On Monday, December 16, 2024, the first Insiders Capstone project in col­la­bo­ra­tion with Fraun­hofer IESE cele­brated its suc­cessful con­clu­sion. The RPTU Master’s students presented the results of their intensive three-month project work in the newly created Insiders premises.

Insights into practice: students as con­trac­tors

In the Insiders Capstone Project, the students took on the role of the con­tractor, while the auto­ma­tion experts from Insiders, as customers and clients, set a practical challenge from the context of intel­li­gent process auto­ma­tion. Their challenge: the LLM-based deve­lo­p­ment of product inno­va­tion for a no-code tool for gene­ra­ting auto­ma­tion services. Supported by the sci­en­tists at Fraun­hofer IESE, the students largely organized them­selves and developed a deep under­stan­ding of the task at hand over the course of the project. After a didactic-metho­do­lo­gical kick-off phase designed by the Fraun­hofer IESE team, the intensive col­la­bo­ra­tion with Insiders initially began with several requi­re­ment inter­views in which the students analyzed the problem. This was followed by regular reviews with the auto­ma­tion experts, in which progress was discussed and next steps defined. At the final pre­sen­ta­tion on Monday, December 16, 2024, the students proudly presented their results in a small product show.

A no-code service generator at the heart of the project

The special thing about this capstone project: the students worked directly with GenerAItor, Insiders‘ latest no-code tool for gene­ra­ting auto­ma­tion services. This put them at the interface between research, inno­va­tion and business practice and gave them a deep insight into the working methods of a tech­no­lo­gi­cally leading AI company.

Voices at the end of the project

Prof. Dr. Peter Lig­ges­meyer, Institute Director of Fraun­hofer IESE and – together with Insiders‘ Managing Director Werner Weiss – initiator of the project, praised the practical challenge that Insiders gave the students with this capstone project.

Patrick Mennig, Depart­ment Head Digital Inno­va­tion Design at Fraun­hofer IESE, who regularly accom­pa­nies capstone projects in coope­ra­tion with a large agri­cul­tural machinery manu­fac­turer, empha­sizes the special nature of this project: “What was extra­or­di­na­rily exciting about this first Insiders capstone project was that the students had to fami­lia­rize them­selves with an existing solution. This is not usually the case, and it was great to see how they made great progress from initial teething troubles thanks to the support of the Insiders employees. The icing on the cake is the exciting explo­ra­tory crea­ti­vity that arises when lots of young people can try things out.”

To be continued: Insiders Capstone 2025

A repeat of the Capstone project is already planned for 2025. This will further deepen the suc­cessful col­la­bo­ra­tion between Insiders and Fraun­hofer IESE. The close inte­gra­tion of science and practice not only streng­thens the next gene­ra­tion of academics, but also the tech­no­logy location Kai­sers­lau­tern, which is con­stantly evolving as a center for research and inno­va­tion.