My Student Journey through Information Logistics

A report by Marlies Goes

Late summer 2018: Route Planning

After completing my journalism training, I know one thing for sure: I don't want to become a media designer after all. While looking for a place to study in Stuttgart, I came across the Hochschule für Technik (HFT) on the Internet. I'm a little late for the winter semester, but there are still places available in mathematics, building physics and information logistics. Math: Yes, you could do that. Building physics: God forbid. Information logistics: never heard of it. My interest is piqued when I read that computer science is a big part of this degree. And I also find topics like sensors and telematics exciting.

The study program begins with a detailed information session the week before lectures start. Unfortunately, I can't attend this because I'm still doing a vacation job at the time.

Fall 2018: We set sail

Let's go! In addition to the theoretical basics in information logistics, business administration and computer science, the basic studies also include the first projects and practical exercises.

In the lecture "Sensors and Evaluation Technology" we get to know the university's own laboratories. So we not only learn the theory of temperature, humidity and distance sensors, but can also try them out ourselves and connect them to the Internet of Things.

RFID technology (Radio Frequency Identification) is of particular importance for information logistics, as we know it from contactless payment, for example. In the RFID measurement chamber, we collect our own measurement data, which we then evaluate using our freshly acquired programming skills.

In the actuators subject, I build a remote-controlled cocktail machine with my team. This lecture was newly added to the curriculum in 2018 to round out the undergraduate curriculum: Actuators, Sensors, Programming, and Telematics (electronic communication) - these four elements are found in virtually all digital devices. So after one year of studying information logistics, I have gained a good overview of the world of digital data processing and can start my main studies well equipped.

Attention, iceberg!

Even a degree in information logistics cannot be accomplished without mathematics. However, I was positively surprised that there were many exercises in the lectures and even an extra tutorial was offered once a week. Of course, maths is not everyone's cup of tea, but you are very well supported in this regard at the HFT - if you want it. The same applies to programming, by the way.

Spring 2019: Student collaboration

With the start of the second semester, I then have the chance to gain special insights into the world of information logistics. As a student employee, I take on some activities in the research project "DigiLab4U" starting immediately (Project launch: 2019). The mission of this project is the digitalization and networking of laboratories. For example, the RFID measurement chamber at the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences will be able to be used remotely by students all over the world in the future.

For me, working in the research project means getting a first insight into scientific work, because I support the researchers with research or the creation of posters and other publications. At the same time, the work helps me in my studies because I can deal with the laboratories in more depth.

Fall 2019: On the high seas

With successfully passed basic studies, the journey picks up speed in the main studies. Now there is the opportunity to become acquainted with diverse manifestations in the field of information logistics, which often have to do with "spatial" data, but behind which lie the most diverse job descriptions. Location information ultimately plays a role in logistics, in production, as well as in the smart city.

There is, for example, "IT in logistics", where concrete use cases for the application of digital technologies in logistics are discussed. Or geo-visualization, which deals with the meaningful presentation of spatial data. Or Operations Research, where you learn how to mathematically solve real-world problems such as route planning or scheduling.

Spring 2020: Hello, Corona

In the fourth semester, everything suddenly changes: Corona has arrived in Europe. First, the start of lectures is pushed back, then the news that all courses will be held online. It pays to study at a technical university, especially at a faculty that conducts research on digital teaching. So, despite the sudden changeover to distance learning, the fourth semester goes quite smoothly, the national feeling of solidarity welds us together, and above all there is the hope that everything will soon be over again.

The lectures in the 4th semester also fit the situation well: We have Distributed Systems, Technical Communication Management, Database Systems - all topics that are needed now more than ever. Only the lecture on measurement systems is missing a few exercises that are not so easy to digitize.

Search for the internship semester

Meanwhile, the internship semester is getting closer and closer and I'm looking for a suitable position. This is the first time since I started studying that I have to ask myself what I actually want to do in the future. Information logistics is both a blessing and a curse here, because every company needs IT and every company has sensors, actuators and spatial data - the world is open to you, you just have to decide.

It was clear to me: I want to do a lot of programming and I want to get out of Stuttgart - preferably somewhere that's not so easy to get, something with action and big machines. A job advertisement from the Port of Hamburg fits these criteria well, the only thing missing is programming. I apply anyway and express this wish in the interview - fortunately! Because the personnel officer asks me, "Could you imagine doing something with artificial intelligence?" I think, "For God's sake, don't you have to be some kind of digital brain surgeon to do that?!" I say, "Yeah, sure!" and the colleagues in Hamburg create a new internship for me without further ado.

Fall 2020: Practical semester

My task in Hamburg is the implementation of a program for the optimization of container terminals. The idea is to use machine learning methods to teach an agent to stack the containers in the terminal in such way that unnecessary restacking operations are avoided. I'm learning an incredible amount about the container port system, about working in a company and, of course, about artificial intelligence. The AI specter, inflated to excessive size by the media, shrinks down to what it actually is: mathematics, statistics and probabilities.

After half a year, my internship there is over, but thanks to Pandemie, the lectures takes place online and I just stay in Hamburg for a bit and continue working on the project as a student trainee. I can also write a first paper about it as a co-author, which will be published as part of the ITS World Congress in fall 2021.

Spring 2021: The sixth semester

In the meantime, studies have started again, online and this time without hope for an improvement soon. Another new feature in the sixth semester is that we can choose two subjects ourselves. The choices are Software Engineering, Pervasive Computing, IT Security, E-Commerce and Internet of Things. All of these sound good to me (but I'm less interested in e-commerce), but in the end I choose IT security and the Internet of Things.

I choose IT security because I find cryptography and encryption super exciting, and besides, cybersecurity experts are pretty much the most sought-after people around today. The lecture in IT Security is held together with computer science students, which again brings a new perspective on some things. Instead of an exam, we have to complete several projects in this lecture and are allowed, for example, to hack into a specially set up fake web store in order to slip into the role of an attacker.

I chose the Internet of Things because, among other things, this subject also deals with digitalized laboratories, as I have already become acquainted with them during my student work in the DigiLab4U research project. We get to know various labs at other locations that are already partially or completely digitally accessible. For example, we can remotely try out the RFID lab at the university in Parma, Italy, and virtually walk through the technical university in Stockholm and experiment with driverless transport systems.

Because of the international nature of the project, the entire lecture will be held in English. A good opportunity to brush up on your foreign language skills, in my opinion, because the majority of exchanges in our globalized world take place in English.

Foreign languages

Speaking of foreign languages: At the university there is the possibility to attend one free language course per semester! For example, I learn Chinese for three semesters and then attend English courses. That's always a nice balance to all the technical subjects, and it's also less pressured because the voluntary language courses don't count towards the grade, of course.

Fall 2021: Land in sight

With the seventh semester comes another decision: What do I write my bachelor thesis about? Originally, I had the idea of writing a thesis as part of my project in the port of Hamburg. But then a call for applications from the Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart fell into my hands and I decided to return to the southwest and complete my studies there.

I still have a few lectures anyway, and - finally again - on site!

Again we can choose two lectures, but this time there are only three to choose from, which makes the decision much easier. I decide on factory simulation and logistics planning, because I have already taken a workshop on agile processes at the university in the past.

The grand finale: the bachelor thesis

At the same time, the preparations for the bachelor thesis are starting for me. Before you can start with the thesis, you first have to submit and present a proposal. My tasks at the Fraunhofer Institute are the evaluation of robot data with machine learning methods. So for me it's all about artificial intelligence again, this time with fewer ships and more robots. Also good!

Both with the proposal and with the bachelor thesis itself, I get regular feedback from my supervisors. The experience I was able to gain in Hamburg through the conference paper is benefiting me in my writing, and we were also able to practice scientific work in the information logistics project in the sixth semester.

Spring 2022: To new shores

The bachelor thesis is written and successfully defended - and now? My dream is to study for a Master's degree in AI in the USA, where there are fantastic study programs, all of which are fantastically expensive and have fantastically low admission rates. However, thanks to the small course sizes at the College of Engineering, I have good contact with professors who are very supportive and send letters of recommendation to scholarship committees and universities - successfully! So for me, it's on to a Master's in "Artificial Intelligence and Innovation" at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the fall.

Conclusion

After three and a half years of studying information logistics at the Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences, I can definitely look back on my time as a student with positive feelings. The atmosphere in the faculty is very familiar and you always find open ears for any questions. The curriculum is constantly being adapted to current developments; during my time at HFT, for example, the actuators lecture and the elective subject on the Internet of Things were newly introduced. In the future, there will also be an even greater focus on artificial intelligence as part of the "Knight" project. In the lecture on the Internet of Things, cooperation is primarily with other universities through the use of digital laboratories, but contact with industry is also always maintained at the HFT. For example, through external lecturers who can give a practical insight into their working world in lectures. Of course, you can also make contact with potential employers, especially during the practical semester and during the bachelor thesis.

However, I also had to explain the term information logistics to my friends again and again with some difficulty. Unfortunately, many people think of information logistics more in terms of forklifts and folders than in terms of the Internet of Things, smart buildings, autonomous driving and artificial intelligence. Future students will have an easier time of it thanks to the renaming of the program to digitalization and information management in the winter semester of 2022.