New ideas, intensive exchange, and ten strong project pitches: At the second Hyper Pitch Day of the OPEN Community, ten teams presented their approaches for the next funding phase. The meeting took place on December 2, 2025, at CADENAS in Augsburg. André Mankowski, research associate in the Interconnected Automation Systems working group headed by Prof. Dr. Henning Trsek, was present as a voting member of the jury and supported the selection process for the six funding recommendations.
Ten pitches, six funding recommendations
Hyper Pitch Day kicked off with a keynote speech on “Digital Solution Finding” and an update from the OPEN Community, followed by two sessions in which a total of ten project ideas were presented. Following the pitches, discussion rounds and exchange formats enabled a technical assessment of the approaches presented. The jury then voted on the funding recommendations – six teams received a positive evaluation. The community is providing a total funding volume of €500,000 for these six projects.
The projects presented covered a broad spectrum: from AI-based assistance and logistics optimization to CNC simulation and cross-manufacturer system configuration. In addition, there was plenty of opportunity for discussion, exchange, and new networking opportunities throughout the day.
inIT brings applied research perspectives to the jury's work
While inIT took to the stage itself at the first Hyper Pitch Day and presented a sponsored pitch with “PLC-as-a-Service” – thereby gaining membership in the OPEN Community – this time the focus was clearly on the technical evaluation of the ideas submitted and the exchange with the project partners involved. As a voting member of the jury, André Mankowski brought the perspective of applied research to the decision-making process.
Insights into the first Hyper Pitch Day: https://www.init-owl.de/aktuelles/news/detail/foerderung-und-mitgliedschaft-in-der-open-community/
Exchange as a key added value of the community
Hyper Pitch Day once again demonstrated how valuable exchange within the OPEN community is—both for the further development of joint project ideas and for understanding current challenges.
“I found the pitches and the subsequent exchange particularly interesting. You get a very direct insight into the challenges the project teams are addressing and how diverse the approaches are. This open and constructive exchange with different perspectives is what makes the community so valuable for everyone involved,” says André Mankowski.