diwodo2023

From September 25 to 30, everything in Dortmund revolved around digitization and innovations: Under the motto “Innovations from the neighborhood”, the Digital Week Dortmund (#diwodo) took place for the seventh time. More than 200 events offered an exciting and diverse program and made it clear how close and simple digitization can be.

The city teams “University & Science” and “Smart City” were also involved: Together with other cooperation partners, they invited to an Open House and Science Slam on Tuesday, September 26, at the “Projektor – Raum für Innovationen und Zusammenarbeit” on Westenhellweg 136. The visitors could expect many exciting activities and offers to participate and inform themselves.

Dortmund app and science quiz

Directly at the entrance, the new Dortmund app, which had shortly before entered the official test phase, was presented: the two developers Niels Schlunder and Manuel Schenk explained the functions of the app and answered many questions. Using a QR code, participants were able to download the app, try it out and give their feedback.

Those who wanted to test their knowledge were in the right place at the Masterplan Wissenschaft booth. With a science quiz, participants were able to answer exciting questions in the categories Nerd Edition, Family and Kids, and Fun Facts, and thus learn something new. Who would have thought that the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel experimented with dynamite at the Dorstfeld colliery? Or that the City and State Library was built in 1,000 days?

Science slam

From 6:00 p.m. on, it was “clear the stage”: Together with the Leibniz Institute for Human Factors Research at the Technical University of Dortmund, the City of Dortmund invited to the Science Slam. Four female scientists presented their research topics within ten minutes. In entertaining, creative presentations, they explained complex relationships and showed how interesting science can be. The audience then decided by applause.

Scientist Marie Beaupain started her slam with the win-guarantee formula she had learned at other science slams: always start with cute animals! However, with her topic, “Electrifying: How we use noninvasive brain stimulation to study learning,” it wasn’t so easy. For animals that can generate electrical voltage are usually eels or catfish, and thus usually not very cute. But Marie Beaupain didn’t let it get her down and finally found the ideal animal in the form of the fictional animal “Pikachu” from the Pokémon video game series, which is both huggable and can generate electrical voltage. With the support of the little yellow fluffy Pokémon, Marie Beaupain explained her field of research and thus won the hearts of the audience and the Science Slam.

All slams at a glance:

• Dr. Laura-Isabelle Klatt – You can’t get in here: Bouncers in the brain
• Zhwan Mahmoud – “Evil Scientists:ins who conceal cancer drugs from the public and why cancer could have been cured long ago.” – All lateral thinkers:inside, always
• Dr. Hannah Schade – Science Eats Its Children
• Marie Beaupain – Electrifying: How we use noninvasive brain stimulation to study learning processes in the brain.