“It’s a unique experience”
The Falling Walls Lab Adlershof showcases innovative research approaches
Anna Vanderbruggen is taking a close look at battery recycling. © Anna Vanderbruggen
Special education teacher Tobias Rieckmann has developed a learning model for people with trisomy 21 © Torben Rieckmann
The who’s who of science will meet up in November for the annual Falling Walls conference. It invited young research talent from all over the world. According to Sanela Schlößer, the competition is all about “breaking through walls and opening up new paths.”
Schlößer works for the science office of the Joint Initiative of Non-University Affiliated Research Institutes in Adlershof e.V. (IGAFA), which is hosting the competition’s preliminary round for North Germany together with the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM). Many innovative thoughts and novel inventions from all science disciplines have been presented at the “Falling Walls Lab Adlershof” on 1 October 2021. At the finale on 7 November, the winners of the preliminary round will be competing to become “Breakthrough winner of the year in Emerging Talents” in their category.
New findings in medicine, natural science, environmental science, mechanical engineering, and agriculture were showcased in Adlershof. Other research projects are committed to breaking new ground in education or aim at fostering understanding between nations through art and design. The ambition of the young researchers is palpable. They are researching a new drug for rheumatism, a vaccine, and new strategies for patient protection and virus testing. One participant found new ways to monitor water quality. The North German applicants come from Berlin Adlershof, Hamburg, and Oldenburg.
Anna Vanderbruggen (29) found her research project while rummaging through her desk drawer in 2018. “There were many old cell phones in my drawer, and I thought to myself: Something must be done against electronic waste,” says Vanderbruggen. Based on her field of expertise, geology, she began to explore how graphite, a non-recyclable key component of lithium-ion batteries, could be better utilised. Her new process increased the proportion of recycled materials by 15 percent.
She wrote her master’s thesis on her new findings at the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) and is currently doing her PhD in that same research field. “This new process helps to comply with new guidelines for batteries.” Her dedication is being noticed. On the side, Vanderbruggen is working for ERZLABOR Advanced Solutions GmbH, a company consulting European recycling businesses.
After her PhD, the French scientist wants to continue working in academia and start her own research group on battery recycling. She is very proud: “I started with nothing. Seeing the project grow so much is really great. I really hope that it will soon be adopted.” She enjoys the challenge of having to present her project in only three minutes like everybody else. “This is really difficult because you really have to concentrate on the essentials. I’m eager to see how the others do it.
Torben Rieckmann (32) has a completely different approach. A qualified special education teacher, he discovered that the common mathematics learning model from 1922, the so-called power of five, has its limits while working with a study of 1,300 people with trisomy 21. By using rows of five, people with learning disabilities were being excluded. “Most people can process up to four elements at once and see immediately when a row of five is complete. People with Down syndrome, however, can only recognise two to three elements,” warns Rieckmann.
Together with his father Rolf Rieckmann, the Hamburg native then began developing “Mathildr”, a mathematics app, which used rows of two instead of five. To help people with Down syndrome distinguish the even and odd number models, he connects two dots at a time with an upward stroke. “The two points looked like cherries.” He is now developing another new app aimed at bringing together children with and without learning disabilities: “Mambio”. It combines the “power of five” with the cherry method from “Mathildr”. Its lessons are individually tailored to each child.
Ulrich Panne, president of BAM and spokesman for the board of IGAFA, is as enthusiastic about the “courageous and innovative ideas” of the young researchers as he is about their creative presentations. This was “the ideal requirement to also convince potential investors,” says Panne. Ursula Westphal, head of IGAFA, knows: “It’s a unique experience. Being interdisciplinary, the labs facilitate new opportunities for exchange and collaboration in the future. Many participants approached me after the conference and were very excited. They were inspired.”
The winning project from Adlershof will be presented at the global finale on 7 November 2021.
Winners of Falling Walls Adlershof 2021
- Anna Vanderbruggen (France) BREAKING THE WALL OF BATTERY RECYCLING
- Sophie Budzinski (Germany) BREAKING THE WALL OF PERSONALIZED MICROBIOTA DIAGNOSTICS
- Torben Rieckmann (Germany) BREAKING THE WALL OF NON-INCLUSIVE MATHEMATICS
Susanne Gietl for Adlershof Journal