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Sunset at the North Campus © Roland Baege​/​TU Dortmund
Westfalenhallen

Two Events Showcasing Artificial Intelligence

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Group photo with eight people on a stage, with AI24 in the background © Fraunhofer IML
The internationally renowned AI expert Prof. Sebastian Thrun was presented with the first Lamarr Award at AI24. From left: Lamarr Co-Director Prof. Michael ten Hompel, Lamarr Co-Director Prof. Stefan Wrobel, Lamarr Co-Founder Prof. Katharina Morik, award winner Prof. Sebastian Thrun, NRW Science Minister Ina Brandes, TU President Prof. Manfred Bayer, Lamarr Co-Director Prof. Christian Bauckhage and Lamarr Co-Director Prof. Jakob Rehof.
On 4th and 5th September, two events focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) took place at the Westfalenhallen in Dortmund: “AI24 – The Lamarr Conference” in cooperation with the 42nd Future Congress Logistics and the “IN2AI” trade fair. TU Dortmund University was involved in both events.

As the first scientific conference in Central Europe on application-oriented AI, particularly in industry and logistics, “AI24 – The Lamarr Conference” connected science and business on a regional, national, and international level. The program included highly topical issues from cutting-edge AI research and its application in business, including generative AI, the use of AI in industry and logistics, and AI education for future generations. The conference was organized by the Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, in which TU Dortmund University, the University of Bonn, and the Fraunhofer Institutes for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems IAIS and for Material Flow and Logistics IML collaborate. Around 700 people attended.

“AI algorithms and their machine learning will determine the competition in the future – this is especially true for industry and logistics,” said Prof. Michael ten Hompel, Co-Director of the Lamarr Institute and Senior Professor of Information Logistics at TU Dortmund University, at the opening. “That’s why we bring together the best from all worlds – from research, industry, and politics – at AI24 with the goal of creating new communities and discovering cooperation potentials to actively shape the future of applied AI.” NRW Prime Minister Henrik Wüst emphasized in his speech on the second day of the conference: “For North Rhine-Westphalia, the research and application of Artificial Intelligence is an important future topic. For our economic location, Artificial Intelligence is also a central driver, as the structural change in many regions of the state shows.”

AI24 was held in cooperation with the “Future Congress Logistics – 42nd Dortmund Talks,” which has been successfully established in Dortmund for over 40 years and this time focused entirely on the main theme “Industrial AI & Logistics,” highlighting the industrial application of AI.

Lamarr Award and Digital Logistics Award Presented

The first day of the conference started with welcomes from, among others, Dortmund’s Mayor Thomas Westphal and NRW Minister for Culture and Science Ina Brandes, followed by the presentation of the first Lamarr Award. This year, the award went to Prof. Sebastian Thrun from Stanford University, an internationally renowned pioneer in the fields of AI, robotics, autonomous driving, and digital education. “Even today, we have tremendous AI innovations in the pipeline that will gradually help us all lead better lives,” Thrun said in his keynote and urged: “Germany should position itself as a global leader in this fundamental technology through a new level of curiosity and openness from all members of society.”

As part of AI24, the 7th Digital Logistics Award was also presented. This international award was initiated by the Digital Hub Logistics, in which TU Dortmund University is involved, and is one of the most highly endowed awards in the logistics start-up scene. The first prize, worth 9,000 euros, went to the Hamburg start-up toern, which offers solutions for the returns management of online shops. The second prize (4,000 euros) went to Logistikbude GmbH, founded by four TU graduates and supported by the Center for Entrepreneurship & Transfer (CET) at TU Dortmund University. The start-up offers a software solution for managing reusable load carriers such as pallets, containers, and shelves.

“IN2AI” Focused on the Transformation of Industry and Logistics

At the same time, the “IN2AI” trade fair took place at the Westfalenhallen in Dortmund, dedicated to the transformation of industry and logistics through Artificial Intelligence. The CET was represented with a stand, and CET employee Sina Ramin Sadegh Nadi moderated the stage program on both days. On 5th September, start-ups that emerged from the university or are supported by the CET – thinkBIC, Dr. Q, Logistikbude, Slapstack, Valoon, and Datenlabel – competed in the pitch “AI made IN & FOR Dortmund.” Additionally, the AI service center “WestAI,” in which TU Dortmund University is involved, also presented itself at the fair.

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