Kulturpreis des Landes Kärnten für Patrick Rodler

Peter Kaiser dankte den Kärntner Kunst- und Kulturschaffenden für ihre „fast seismographische, kritische Reflexion der politischen und gesellschaftlichen Vorgänge im Land und darüber hinaus“. Die Kulturpreisverleihungen sollen auch Anerkennung für das vielfältige Wirken im Kulturland Kärnten sein. Neben Patrick Rodler konnten sich auch Josef Winkler, Cristina Beretta und Franz Hartlieb über den begehrten Kulturpreis des Landes Kärnten freuen.

Patrick Rodler, geboren 1984 in Klagenfurt, ist Privatdozent am Institut für Artificial Intelligence und Cybersecurity an der Universität Klagenfurt. Er studierte Technische Mathematik und Angewandte Informatik und promovierte in Informatik, jeweils mit Bestnoten (summa cum laude). 2023 habilitierte er sich in Informatik mit dem Schwerpunkt Künstliche Intelligenz. Seine Forschungsinteressen umfassen die Qualitätssicherung und Fehlerbehebung in Systemen wie Software, Hardware, Datenbanken, Robotern oder Fahrzeugen, die Lösung von Such- und Planungsproblemen, die computerbasierte Wissensdarstellung und -verarbeitung sowie maschinelles Lernen. Neben Auszeichnungen für seine Master- und Doktorarbeit erhielt er einen Preis für exzellente Lehre der Universität Klagenfurt. Im vergangenen Jahr war er auf allen internationalen Top-Konferenzen im Bereich Künstliche Intelligenz eingeladen, um seine Arbeiten zu präsentieren.

Insgesamt wurden im Dezember 2024 13 Preise mit einer Gesamtdotierung von 91.000 Euro wurden vergeben. Das Land Kärnten folgte damit den Empfehlungen des Kärntner Kulturgremiums. Die Preisverleihung fand am 13. Dezember 2024 in der Carinthischen Musikakademie Ossiach statt.

Foto Copyright: LPD Kärnten/LH Peter Kaiser mit allen Kultur Preisträger-innen 2024

NEWS of Research Group Intelligent Systems and Business Informatics

Project SAELING – SAving Energy by Learning and ImproviNG

Voestalpine uses around 2,500 sawing, grinding and milling machines in its industrial plants. These consume approximately 21 GWh per year, corresponding to the electricity consumption of around 4,750 average Austrian households.

“Metal processing machines on the factory floor fulfil a variety of tasks. At present, the question of which machine should be used for which task and when has yet to be definitively resolved,” states Gerhard Friedrich, head of the SAELING project at the Department of Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity at the University of Klagenfurt. “We need to take many factors into account in order to develop strategies for sawing, grinding and milling in these kinds of workshops in a way that saves energy and resources wherever possible. Considering and simulating these factors along with their full impact is beyond the capabilities of human reasoning. In particular, the behaviour of these machines cannot be described with sufficient precision, but rather it has to be learned for the purpose of optimisation.”

Artificial intelligence methods are now set to significantly reduce energy consumption thanks to more efficient use, as Gerhard Friedrich goes on to explain: “Approaches such as reasoning, optimisation and machine learning will be put to use.”

The results from SAELING should facilitate analogue savings in other production areas. In addition to CO2 emissions, it should also be possible to reduce lubricant consumption, for example. It is intended that the tools developed in the project will be adaptable and can be extended to other areas of application, e.g. at SAELING’s partner Siemens.

For further information visit our HP SAELING and the Magazine Hi!Tech. of Siemens, one of our cooperation-partners.

New Colleague @ SERG

Katharina Stengg

We are delighted to welcome our new colleague Katharina Stengg in the Department of Informatics Systems. Katharina has finished her Master in Informatics at the University of Klagenfurt recently. She started her work in the Software Engineering Research Group (SERG) in January 2025 as part of the SemImpact project. Katharina  strives to finish her doctoral study in the field of Software Engineering and will assist her colleagues in the SERG group.

New Colleague @ IAS

Portrait photo Julian Schwazer

Julian Schwazer

We are delighted to welcome our new colleague Julian Schwazer in the Department of Informatics Systems. Julian has finished his Master in Communication, Media, Sound and Interaction Design at the FH Joanneum (University for Applied Sciences) Graz. He started his work in the Interactive Systems research group (IaS) in January 2025. Julian strives to complete a doctorate study in the field of HCI, will assist his colleagues in ongoing IAS projects and support with IaS-related lectures and courses.