Responding to overwhelming demand for hands-on studies in artificial intelligence, Minerva University is working with Landshut University of Applied Sciences in Germany to enhance student experiences.
The program began as a pilot this past spring, with two Landshut students taking courses related to AI and Data Science with Minerva students. This summer, four Minerva students have worked in Landshut’s AI and mixed reality and artificial intelligence laboratories.
“This allows our students to get experience in a lab environment that is extremely competitive, putting into practice what they’re learning in the classroom,” said Raquel Ribeiro, Director of Data for Learning & Institutional Strategy and Professor of Computational Sciences at Minerva. “Hands-on experience is second to none – something that a simulation can’t compete with.”
This summer, four Minerva students from the class of 2025 worked with robots and computers in Landshut’s Mixed Reality and Artificial Intelligence labs, and their experience has been boosted by internships at BMW. Grigory Artazyan & Maia Lortkipanidze worked on the Clearpath Husky Robot. Chiffon (Tra My) Nguyen worked on object detection in the robotics lab. Felipe Bandeira Ramos worked on optimizing the costs of training computer models.
"Thanks to the great contribution of the Minerva students, the joint project between BMW and the AI lab was a great success,” said Sandra Eisenreich, a Landshut professor who helped oversee the exchange. “The students approached several tasks methodically, ultimately leading to autonomous navigation of a Husky robot, comparing several different approaches using custom-made metrics to achieve the best possible results both in simulations and on hardware in our lab."
Lortkipanidze, from Tbilisi, Georgia, described the internship at BMW as “pivotal” because they are about to enter their senior year and make decisions about a career. “Working in both industry and academia simultaneously, especially with such a big and established company, was invaluable,” Lortkipanidze said.
About Minerva University: Minerva is a unique global university that rotates students among leading cities in four continents, starting in San Francisco. It was just honored as “World’s Most Innovative University” for the third year in a row by the World University Rankings for Innovation (WURI).
About Landshut University of the Applied Sciences: Landshut is a leading German university, based in Bavaria State with strong ties to local industry giants including BMW, Audi and Schott.
For media inquiries, contact:
David L. Marcus
Chief Communications Officer
Minerva University
pr@minerva.edu