HSWT students at the second Mind Makers Weekend
From 24 to 26 April, the second Mind Makers Weekend of the Gründungshub Oberbayern took place in Raitenhaslach with around 50 students.
Under the motto „Learn, Create and Grow Together“, the Gründungshub Oberbayern hosted a three-day boot camp at the TUM Academy Centre in Raitenhaslach. Around 50 students from various universities of applied sciences and universities worked together to develop solutions to the challenges of mass tourism. The Gründungshub Oberbayern is a joint initiative of six Bavarian universities of applied sciences. With this initiative, the Bavarian Ministry of Science promotes entrepreneurial, innovative and interdisciplinary skills among students of all disciplines and regional networking among Bavarian universities.
Interdisciplinary teams and various problem areas
Seven HSWT students from the Applied Informatics, Climate Change Management, Agribusiness, Biotechnology, Sustainable Regional Development, International Farm Management and Engineering in Forestry degree programmes worked in interdisciplinary teams to analyse various problem areas caused by increasing visitor numbers in popular tourist destinations. The aim was to develop concrete and realisable solutions for selected challenges.
Within just 48 hours, the nine teams developed a variety of innovative concepts - including the „CityPass“ pre-booking model for Nepal, „SpaceHub“, an AI-based system for reducing noise in busy cities, „BinGo“, a gamified solution for urban waste problems, and „Watermark“, a concept specially tailored to the needs of surfers.
In addition to the intensive project work, the weekend also provided space for exchange, networking and new perspectives between students from different disciplines. The event clearly showed how collaboration, creativity and interdisciplinary thinking can lead to practical solutions for socially relevant challenges.
Inter-university certificate programme
For students interested in innovation, entrepreneurship and shaping the future, HSWT will be offering the "Mind Makers Masterclass" from the winter semester 2026/27. This is a cross-university certificate programme for students of the joint universities of the Gründungshub Oberbayern. The application period for the Mind Makers Masterclass runs from 27 April to 3 June 2026.
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In the historic setting of the Prälatenstock at the former Cistercian monastery of Raitenhaslach, Laura Bruns (HMTM) and Dominik Domnik (LMU) kicked off the weekend with a clear mission: Over the course of 48 hours, participants were to develop a business concept that addresses a social or environmental issue. © Frederik Emmer -
That very first afternoon, the students got started on the design sprint and challenge mapping. © Frederik Emmer -
At the start of the second day, the students worked with the coaches to create various personas. Building on this, they developed “How Might We” questions—a crucial intermediate step that facilitates the transition from problem analysis to solution development. © Frederik Emmer -
On the second day, the teams developed their own business models and created initial prototypes—with the help of AI tools. © Frederik Emmer -
To wrap things up, the teams presented their ideas in short pitches on the third day, which were then discussed together in a plenary session. © Frederik Emmer
