Master's students build prototype for bike-sharing provider during online internship
The coronavirus pandemic is constantly presenting students and teachers at HTWK with new challenges. HTWK students Jonathan Buttler, Oliver Drabe and Marius Frick (Master's degree in Industrial Engineering and Management) proved during the 2020 summer semester that exciting projects can be realised despite online teaching and the lack of face-to-face classes: They developed a new type of prototype for the bike-sharing market leader nextbike.
In the online internship organised by Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Robert Böhm (Faculty of Engineering), they worked with nextbike to build a prototype in which lighting elements are integrated into the mudguard and the bike basket (see photo). The lighting is based on electroluminescent films that are embedded in the plastic structure of the mudguard and bike basket. For nextbike, this development results in considerable added value, as advertising media on the prototype produced are now also visible at night.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Robert Böhm, Faculty of Engineering: "I was very pleased with the commitment of Jonathan Buttler, Oliver Drabe and Marius Frick, because in the practical course for the module 'Multifunctional Lightweight Structures' there was only one theoretical feasibility study to be completed. The summer semester started in the middle of the lockdown, and in view of the difficulties with the sudden transition to fully digital teaching, I would have been happy to have a proper theoretical paper. So I was all the more surprised when the three gentlemen announced in the middle of the semester that they wanted to develop a prototype. The demonstrator bike is not only characterised by the integrated flat lighting elements, which saves cables and prevents vandalism damage to the lighting compared to other variants, but it is also economical to manufacture and the illuminated elements are reusable."
Leonhard von Harrach, CEO of nextbike GmbH: "We are delighted with the creative input from the students and are very satisfied with the project result. On this basis, we can now move on to the in-depth feasibility analysis."
nextbike is the European market leader in bike sharing. As a so-called "micro mobility pioneer", the company has been developing smart bike hire systems since 2004. nextbike bike sharing is currently established in more than 300 cities worldwide.
