FH St. Pölten: Record year with 5 innovation prices and digitization power!

FH St. Pölten: Record year with 5 innovation prices and digitization power!

St. Pölten, Österreich - The St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences looks back on a record -breaking year 2024. With over 4,000 students and more than 1,600 employees, the university has established itself as an important player in the educational landscape of Lower Austria. The total revenue rose to 50.4 million euros, which prompted managing directors Johann Haag to rate the year as extremely successful. It particularly emphasizes the growth and future orientation of the FH. The Federal Minister of Digitization, Eva-Maria Holzleitner (SPÖ), praised the FH as a model model for Austria and referred to the high number of students and employees.

Mayor Matthias Stadler (SPÖ) emphasizes the role of the university as an innovation engine in the region. In 2024, over 150 research projects were implemented, many of them in close cooperation with companies. These partnerships are crucial for the practical orientation, emphasizes FH managing director Hannes Raffaseder, who emphasizes the importance of knowledge transfer in research.

innovations and awards

A special success of the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences was the award with five awards at the innovation award of the State of Lower Austria. The excellent projects dealt with current technological challenges, including topics such as artificial intelligence, data protection and virtual reality. Managing Director Gabriela Fernandes emphasizes the high quality of the research carried out.

The excellent projects include:

• Visual Analytics in Data Driven Journalism (Valid) : Development of new techniques for data visualization for journalists.
• Sonicontrol : An acoustic firewall that blocks the audio tracking of mobile devices and is already available in the Google Playstore.
• Immoage : AI-supported methods for determining the age of buildings by image analyzes.
• pixelvr : Use of virtual reality to plan office workplaces.
• GF+ asset tracking : Use of Bluetooth technology for tracking containers in large companies.

digital transformation in the field of education

The FH St. Pölten plays a central role in digital transformation, which is considered technological development in the 21st century. This transformation influences many areas of life, including economic and social structures. Universities such as the FH St. Pölten actively contribute to integrating digital technologies into research and teaching and promoting the accessibility of digital research data.

The main topics of digitization include open science and the usability of research data. Institutions such as the Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research are committed to the expansion of digital technologies in university formation in order to convey the necessary digital skills. These developments are also part of the overall Austrian university development plan, which defines digitization as a systemic goal.

With the planned opening of a real laboratory for artificial intelligence in the coming year, the St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences shows that it wants to continue to be head of digital innovation development. The support of the state of Lower Austria strengthens the teaching and research in the field of AI, which is of crucial importance for both the university as well as for regional and national partners.