Outstanding academic work took center stage on June 18, 2026, at a ceremony hosted by Volksbank Darmstadt Mainz. Prof. Dr. Katharina Dahm, President of Mainz University of Applied Sciences, and Prof. Dr. Michael Maskos, Chair of the University Council, presented the University Council Award to three graduates of Mainz University of Applied Sciences. The award, sponsored by Volksbank Darmstadt Mainz, is endowed with a total of 10,000 euros.
“The three award-winning projects are typical of Mainz University of Applied Sciences. They address important questions of our time and develop ideas with real practical value, touching on sustainability , digitalization, and self-determination. Three outstanding achievements that deserve special recognition and demonstrate the kind of impact our university can have,” said Prof. Katharina Dahm at the award ceremony.
- First place, endowed with 5,000 euros, went to Lina Abu Yousef from the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the School of Engineering for her bachelor’s thesis, Berechnungstool für Energieeffizienz der Gebäudeautomation Betreuung (Calculation Tool for the Energy Efficiency of Building Automation).
Advisor: Prof. Thomas Giel
- Second place, endowed with 3,000 euros, went to Sarah Schütz from Applied Informatics and Geodesy at the School of Engineering for her master’s thesis, Validierung und prototypische Implementierung der europäischen Spezifikation ‚Configuration – Logical Concept' zur Konfiguration von Eisenbahnanlagen (Validation and Prototypical Implementation of the European Specification ‘Configuration – Logical Concept’ for the Configuration of Railway Systems).
Advisor: Prof. Dr. Karl-Albrecht Klinge
- Third place, endowed with 2,000 euros, went to Thomas Range from Time-Based Media at the School of Design for his master’s project, Paper Parts.
Advisor: Prof. Julia Kühne
The projects in detail:
Calculation Tool for the Energy Efficiency of Building Automation by Lina Abu Yousef
How can intelligent control and automation reduce a building’s energy consumption? Lina Abu Yousef addresses this question in her bachelor’s thesis. As part of her project, she developed a practical tool that assesses a building’s level of automation, identifies optimization opportunities, and calculates potential energy and cost savings based on various factors, including current standards and legal requirements.
The tool makes it possible to compare different building automation scenarios early in the planning process and make savings potential transparent. In a practical example, optimized building automation demonstrated energy savings of around 15 to 20 percent, contributing to efforts to unlock the largely untapped potential of the building sector for greater energy efficiency and climate protection.
Validation and Prototypical Implementation of the European Specification ‘Configuration – Logical Concept’ for the Configuration of Railway Systems by Sarah Schütz
The growing digitalization of rail infrastructure is placing new demands on the planning, maintenance, and configuration of complex technical systems. In her master’s thesis, Sarah Schütz examines how standardized and automated processes can be implemented for the configuration of modern railway systems.
She developed a functional software prototype that enables the centralized configuration of railway elements in accordance with European standards for digital rail technology. A particular focus is on the secure and efficient management of complex dependencies between individual components. Her thesis demonstrates how standardized interfaces and automated processes can strengthen the future viability, interoperability, and efficiency of digital rail infrastructure.
Paper Parts by Thomas Range
In his master’s project Paper Parts, Thomas Range creates a short film collage that explores body images, fast fashion, and the search for identity. Made using stop-motion and digital animation, the film tells the story of a paper figure that loses its own identity in a world of constantly changing fashion trends. As the figure begins to adapt to external expectations, its body tears in two: One side becomes an idealized fashion figure, while the abandoned half transforms into a monster.
The project combines analog design with digital techniques and shows how a complex visual narrative can emerge from cut-out magazine images. Together with a small team, Range developed the characters from collage materials taken from fashion magazines. The animation of the protagonist was created using around 1,000 individually crafted paper images, and the result of more than a year of production is a film about confronting external influences and rediscovering one’s own wholeness.
