Photos © RUB, Marquard
On March 6, the public meta-milestone meeting of the HUMAINE competence center in the form of the spring fair attracted around 130 participants and partners from science, practice and politics to the ZESS research building. On the following day the HUMAINE career fair gave more than 150 job seekers the opportunity to get to know the 24 exhibiting companies with focus on AI from the HUMAINE network and the region.
Transfer HUB for human-centered work with AI
The development and integration of AI into operational work processes requires a multi-actor perspective that takes into account developers, users, managers, executives, top management and employee representatives in equal measure and thus contributes to reliable AI solutions. This approach to work design goes hand in hand with reducing acceptance problems, increasing productivity and quality and ultimately improving work design. This form of organizational change, in which decision-makers are aware of their responsibility and develop reliable solutions, can be successively shaped using the tools in the HUMAINE Toolbox. The interdisciplinary team from various fields such as work science, psychology, computer science and engineering presented the project results of the last four years together with the consortium’s practice partners in the form of the HUMAINE Spring Fair.
HUMAINE as a part of the regional ecosystem
After a festive welcome by the director of the research building ZESS (Center for the Engineering of Smart Product-Service Systems) and co-speaker of HUMAINE, Professor Bernd Kuhlenkötter, the Chancellor of the Ruhr University, Dr. Christina Reinhardt, gave a few words of introduction. The Chancellor praised the success of the HUMAINE competence center and the HUMAINE network association and, together with the consortium, looked back on four productive project years. This was followed by a group interview moderated by the project manager of the competence center, Professor Uta Wilkens. On the topic of “HUMAINE as a part of the regional ecosystem”, three well-known faces from technology, business and culture answered questions about the role of the competence center in the regional network: Professor Sunhild Kleingärtner (Director of the German Mining Museum), Jan Treffon (Managing Director of BO-I-T) and Markus Majdaniuk (Funding Consulting Technology & Innovation, Bochum Economic Development).
The exhibition and its highlights – A new dimension of the HUMAINE toolbox
With just one year of funding remaining, the consortium can look back on a very successful collaboration over the past four years. The fact that the achieved results have matured more and more was also evident at the spring fair: In addition to highlights in the supporting program, such as a panel discussion in the style of a silent disco on the topic of “AI in care” or the human-AI lab that can already be played by small groups, the “‘try it out’ HUMAINE toolbox” was particularly well received. Interested parties were able to gain a deeper insight into selected tools and methods for the human-centered, responsible development and introduction of AI in the working environment. The associated use cases and potentials realized were presented in a total of more than 30 exhibits for visitors to experience. From innovative demonstrators for speech recognition and therapy support in speech therapy to advanced AI applications in digital product service systems and modern quality assurance systems – the trade fair offered a wide range of insights into the practical implementation of the HUMAINE Toolbox.
Building bridges and expanding the network – the HUMAINE Network e.V.
Since its foundation last year, the HUMAINE Network e.V. has continued to develop. The original 23 founding members have been joined by new partners and members, resulting in a stable and broad-based network. This expanded group of members supports regional transfer and the sustainable further development of the competence center beyond the duration of the project. As part of the spring fair, the HUMAINE Network e.V. presented the HUMAINE Award for a particularly positive example of a human-centered AI use case. This year’s winner was the company microsynetics GmbH with its smart emergency bracelet “Gardia”. The AI-based fall detection in combination with an exceptionally long battery life provides decisive added value for users and their environment.
The HUMAINE Competence Center team looks back with confidence on a successful spring fair and would like to thank all exhibitors, partners and interested parties for their participation and the exciting exchange!
The public final event of the HUMAINE competence center in the coming year 2026 will take place at the German Mining Museum. We are delighted to be able to present our results to you in this new setting!
Gallery
Photos © RUB, Marquard
