Acer truncatum 'Pacific Sunset' - Chinese Norway Maple

They had taken a Chinese Norway maple (Acer truncatum "Pacific Sunset") to their hearts - but not only because of its heart-shaped leaves - the 48-year-old says. Its beautiful red autumn colours played just as much a role as the pretty epithet "Pacific Sunset", which the mother of two spontaneously fell in love with. "We also take on sponsorship because I feel that, this way, I can help shape our wonderful campus. I think it's a nice idea to pass our family tree on my way to work," she says. It leads her from the office in Vöttinger Straße up Weihenstephaner Berg to the lectures.

These include lectures in all three of the department's bachelor's degree programmes: Biotechnology, Bioprocess Informatics and Brewing and Beverage Technology. It is about Process Automation, Software Engineering or Smart Automation. Claudia Brand introduced the latter area five years ago during her professorship. Her concrete topics are as contemporary as they are future-proof: digitalisation, artificial intelligence or Industry 4.0. With her teaching, she wants to ensure, among other things, that they can also reach small and medium-sized enterprises. And you wouldn't put it past the clever professor if you looked at her career: She earned her doctorate in AI applications in automation technology and worked for over ten years as a software developer and project manager in the industrial field. Together with the students, for example, she built the prototype system of a smart factory. "It was important to me that my students assemble everything themselves and connect it to the corresponding software," she explains enthusiastically. The result is a gift box as a smart product that is automatically configured and filled with the help of two robots and a treadmill. The automated mini-factory automatically ejects faulty boxes.

As the women's representative of her department, Claudia Brand also supports female HSWT students in the BayernMentoring programme. She reports that she has had good experiences with similar programmes. "During my studies, during my doctorate and also in industry, I was lucky enough to have supporters and advisors always at my side. I want to give that back," says the committed woman, who has never felt uncomfortable in a male domain but sees room for improvement by equal rights.

Her heart beats not only for her subject, but, above all, for her students. She lost her heart to her husband, whom she married long before she came to HSWT in spring 2001. "We took our wedding photos at the Salettl in the Hofgarten back then," she reveals. And so the touching circle of her heart's affairs comes full circle: Claudia Brand celebrates the 50th anniversary of HSWT and her 20th wedding anniversary with a family tree in the arboretum - with a tree that bears beautiful heart-shaped leaves.

Distribution: North China, Manchuria, Amur regions.

Size: 5 to 8 metres high

Leaves: deciduous, orange-red shoots, 5-lobed, red colour in autumn

Flower: yellow-greenish, 6 to 8 cm large umbels