E-charging station of the future: Infineon awards prize to HTL students

What will the e-charging station of the future look like? This was the motto of the "Industrial Design Award" at HTL Ferlach - an Infineon Smart Learning partner school. 17 projects were submitted, and the best four were awarded.  

In the competition, the third and fourth grades of the industrial design department at HTL Ferlach took part and proved their creativity. The goal of the school competition, which was initiated by Infineon Austria for the first time, was to bring the best ideas and concepts for the fast-charging e-charging station of the future forward and to award these ideas with prizes. Because these are essential prerequisites for e-mobility with an area-wide infrastructure.

Sabine Herlitschka CEO Infineon Austria: "With the ideas of the students, we have trend-setting ideas of how fast-charging electric charging can look like and how it can be combined with user-friendliness and sustainability. It shows how creative solutions for topics on the pulse of time can be created with practical cooperation between industry and education. “

E-charging station of the future
The availability of an efficient and fast charging infrastructure is an important building block for the mobility turnaround and makes significant contributions to reducing CO2 emissions. Infineon provides the underlying technologies and power semiconductors for this. They efficiently convert the mains voltage to the requirements of the respective device and enable fast charging.

The students' task was to consider design, form, haptics, user-friendliness, interaction between human and machine, connectivity - i.e. networking with other applications as well as digital payment methods, as well as practical implementation in their ideas. In addition to the concepts the students made some small demo models , which were also closely examined by the expert jury.

Jury member Roland Klauss, founder and managing director of EnerCharge GmbH, a pan-European manufacturer of innovative e-charging technology based in Carinthia, Austria: "The idea of the design competition is great and I am particularly excited about the very practical approach and the motivation of the students. I am extremely positively surprised by many of the ideas and am pleased to be a part of the jury. Moreover, I am confident that the cooperation among all participants will continue to bear fruit beyond the competition."

The winning projects

First place was awarded to Michael Kohlmaier, whose concept impressed the jury in particular with the ecologically selected and regionally available material wood in a cube design look.  Second place went to Laura Zemlo and Dominik Bachmayer. Their project "NOVA" impressed with its curved design with high recognition value.  Third place was shared by two teams: Team one with Christin Werkl and Thitiphon Chobjarung designed a wooden-steel charging station with intuitive user guidance. Team two, with Raphael Plieschnig and Andreas Quehenberger, designed an e-charging station that impresses with its functionality and cost efficiency.  Fourth place went to Elias Gigacher and Jana Wiltsche for the "Simple Charger" with its curved design with large display. 

Silke Bergmoser, principal of HTL Ferlach: "I am particularly pleased that it is possible for our industrial design students to connect the bridges between technology and design as well as between school and industry in the context of the "Charging Station of the Future" competition. Everyone participated with great dedication and commitment. We would especially like to thank Infineon for their generous support of the competition in the context of the Smart Learning classes and EnerCharge for their guidance regarding the technical background.“

Smart World - Smart Learning

The competition is held as part of the  Smart Learning Schools initiated by Infineon Austria. The Smart Learning classes at the HTLs in Wolfsberg, Villach, Klagenfurt Mössingerstraße and Lastenstraße as well as the HTL Ferlach with the specialization "Robotics & Smart Engineering" focus on digital technologies and competencies with the linking of industrial tasks. It is an important contribution to prepare Carinthia's technical talents for the requirements of the future and to inspire more young people for technology education.

Topic becomes more and more relevant

The current figures show how practical and socially relevant the topic of the competition is. By the end of May 2021, 11,700 new e-cars were registered in Austria - an increase of 215 percent compared to the same period last year. According to the  Federal Association for Electro Mobility, there are currently more than 8,000 publicly accessible charging points in Austria - around 500 of which are located in Carinthia  (  www.ladestellen.at). In addition, there are charging points at residential and domestic facilities. According to a study by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), about 30,000 public charging stations will be needed in Austria by 2030 to meet the growing demand. In this context, efficient fast charging is also gaining in importance.

Further links:

Infineon Discoveries   everything about electromobility 

Infineon  efficient fast charging

HTL Ferlach  https://www.htl-ferlach.at/en

EnerCharge  https://enercharge.at/en/

Infineon Technologies Austria AG is a group subsidiary of Infineon Technologies AG, a world-leading provider of semiconductor solutions that make life easier, safer and greener. Microelectronics from Infineon reduce the energy consumption of consumer electronics, domestic appliances and industrial facilities. They make a major contribution to the convenience, security and sustainability of vehicles, and enable secure transactions in the Internet of Things.

Infineon Austria pools competencies for research and development, production as well as global business responsibility. The head office is in Villach, with further branches in Graz, Klagenfurt, Linz and Vienna. With 4,517 employees from around 70 countries (including 1,960 in research and development), in the financial year 2020 (ending in September) the company achieved a turnover of € 3.1 billion. With a research expenditure of 498 million euros, Infineon Austria is one of the strongest research companies in Austria.