The future is being made in Heilbronn

At the beginning of 2022, Lukas Kreuzer started as a Senior Software Engineer at the Ferdinand Steinbeis Institute (FSI) in Heilbronn. He agrees with Professor Heiner Lasi to also start studying at 42 – even though he has already completed a three-year training program as a specialist in application development. An interview about cross-border cooperation, passionate coding, and FSI as a crisis winner.

Heiner, why are you interested in 42 Heilbronn?

Heiner: From my perspective, 42 is an innovative education concept with three exciting characteristics. First, students learn coding from scratch. Second, 42 always keeps practice in mind, which I haven’t seen at other universities. And third, 42 attracts doers – this combination is quite unique. With Lukas, we can follow the developmental steps that this training brings, almost live. Over the past two years, he has acquired hard and soft skills that are incredibly beneficial to us: he thinks much more interconnectedly, has an immense will to simply try things out, and finds superior solutions. Lukas, I'm sorry for speaking about you like this...

Lukas: But it’s true! At 42, I essentially learned coding anew. The Piscine was an eye-opening experience. In those four weeks, I learned more than in the three years of training prior. My codes have become much more efficient and cleaner. Above all, you learn to tackle problems. At 42, the instruction is simply: program a 2D game, program a shell – without having previously shown a path to the solution. So, you begin to break down the problem yourself and develop solutions together with your peers. Where I used to stick to standards, I now look for new ways.

Does this approach have a broader significance?

Heiner: Absolutely! One must critically observe that science often works in a self-referential manner. We will only succeed in transforming the economy and society if we link conceptual foundations with implementation competence. The real problems are multifaceted and can only be solved interdisciplinary. 42 shows how that works. Students and graduates can often fulfill this important hinge function.

Can you give an example?

Heiner: At the Eltefa – the Stuttgart trade fair for electrical engineering, energy, buildings, and industry – we carried out a unique hackathon in 2023. Craft masters, electrical engineers, and 42 students spent one and a half days working on concrete solutions for better energy control and optimal load management. Hardware was implemented, interfaces created, and algorithms written. It was fantastic! No one explained why something couldn’t be done; everyone worked with their specific knowledge to find the best solutions. After the presentation of results, the Chamber of Crafts and the participating companies like Siemens were impressed. A medium-sized enterprise told me that in the short time, more had been achieved than in their company over two years. This shows: openness and cross-border collaboration are worthwhile. And the students from 42 played a very important role in this: without them, there would have only been PowerPoint charts with statements about what could theoretically be achieved.

You were at the fair. Would you describe that as one of your highlights?

Lukas: It’s true, great things emerged in Stuttgart. But when asked about a highlight at 42, I can’t name a single moment. It’s more about the overall feeling of life and work. Those intense weekends where you work with other peers on projects for 30, 40 hours straight. Where minds really shine, and you end up extremely happy because you’ve conquered a tough challenge together. I hadn’t known anything like that before.

Is this teamwork something special?

Lukas: Absolutely. At 42, I can ask a question via Slack and get very good answers. And quite quickly too. At my previous employer, we also worked with colleagues. But it was different. The atmosphere was more tense, it felt more like assembly line work. Ultimately, there often was a lack of willingness to really persevere and try something new.

What are you working on at the FSI?

Lukas: Generally, I support everything from the conceptualization to the implementation of IT solutions, often in IoT projects. One specific project is running with the Heilbronn utility HNVG. The goal is to monitor the water supply significantly better than before. The technology, in the form of sensors and smart water meters, is already in place. But it lacks optimal interaction and a way to transmit the data securely and compliant with data protection – in a way that works not only in the laboratory but also in practice.

Back to the topic of practice: how do you, as a scientist, perceive the interplay with the economy in Heilbronn?

Heiner: A fantastic biotope is being created here because so many people are thinking and working across borders. There is also a new openness on the part of the economy. Just two years ago, companies only had a limited desire to deal with new, digital topics. Their order books were full and they had enough on their plate. Now the situation is largely different. Many have to think about how to become fit for the future. How they want to position themselves in competition and where they want to create value - and suddenly they are interested in our concepts. In this respect, we are among the winners of the crisis.