"Sustainability Award of the Department of Computer Science" presented for the first time

At the Computer Science Alumni Day on Friday, 24.1.25, the Sustainability Award initiated by the Sustainability Commission of the Department of Computer Science was presented for the first time. The jury decided to award the prize in two categories.

Social Sustainability
In the category "Social Sustainability", Beate Bollig, Alexandra Cloodt, Kevin Kleinhesseling and Mayavan Nagendram received the prize for the mentoring program in the introductory phase of studies.

Technical sustainability
In the "Technical Sustainability" category, Maximilian Krebs and Ben Hermann received the prize for their SPEAR project ("Static Analysis for Predicting the Energy Consumption of
Computer Science Programs").

The Sustainability Award and the selection process

The prize was created to recognize the performance and commitment of project teams and individuals to sustainable topics related to IT. The
definition of sustainability is explicitly understood as an integrative concept that ensures the long-term viability of the global ecological, economic and social system. Faculty members should be encouraged to become actively involved in sustainability in research and teaching. The Computer Science Alumni Association is sponsoring the prize with a total of €1000.

The prize jury, consisting of members of all status groups of the department, the Dean's Office, the TU Sustainability Office and the Computer Science alumni, was impressed by the very high standard of the six submissions.
The jury's decision was supported by a public vote in which feedback and opinions on the submissions were obtained from the department.
The jury received an equal number of entries that primarily addressed social sustainability issues (Sustainable Development Goals 5 and 10) and entries that focused on climate protection measures, technological solutions for infrastructure and resource consumption (Sustainable Development Goals 9, 12 and 13). The jury did not consider it expedient to weigh these up against each other, so a prize was awarded in each of the two categories.

Social sustainability: jury appreciation
In the "Social Sustainability" category, mentoring was awarded to a program that has been established at the department for over 10 years to support non-traditional students and has had a lasting effect on many students and diversity at the department.
Numerous positive comments were received from the department.
The program was described as a "great thing, as many students from non-academic households have a difficult start". In particular, there were also many personal testimonials, such as: "Without the
mentoring program and without the help of my mentor at the time, I would never have made it through my studies. He gave me really good support and advice". There was also praise for the fact that the organizers of the mentoring program "actually tackle a problem".

Technical sustainability: jury's appraisal
In the "Technical Sustainability" category, "SPEAR" was chosen as a tool for the static analysis of C/C++ code. The tool, which is based on a bachelor's thesis, offers developers the opportunity to estimate the impact of their code on the expected energy consumption of the program. This offers significant potential for saving CO2 emissions.
The jury particularly appreciated the strong computer science connection and the proximity to research with exciting and challenging questions as well as the high degree of innovation and potential overall effect (also beyond the TU).
The voices from the department described the approach as "very important, as there is a lot of inefficient software" and as an "innovative tool that can be used 'hands on' and has a direct impact". The potential reach was also seen here: "Potential to raise awareness of
energy efficiency in software development [in] not only research, but also industry".

Thanks and outlook
The Department of Computer Science would like to thank all entrants for their contributions and the Alumni Association for generously providing the prize money. The prize will be awarded again in 2025.

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