A reunion after 20 years - travelling back in time

Meeting up again after a long time and celebrating the anniversary of graduation was the initial idea. At the beginning of November 2017, Ms Inga Kobritz contacted the faculty's alumni representative, Prof Dr Jens-Peter Akelbein, to find out whether it would be possible to take another look at the lecture halls and learn more about the current development of the faculty and the university. And so the planning of the meeting began. Mrs Kobritz contacted other alumni. Contact was made in a variety of ways, mainly via social networks such as XING and facebook as well as her own contacts and by word of mouth. Very quickly, a long list of contact details was compiled of people who had graduated in 1998 or shortly before or after. There was a great deal of interest in a reunion, so the final organisation and planning of the day's schedule could begin.

The reunion

On the first autumn day of the year, Saturday 22 September 2018, the time had come. Around 20 alumni met in front of the IT building D14 at Schöfferstrasse 8b. Sometimes you had to look a little longer before you recognised each other. After a few minutes, the 20 years had flown by and the journey back in time began.

First we went with Prof Akelbein to lecture theatre 0.04. Just like at the ESE first semester induction, the alumni were sitting in the same lecture theatre. The first impression on entering was spontaneously the smell of building D14, which had remained a special memory over the years.

The round of introductions highlighted the many job opportunities and career paths. Course outlines in computer science gave them a successful start to their careers, even if very few of them still have programming as part of their daily work after 20 years. Prof Akelbein then gave the group an overview of how the faculty presents itself today in its variety of study programmes, including doctoral opportunities and applied research activities.

A systems project of today

After taking a photo together, the group moved on to a project presentation. Two generations came together. The students from the Bachelor's degree programmes presented the results of their R2M2 systems project, in which they had programmed humanoid Nao robots equipped with artificial intelligence for various scenarios, among other things. There was much amazement at what can be achieved in three weeks of a student project. And at the same time, this was the dress rehearsal for the students for their project finalisation a few days later, so that they could still laugh about the importance of testing and many a mistake.

"Do you remember the projects and internships in our time?" came from the ranks of the alumni. The development of computer science as a subject over the last 20 years was clearly visible to all.

Social get-together

After the meeting in the faculty, the group went on to have lunch together in City Braustübl, where they chatted about old times over a meal,

The interest in socialising and exchanging ideas was so great that the meeting continued at dinner in Ferrucci Winebar Restaurant and then at Sunday brunch in Extrablatt. Four more alumni who were unable to attend on Saturday morning were able to join the group.

Some alumni used the time between reunions to visit their former homes and student institutions, as well as to relive memories of walks through the streets of Darmstadt.

Thinking about the next reunion

Back in the present, everyday life quickly caught up with everyone. What remained was the wonderful experience of travelling back in time. Everyone agrees on one thing. We won't be waiting 20 years for the next reunion.

Kobritz/Akelbein

What was the Course outline like? What do you remember?

At the meeting of our alumni on 22 September 2018, we came up with the idea of finding answers to a few questions in interview form during the meeting. What can be passed on to future generations of computer scientists? Individual interviews were conducted with each other during the restaurant visits. The following summary was the result.

Computer science in Darmstadt?

When asked whether it was a good decision to study computer science in Darmstadt, most responded with a clear 'yes'. For the majority, it was the best decision of their lives. Only a few would study something else afterwards.

Do you need the knowledge from all subjects later on?

Which knowledge was needed later in their professional career and which knowledge they never came into contact with again was very different for all alumni. However, they all agreed that computer science offers a wide range of subjects and that all these subjects are very useful for general education.

What content would you like to see in the degree programme?

In response to the question of what content you would like to see in the course outline, most people said that despite the practice-oriented approach of the programme, it still did not provide enough knowledge of actual practice. It would be helpful to learn even more project processes in a playful way during the course outline. Topics such as requirements management, functional specifications, technical documentation and the like were not dealt with intensively enough at the time. The need for "English as a compulsory subject" was mentioned by many.

Soft skills such as presentation and communication techniques are usually given far too little attention by computer scientists. It is advisable to work on these skills during the course outline.

IT security was mentioned as a missing specialism, which was still 'neglected' in the 1990s.

What do you take away from the Course outline?

The skill you take away from the Course outline is "Learning to learn". Some had more success with independent learning. For others, learning together in study groups helped more. The ability to familiarise yourself with complex topics and work through them to completion was the most important thing you took away from the course outline.

How was your time on the Course outline?

The alumni described their time at university as the 'best time', 'interesting', 'informative', 'too long', 'exhausting' and 'fun'.

What tips are there for first-semester students?

The following tips were given to first-semester students:

• "Don't quit too soon"
• "Do something you enjoy and don't orientate yourself towards the industry or the extra earnings from some jobs"
• "Use your time at university to think outside the box"
• "To question things"
• "To do an internship abroad"
• 'To gain as much practical experience as possible'

And what else do you remember?

I remember the best parties during my time as a student were the architect parties.

Kobritz/Akelbein

Even after a number of years, the time spent studying at the Faculty of Computer Science (FBI) is still unforgettable for many. A group of alumni, who all graduated from the Faculty of Computer Science around 30 years ago, took this as an opportunity to meet up again in Darmstadt after a long time. Michael Tümmel, Monika Becker (née Höhne), Julietta Rentz (née Esser) and Annette Rüb (née Fink) did a lot of detective work in the run-up to the event, including making enquiries at residents' registration offices and sometimes phoning people who were not the people they were looking for. They were able to find 65 of the former 80 students.

There was great interest in a reunion, so the final organisation could begin. Martin Völker contacted the faculty's alumni representative Prof Jens-Peter Akelbein to organise a visit to the university as part of this reunion. On Saturday, 20 September 2014, the time had come. In the morning, 10 alumni took the opportunity to visit their "FBI". Prof Akelbein gave the group an overview of what the faculty looks like today, the variety of study programmes and international exchanges on offer, and the fact that research is now part of everyday life at a university. There was astonishment at the fact that the proportion of women at the time of around a third of a year's intake has decreased significantly over time and that active efforts are now being made to attract more women to the very attractive profession of computer science. Prof Henner Schneider then took the group on a tour of the computer science collection he has built up and was able to tell them a lot about the methods used for teaching in the past and how some unique exhibits ended up in the collection.

The tour then moved on from the roots of computer science to current research. From the in-car multimedia laboratory, Pierre Schnarz gave an impressive demonstration of how embedded systems in the automotive sector will shape the future view from the vehicle and merge with today's standard on-board instruments. Other demonstrations created by student projects, such as the simulation of air movement in a sandpit, showed the variety of possibilities for trying out new technologies at the faculty.

40 alumni actually came together for the actual "30-year FBI graduation" party at 3 p.m. in the Oberwaldhaus. Even the then Dean Prof. Hans Scholz, his then deputy Prof. Werner Burhenne and Roland Galley, who continues to work in the "Computing Centre", as well as Marion Reisert, did not miss the opportunity to take part in the reunion. It was very exciting. Will the new arrivals be recognised? To be on the safe side, the organisers had prepared name tags. But most of them recognised each other straight away, even though very few of them had been in contact with each other in the last 20 years. Seeing each other again after such a long time created a lot of warm feelings. Only in retrospect do you realise how familiar you were with each other. However, you can also talk openly with former fellow students about factual topics such as the situation at your current job. One interesting experience was that no matter how much you have changed externally, the gestures, laughter and, above all, the voice, remain pretty much the same for most people in adulthood. And we memorise this information just as well as our faces. With your eyes closed, it was like travelling back in time to the lecture theatre of 1983. All in all, it was a great experience.

Authors: Rentz/Rüb/Hoehn/Völker/Hottmann/Akelbein