The Mainz Science Market took place for the 23rd time on the weekend of September 13 and 14, 2025. This year, however, there were a few new features. Due to renovations at the Gutenberg Museum, the event was moved to the Platz der Mainzer Republik. In addition, a new format was added to the program: In response to popular demand, an additional program for school classes was offered on Friday morning, September 12.
The Department of Applied Computer Science and Geodesy (AIGeo) and i3mainz— the Institute for Spatial Information and Measurement Technology—both took advantage of these formats to provide insights into their teaching and research.
At the WiMa for Schools, various groups attended our workshops
Structured like a school day, Friday morning followed a recurring schedule in 45-minute intervals. Middle and high school students could attend two workshops:
- In the “Virtual World of 3D Data” workshop, Jessica Buchner demonstrated how to visualize and edit 3D point clouds using Visual Studio Code. Participants gained an initial insight into Python programming and methods for analyzing spatial data.
- In the “Virtual Reality with Unity” workshop, the groups, under the guidance of Jana Ziegler and Johanna König, developed applications for VR headsets and used them to explore a virtual space.
Over the weekend, which—as usual—was open to the interested public, i3mainz and AIGeo presented two main themes at their booth: “Bridges at the Limit” and “Marksburg in 3D.”
Staff members from i3mainz and Philipp Schäfer from the BIM Lab
Germany’s transportation infrastructure shows signs of damage in many places, which is why regular condition monitoring is important. Niklas Bockshecker and Frederik Fuhrmann explained how monitoring with profile scanners can help address this issue. This process captures a bridge’s geometry up to 55 times per second. The method is particularly well-suited for measurements during train crossings or load tests with trucks. Every bridge has characteristic vibration behavior, known as natural frequencies. When a train crosses the bridge, it excites the bridge, which can lead to resonance and thus to significantly amplified vibration amplitudes. Conclusions about the structure’s condition can be drawn from the measured deformations.
Agnes Thomas and Steffen Uhl from mainzed
As part of her master’s thesis, Sarah Hillen conducted a digital survey of Marksburg Castle. Using static and kinematic laser scanning as well as drone flights, nearly the entire castle was documented in detail and with precision. Emma Kunoth, Jana Ziegler, and Amir Zahedi demonstrated the applications made possible by this data—for example, a virtual tour of the castle using VR glasses. Philipp Schäfer from BIM.Labor was also present with a VR headset, the Apple Vision Pro.
Another highlight was a quiz hosted by mainzed — the Mainz Center for Digitality in the Humanities and Cultural Studies. Agnes Thomas, Zahia Schlott, Steffen Uhl, and Robert Zwick invited visitors to answer questions that led them to the participating partner organizations.
Last but not least, we are very pleased that SWR took an interest in our work and the digitization of Marksburg Castle and conducted an interview with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Florian Schill.
Text and photos: Nicole Bruhn, CC BY-SA 4.0
