Informatics students with Prof. Chaltikyan at the Virtual Reality and Visualization centre in Garching