Anyone entering the Helmholtz Institute Ulm (HIU) on October 15, 2026 is searching the empty labs in vain for scientists. More than half of the HIU staff are already sitting on a bus to Nuremberg at 7:00 a.m. We heard, that few months ago, the largest research building of a university of applied sciences in Germany was opened there. In addition it is said that Nuremberg has been home to a branch of the Deutsches Museum since 2021, one that deals consistently not with the past but with the future of technology: the Deutsches Zukunftsmuseum (Museum of the Future). So much innovation and technological ambition? Enough reason to go there and see it for ourselves.
As the sun rises, our large, still somewhat sleepy group is warmly welcomed with coffee and tea at the OHM Innovation Center of the Technische Hochschule Nürnberg. Across roughly 8,000 square meters, we experience a modern demonstration environment for storage and energy management. With the aim of enabling close collaboration between science, industry and society, laboratories, flexible offices, co-working spaces, open workshops and event rooms come together on the former AEG site in western Nuremberg. We gain insights into a wide range of labs: Hydrogen Research, Power Electronics, Hydraulic Engineering, Aerial Robotics, Mobile Robotics and the MakerSpace LEO Labs. Prof. Armin Diez, Prof. Norbert Graß, Prof. Ulrich Ulmer and Felix Zeiss guide us through their different areas of focus. From three-phase motors for large machinery and pumps to rescue robots and hydrogen-powered drones, our technological horizons are broadened. Naturally, the research and innovation building of TH Nürnberg also deals with batteries, which are indispensable for the success of the energy transition. At the Institute for Power Electronic Systems (ELSYS), we reflect on the fascinating link between cell chemistry and electronics.
Time flies. Hunger grows. Inspired, we leave the OHM Innovation Center and hope to see it again soon. Many thanks to Monika Hegner and Julia Hackl for the wonderful support and organization.
Now our group splits up. Half of the HIU staff hasn’t had enough yet and continues to dive into the future of technology. Off we go to Josephs, Nuremberg’s innovation world. Josephs is an exhibition and test space with changing thematic focuses, currently concentrating on artificial intelligence. Visitors are actively involved in the innovation processes of the projects. Among other things, there is also a themed area of the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (Fraunhofer IIS).
The Nuremberg Museum of the Future is also on the agenda. The new branch of the Deutsches Museum in Munich explores the question of how we will live in 10, 20 or 50 years. Exhibited prototypes such as the PopUp Next or a planned air taxi also engage with science fiction. We ask ourselves scientific, but also ethical questions about shaping our future.
Part of our group has had enough visions for the future today and, after the exciting impulses from TH Nürnberg, rather ventures a look at the city’s past. We descend underground into historic rock-cut cellars, tunnels and secret passages.
It is also dark when we arrive back in Ulm in the evening. Nuremberg isn’t exactly “just around the corner.” But since we work on technological progress every day and ask ourselves ethical questions for a successful future, Nuremberg was exactly the right place for our team outing in 2026. We are already looking forward to next year’s trip.
