The second edition of the International Sustainability Summer School is over! Forty students attended the summer school in Brașov, Romania, from July 24 to 28. It was organised jointly by two partners of the SophiA project, the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (HKA) and the University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland (OST), and by the Transylvania University of Brașov (TUB).
The summer school opened with management and outdoor team building activities.
On the second day, students dived in the field of biomechanical engineering, energy saving and emission assessment, and carbon neutrality roadmapping. The afternoon concluded with smart cities and active solar houses.
The third day focused on photovoltaic systems, electrical energy storage, zero-emission campus, and the Romanian biosphere. Andreas Reber from OST delivered a brilliant talk on how PV panels work today and where their development may lead to, while Jacob Bußmann from Trier University of Applied Sciences presented the impressive zero-emission campus in Birkenfeld, Germany. Paul Nicolae Borza from TUB complemented these topics with electrical energy storage in supercapacitors and led, together with Eduard Comsea from Rescue 4×4, a 4-hour hiking tour featuring about a thousand steps up into the Romanian wilderness.
The fourth day was dedicated to SophiA! From technical presentation of the solar water container to overall control, through data acquisition system and green computing, nothing was left out. This presentation was followed by a field visit to Romania’s first sustainable water treatment plant for a whole village, in Viscri.
Finally, on the last day, students spent the morning at TUB’s research centre, learning about renewable energy and sustainability. The 2023 summer school closed with a visit to Schaeffler, Brașov.
This experience was a great success, and students were very enthusiastic. Thank you to all the participants and see you soon for the 2024 Summer School in Karlsruhe, at SophiA partner Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences!
