As part of the annual engineering colloquium at Hof University of Applied Sciences, the best theses from the Faculty of Engineering were once again honored. The focus of the event was the presentation of the prestigious Raumedic Award – an award that recognizes both technical excellence and practical relevance.
Josua Wicklein received the prize for the most convincing Bachelor’s thesis. His project was dedicated to the three-dimensional measurement and volume analysis of molds in industrial glass container production. The best Master’s thesis was presented by Niklas Renk – he dealt with the modeling and investigation of hydraulic and mass transfer processes in co-current flow in the context of flue gas cleaning.
Science meets practice
The award ceremony, moderated by Dean of Studies Prof. Dr. Matthias Kilian, took place at the university’s Institute for Information Systems (iisys). It not only provided a stage for top scientific achievements, but also a space for exchange between students, professors and industry representatives. Raumedic AG, a long-standing partner of the colloquium, once again presented the awards – including prize money of 1,000 euros for first place, 200 euros for second place and 100 euros for third place.
University President Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jürgen Lehmann emphasized in his welcome speech the central role of engineering sciences for innovation and progress in Germany – and particularly highlighted the practical training at Hof University of Applied Sciences.
Multi-stage selection process
The award winners are determined on the basis of a differentiated ranking. Among other things, the final grade, the supervising lecturers’ assessment of the scientific quality and industrial relevance and – with less weighting – the overall grade in the degree course are evaluated.
Winner of the Raumedic Prize 2025 in the Bachelor’s category
Josua Wicklein’s thesis was supervised by Prof. Dr. Matthias Kilian, who emphasized the graduate’s high level of expertise and commitment in his laudatory speech. In addition to Wicklein, Johannes Dietrich and Pascal Ringler also received awards. Dietrich took second place with his analysis of the correlation between CFD simulation and wind tunnel data on a high-downforce vehicle. Ringler impressed the jury with his development of electronic control components and a digital control system for a magnetic levitation system.
3rd, 2nd and 1st place in the Bachelor’s thesis category (from left): Pascal Ringler, Johannes Diedrich and Josua Wicklein; Image: Hof University of Applied Sciences;
Winner of the Raumedic Prize 2025 in the Master’s category
In addition to winner Niklas Renk, Tina Schörner also came out on top in the Master’s thesis category. She came second with her thesis on energy optimization and decarbonization of rehabilitation clinics through holistic building simulation. Raniya Al Nadzhafi analyzed and evaluated project management software in an international automotive company and was also awarded a place on the podium (3rd place) for her practice-oriented study. All winners received their prizes from Bianca Holler, Global Vicepresident Human Resources at Raumedic AG. She emphasized: “We believe in young talent here locally – and are consciously investing in the young minds of the region.”
Second and first place in the Master’s thesis category went to Niklas Renk and Tina Schörner; third place winner Raniya Al Nadzhafi was unable to attend; Image: Hof University of Applied Sciences;
Technical impetus from the industry
A highlight of the colloquium was the technical presentation by Philipp Repscher, Head of Industrial Engineering in the injection molding division at RAUMEDIC AG. He gave exciting insights into current developments and described his career path as an example of the career paths engineers can take in industry and companies.
