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03.04.2023 - Field trip to Fraunhofer-Institut, Kaiserslautern
On April 3rd, 2023, the SIAM Student Chapter Trier visited the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial
Mathematics ITWM in Kaiserslautern.
To start with, we were introduced to the Department of Financial Mathematics. Whoever thinks that
financial mathematics is only about derivatives is far from the truth. Talks about the projects
AGENS, FedL and FlexEuro showed us how diverse and exciting the work as a financial
mathematician can be. While having coffee and cookies, we could also learn about the personal
career and the daily work routines of the employees as well as about the career paths at Fraunhofer
ITWM.
After the lunch break, freshly strengthened, we got a short guided tour of the institute, which led us
to the CT laboratory. Here, for example, small test specimens of concrete can be examined for
damages. On a much larger scale, however, this will also be possible in the summer of 2023 with
the help of the GulliverCT at Fraunhofer ITWM. In the presentation on the DAnoBi project, we
learned how anomalies in concrete can be detected with the help of image data.
Due to the Corona pandemic, we know how important it is to interrupt transmission chains. To do
this, it is necessary to better understand aerosol dispersion, especially indoors. In an exciting
presentation on the AVATOR project, we were able to learn how the spread of a virus in airplanes is
simulated and what effect protective masks can have on the spread.
At the end of our excursion, we were given a presentation of the diverse projects of the Department
of Optimization. The special focus here was on the optimal utilization of gemstones. We got
insights into the steps for the mathematical modeling of the cutting of the raw material, the
embedding of the gemstones in a blank and the faceting of the gemstone. Our excursion ended with
a guided tour through the gemstone cutting laboratory.
We had a great day at the Fraunhofer ITWM in Kaiserslautern, where we could get exciting insights
into the work of mathematicians at the interface between research as well as industry and economy.
We especially liked the open and relaxed atmosphere as well as the work on diverse projects.
Many thanks to Steffen Grützner and Jörg Wenzel, who made this day possible. Of course, we also
like to thank the entire Department of Financial Mathematics, Katja Schladitz, Franz Schreiber,
Elisa Thiel and Karl-Heinz Küfer, who provided us with such vivid and interesting insights into
their daily work.
18.02.2022 - Field trip to Fraport AG, Frankfurt Airport
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The SIAM Student Chapter Trier visited the Fraport AG in Frankfurt am Main on February 18th, 2022. After the corona-related suspension of on-site field trips, we are happy that we were allowed to come to Frankfurt Airport.
A presentation about Fraport AG as an employer was followed by a lecture that gave us interesting impressions of the Operations Research department at Frankfurt Airport. Among the numerous application areas there are, for example, the allocation of baggage to suitable output belts and process points of the baggage conveyor system as well as the automated creation of staff schedules.
After the lunch break, we were allowed to try out various experience stations in the Fraport visitor center and enjoyed a beautiful view of aircraft handling.
Two more presentations in the afternoon gave us insights into the topics of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at Fraport AG. We learned how automated image recognition is used for baggage handling, how different Machine Learning techniques can be combined to optimize work processes at various locations, and what hurdles there are to overcome during implementation.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to Ms. Schmidt-Jestel, Mr. Köble and Mr. Kollmann for the organization, to Mr. Cuert and Mr. Gromadecka for the visit to the visitor center and a very special thanks to the lecturers Mr. Helmer, Dr. Kruff and Dr. Barth for the vivid and varied impressions into their work as mathematicians at Fraport AG.
21.07.2021 - Presentation by Florian Dahms on his work at DB Netz AG
![[Translate to Englisch:] Presäntation von Florian Dahms](/fileadmin/_processed_/4/8/csm_DBNetzAG_1473db18d4.png)
In the scope of a virtual presentation, Florian Dahms reported on his work at DB Netz AG. Among other things, we learned about mathematical aspects of train time tabling and track selection for the individual train connections, which involves working with mixed integer problems and graph-based approaches. The presentation was followed by a question and answer session in which Florian not only answered questions emerging from our side but also told us about working at DB Netz AG and personal experiences.
We would like to thank Florian Dahms for taking the time to give us a look behind the scenes and wish him all the best for his future work. Furthermore, special thanks go to Charlotte Cost and Sascha Diekmann for organizing the event.
25.10.2017– Field trip to IBM Germany Research & Development GmbH, Böblingen
On the 25th of October 2019 it was again time for the annual trip of the SIAM Student Chapter of the University of Trier. This year we paid a visit to the IBM Germany Research & Development GmbH in Böblingen. Already at 10 o'clock in the morning we were warmly welcomed by Birgit van Look, who organized the program for our visit. Shortly thereafter, the packed, but very interesting lecture series started, which should bring us closer to the work at IBM. After we were introduced to the history and philosophy of IBM, we learned in the next lectures what is important in chip design and how "cool" it is to work for a globally connected company like IBM. Before lunch in the in-house canteen, Julian Wiedmann told us about working as a Linux Developer at IBM and how Linux came to the mainframe operating systems. After a refreshment, the tour through the TestLab was probably one of many highlights of the day. Here we were allowed to take a look at the IBM mainframes of the various models and series up close and learned so much about their structure, as well as their behavior in case of power failure and other adversities. The last talk before the coffee break brought us closer to the IBM Z firmware and told us that the "Z" stands for "zero downtime", which the IBM guys are very proud of. Coffee and cake prepared us for the most exciting talk of the day dealing with quantum computing. Here we learned how a quantum computer works, where the difficulties are and how to program such a computer. After 7 hours our visit came to an end and we made our way back to Trier, exhausted, but maybe a little bit smarter.
In summary, we have learned that you have many opportunities as a mathematician to work and to evolve at IBM, if you are not averse to programming, and most importantly: Z stands for Zero Downtime!
Many thanks to Robin Schrecklinger and Birgit van Look, who organized the visit, and to the speakers Dr.Martin Mähler, Rolf Sautter, Dr. Simon Friedmann, Harald Pröger, Julian Wiedmann, Norbert Ziegeler and his team, Martin Taubert and Albert Frisch, who gave us a great insight into the work at IBM Germany.
26.10.2017– Field trip to Bosch Engineering GmbH, Abstatt
On 26.10.2017 the SIAM Student Chapter of the University of Trier started their field trip to Bosch Engineering GmbH in Abstatt. The program started around 1 pm with a short welcome followed by a lunch in the in-house canteen. This was followed by a tour through the company in which we got a good insight into the working methods at the location Abstatt. We were led across the site, were shown the modern "non desk" working method, and visited various test rooms where engine and software testing was conducted. A highlight certainly was the soundproof room and some prototypes of various vehicles, which were equipped with the latest Bosch software. This was followed by a series of lectures in which some of the Bosch employees gave an insight into their work. First, we got a rough overview of the Robert Bosch GmbH and in particular about the Bosch Engineering GmbH in Abstatt. Here, the focus was particularly on autonomous driving, which is being researched specifically at the Abstatt site. This was followed by two lectures by mathematicians on driver assistance systems and automated driving. We were particularly pleased that Marina Ullmann, a former member of the SIAM Student Chapter of the University of Trier, gave interesting insights into her daily work. After we had dinner together, we went back to Trier. At this point we would like to thank all speakers for an exciting and interesting trip. A special thanks to Ricarda Auner and Marina Ullmann, who have made this trip possible.
27 - 30-Aug-2017 - Meeting of European SIAM Chapters 2017 in Prague
In 2017, the Charles University Chapter of SIAM hosted the 6th SIAM symposium in Prague with the objective of gathering the European chapters together. Among the participants were people from Aachen, Berlin, Galway (Ireland), Heidelberg, Magdeburg, Mannheim, Trier and of course the hosts from Prague. With several scientific talks and poster presentations, the conference resulted in a great success.
From Trier, Claudia Adams ("Copositive Optimization in Infinite Dimension"), Dennis Kreber ("Subset Selection and Regression Problems") and Bernd Perscheid ("The Separation Problem for 1-Wheel Inequalities and Extended Formulations") gave insight into their research fields with each of them giving a 20 minute talk. The meeting of the European SIAM Chapters 2017 started with an opening session, where each chapter introduced itself.
At the end of the conference, each SIAM Student Chapter also showed some examples of their activity highlights to inspire each other with ideas for possible activities. Apart from the scientific program and exchange, the Charles University Chapter of SIAM created a comfortable atmosphere with the organization of a welcome barbecue, a guided city tour, an invisible exhibition and a conference dinner.
More detailed information on this event
The university group obtained its name by the American organization SIAM, Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics. Their objectives mainly consist in multidisciplinarity, i.e. in the application of mathematics in economy and industry. Moreover, the relationship between PhD-Students of the same chapter as well as the relationship to researchers of other universities shall be improved. In order to attain these goals, for instance the group organizes field trips to research institutes and leading enterprises in industry and economy. In addition to this, lectures of current members, as well as invited professors and PhD Students of other universities, on their research results regularly take place. Furthermore, workshops focusing on different topics to support the research objectives of the SIAM Student Chapter members are organized.
With more than 14,000 members SIAM organizes conferences and publishes internationally recognized journals. Currently there are more than 180 SIAM Student Chapters world-wide. The one in Trier exists since 2008. It has been the first SIAM Student Chapter nation-wide and it is one out of five in Germany right now. The members of the SIAM Student Chapter Trier are mainly supported in achieving their aims by SIAM and the Department of Mathematics of the University of Trier.
30-Aug - 02-Sep-2016 - 5th Symposium of the German SIAM Student Chapters in Hamburg
At the end of August 2016, the SIAM Student Chapter Trier participated in the 5th Symposium of German SIAM Student Chapters hosted by the Student Chapter Hamburg.
The three-day workshop took place at the “Geomatikum” building of the University of Hamburg from 30th of August till 2nd of September 2016 and was combined with the MathMods Alumni Meeting providing input from every day working experience related to industrial and applied Mathematics.
The first day started with the introductory panel discussion "Does academia prepare us for jobs in the industry?" followed by a poster session and ending with a guided tour through the district Hafen City.
The remaining two days were filled with captivating presentations of current research topics addressing challenging tasks from practice. Ranging from PDE-constrained optimization problems over economic equilibrium models to computational problems in statistics (see also full scheduleand book of abstract) a broad field was covered. The scientific program was completed by a dinner on Thursday which enabled the exchange of ideas and experiences with other researchers.
From our Student Chapter in Trier Dennis Kreber and Martin Rupp presented their talks “A Minimum-Cost Flow Approach for Solving Statistical Imputation Problems“ and “Numerical optimization for multivariate optimal allocation problems with several levels of strata”, respectively.
28-Jul-2016 - Field trip to Fraport AG, Frankfurt Airport
On the 28th of July 2016, the SIAM Student Chapter Trier went on a field trip to Frankfurt Airport to visit the Fraport Airport Services Company. Taking an early train from Trier to the airport in Frankfurt, the program started with a general introduction to get to know the company. Afterwards, we were invited for a guided bus tour around the airfield, where we got an insight into the infrastructure of the airport. We learned a lot about the plane dispatches, the starting and landing system and how all task areas at the airport fit together.
Back in the meeting room, we listened to four very interesting talks about how to join the company, and how mathematicians manage their daily work. The speakers gave information on many fascinating topics, like how to optimize the way of luggage from the plane to the appropriate baggage carousel or how to optimize starting and landing or dispatching times.
After a common dinner in Frankfurt city, we returned to Trier.
At this point, we want to thank all organizers at the Fraport AG again for such a great field trip! We really enjoyed it and we were impressed how well everything was organized. Also, we would like to express our special gratitude to Mrs. Marel, Mr. Lehr, Mrs. Boeckmann, Mr. Worbel and Mrs. Jenek.
10-Sep-2015 - Field trip to Bayer AG, Leverkusen
Theory and practice: The association with a field of application is difficult for a lot of people especially in Mathematics. Some PhD-Students of Applied Mathematics, as members of the SIAM Student Chapter of the University of Trier, organized a trip to the Bayer-AG in Leverkusen where they got an idea of how mathematical results affect practice.
Thereby we visited the BayKomm - the Bayer Communication Center where our guide revealed the historical development of the company to us. Moreover, we received some information about the differences between their branches of business and research. The core competencies of the enterprise consist in the fields of health care and agriculture. At one of the largest chemistry and pharmacy enterprises mathematics is mainly used for the optimization of chemical processes. Furthermore, mathematical competencies are very useful in the financial departments of the company.
08-Aug-2014 - Field trip: Mercedes-Benz, Sindelfingen
SIAM Student Chapter organized field trip to Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen.
The plant in Sindelfingen is the largest of the entire group. At this facility the models S-Class Sedan and Coupe, E-Class Sedan and Station Wagon, CLS-Class and SLS AMG (with the exception of the motor) as well as safety vehicles with for example bulletproof glass are produced.
After a short presentation on the history of the company, our guide showed us the factory hall of the car body manufacture field and the final assembly field. During this tour, one could get an idea of how the mathematical theory is used for optimal control, especially in the use of many Kuka robots. At the University of Trier optimal control in the field of process engineering for various applications is an important research field. In the final assembly hall, we gained insight into the process of Just-in-Time- and Just-in-Sequence delivery.
08.04.2010 - Field trip: European Astronaut Centre (EAC), Köln
SIAM Student Chapter of Trier organized field trip to the EAC.
When dealing with aeronautical engineering you also come across topics linked with space aviation and astronauts. In order to get a closer look at this, the SIAM student chapter of Trier organized a field trip to the European Space Agency (ESA) at the area of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne. To be more precise, we visited the European Astronaut Center (EAC), which is a devision of the ESA and whose purpose is to prepare and support the selected astronauts for their journey to the International Space Station (ISS). The EAC team is made up of more than 90 professionals, complemented by staff from the DLR, the French space agency CNES and from industry, whose task is to train, give medical support and surveillance as well as support the astronauts and their families during preparation for and during the flight itself.
The astronauts can use the big training hall, in which models of every module of the ISS, for example the Columbus laboratory, are arranged, so that the astronauts and ground operations personnel can practice in order to bring the desired mission to a success. There is also a swimming and diving hall, in which ditching and life in zero gravity can be practiced.
The EAC successfully supported the famous Thomas Reiter (Germany) and Christer Fuglesang (Sweden) to their journey into space and the ESA plans to have an European astronaut flying an ISS increment every two years starting with the launch of Columbus, up to the station's lifetime of 2015 and beyond. This will be the best way to prepare ESA for human exploration of Moon and Mars.
12.06.09 - Field trip: Frankfurt Stock Exchange
Financial institutions and in particular risk management concerning securities represent the future field of work for many mathematicians. So what makes more sense than actually witnessing securities trading?
The SIAM Student Chapter offered this experience to students of the department of mathematics on 12 June 2009. The field trip to the German stock exchange in Frankfurt started at the Trier train station from where we went to Frankfurt by train.
Having arrived at the Frankfurt stock exchange, we had to undergo the mandatory security check. After having passed it we were led into a conference room, where we were allowed to experience an interesting lecture on history and the daily business of the Frankfurt stock exchange. In particular the talk dealt with the modern electronic trading system XETRA. This trading system of the Deutsche Börse AG serves the spot market and presently completes 83% of the entire stock broking at German stock exchanges. The prices determined with XETRA are the basis of the computation of the German stock index DAX. At the stock exchange the parquet is dominated by the traders and so called Skontroführer. The task of a Skontroführers consists in the determination of stock exchange prices corresponding to real market conditions of its Skontro (electronic order book). Following this lecture which answered many questions, all participants had the chance of visiting a stage at the parquet. However, we inevitably noticed that business on the parquet was no longer as hectical as it had previously been, which can be explained by the large progress in the field of EDP and the associated shift of the trade into on-line trade.
6.11.08 - Field trip: SES Astra, Betzdorf, Luxembourg
Am 6.11.08 veranstaltete das SIAM-Student-Chapter eine Exkursion zu SES Astra, Betzdorf, Luxembourg, um einen Eindruck über die Funktionsweise von Satelliten und der dazu benötigten Mathematik zu erhalten.
Jeder kennt das Fernsehen, diesen wundersamen Kasten der die Filme in die Wohnungen bringt. Auch hat sicherlich jeder einmal eine oder sogar eine ganze Ansammlung von Satellitenschüssel in der Landschaft stehen sehen. Bei näherer Betrachtung stellt sich die Frage: Wie kommen die Filme in den Fernseher und was haben die Satellitenschüsseln damit zu tun? Um eine Antwort auf diese Fragen zu erlangen, starteten wir eine Exkursion zu SES Astra, Betzdorf, Luxemburg und fanden heraus, dass die Mathematik dabei eine sehr große Rolle spielt.
Zunächst erhielten wir einen Überblick über die Strukturen von SES Astra und der Funktionsweise von Satelliten. Insbesondere die Organisation der "Parkplätze" der Satelliten im Weltall ist immens wichtig, um die sichere Übertragungen zur Erde zu gewährleisten. Denn auch wenn das All faktisch keiner Organisation gehört, so muss man sich doch, ähnlich wie im Autoverkehr, an gewisse Regeln halten, damit Zusammenstöße oder andere Konflikte vermieden werden. Nach dieser Einführung starteten wir einen Rundgang über das Gelände von SES-Astra. Dabei erreichten wir das Kontrollzentrum der Satellitenkanäle. Hier erhielten wir weitere Informationen über die Übertragung der Daten sowie deren Verschlüsselung. Insbesondere die Verschlüsselungstechnik entwickelt sich mit dem mathematischen Gebiet der Krytographie, angefangen mit einfachsten Verwürflungen bis hin zu (fast) unknackbaren Codes. Unser weiterer Weg führte uns zum Kontrollzentrum der Satelliten. Dort erhielten wir Auskunft über Bauweise der Satelliten, ihren Transport über Trägerraketen an den festgelegten Platz im All sowie die ständige Positionsteuerung. Auch hierbei wird die Mathematik, insbesondere die "Optimal-Control-Theorie", im hohen Maße angewendet. Die Probleme, die bei dem Bau sowie bei dem Transport und der Steuerung der Satelliten auftreten, haben eine hohe Komplexität. Auch kleinste physikalischen Zusammenhängen und äußeren Einwirkungen, wie kleinste Kometeneinschläge, müssen hierbei berücksichtigt werden, so dass für die Berechnung sehr aufwändige Algorithmen benötigt werden.
Nach einer letzten, kurzen Zusammenfassung des Tages verabschiedeten wir uns und verließen Luxemburg mit vielen interessanten Eindrücken über den langen Weg der bunten Bilder bis in unser Wohnzimmer.
