HTL students develop innovative solutions for the wire industry - hackathon and research & development project tasks

The hackathon not only offered the students with an IT focus a unique opportunity to deal with a real business case, but also enabled them to exchange ideas directly with experts and managers from voestalpine Wire Rod Austria at the St. Peter/Freienstein site as part of the voestalpine Wire Technology Group. This gave them valuable insights into possible career paths and allowed them to gain initial experience in their future professional field.

Other students with a focus on materials and raw materials visited the Research & Development and Innovation department of the voestalpine Wire Technology business unit with its state-of-the-art laboratories, the Technical Competence Center Wire and the energy plant at voestalpine Stahl Donawitz to learn about innovative technologies and sustainable energy supply. They also presented two projects dealing with

• residual materials from the electric arc furnace (EAF) in the construction industry and
• energy storage with large batteries.

Following the presentations, the topics were discussed in depth. In a final round of feedback, further possible collaboration with the 3rd grade material for future projects was considered, while the 5th grade is completing their matura this year.

This program provided the students with valuable hands-on experience and deepened their understanding of the diverse applications of materials and sustainable energy solutions in industry.

The hackathon and the research and development program are part of a long-term cooperation between voestalpine Wire Rod Austria and HTL Leoben.

The high level of interest shown by the students in our company, our products and work processes is particularly pleasing. Through the direct exchange with our employees and the opportunity to actively participate in projects, they not only gain technical knowledge, but also valuable contacts for their professional future.

Many thanks to all participants for their great results and creative ideas as well as to the dedicated sponsors Adrian Häuselmann, Head of IT & Digitalization, Gerhard Neuhofer, Solution Architect and Peter Gruber, Head of R&D and Innovation at voestalpine Wire Technology as well as Michael Schwaiger, Head of Energy Operations at voestalpine Stahl Donawitz, who actively support and promote this event and the sponsorship. We look forward to many more exciting projects with the young talents of the wire industry!