Every single Helau counts: Mainz University of Applied Sciences will be joining the traditional Mainz Rose Monday parade for the first time in 2024 with an interactive carnival float. An interdisciplinary team of students, led by lecturers from the three schools of Design, Engineering, and Business, is designing the “Helau-o-Mat” – an impressive barometer of the festive atmosphere in the form of a Mainz jester’s cap, which will be powered by twelve people on a towing bicycle.
The “Helau-o-Mat” is an interdisciplinary project at Mainz University of Applied Sciences that combines the creative expertise of the Schools of Design, Engineering and Business, in particular Interior Design, Architecture, Digital Media, and Business Administration. Professors Prof. Bernd Benninghoff, Prof. Dr. Bernhard Ostheimer and Prof. Jürgen Rustler from the respective disciplines and Mathias Ewald, who heads the workshop, are supporting a team of 33 students in the conception, design, and technical implementation of the float.
Mobile barometer to measure the festive spirit
The special feature: The carnival float of Mainz University of Applied Sciences will roll through the Mainz Rose Monday parade as an interactive vehicle. The “Helau-o-Mat” reacts visually to the shouts of enthusiasm from the carnival crowd by changing its shape and color during the procession. The use of audio sensors, LED light panels, and an inflatable installation turns the float into a mobile barometer of the excitement. Depending on the volume, the Rose Monday crowd will transform the shape of the float together with the university project team and are thus actively involved in changing the design. The vehicle is propelled by the muscle power of the students and their professors using a ten-meter-long bicycle for twelve people.
Preparations for building the float have already begun. Material tests, technical drawings, and material procurement are in full swing. Work on the float’s construction will start in January at the Holzstraße site of Mainz University of Applied Sciences. The project team aims to arrive at the carnival parade in time for Rose Monday on February 12, 2024 and put the carnival crowd in high spirits.
Innovative teaching
The interdisciplinary “Helau-o-Mat” project is being funded as part of innovative teaching with a focus on innovation and sustainability at Mainz University of Applied Sciences. A panel of judges made up of University President Prof. Dr. Susanne Weissman, University Chancellor Jens Egler, Patrik Henkel from the Mainz Carnival Association (MCV) and the professors, together with the students, selected the “Helau-o-Mat” float design from several proposals. The project unites all the disciplines represented at Mainz University of Applied Sciences in an exemplary manner, from conception, design, and construction to communication, interaction, and presentation.
Students from the interdisciplinary project will be pulling the “Helau-o-Mat” carnival float on Shrove Monday on a towing bicycle. Photo: Nikolas Fahlbusch