University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria: A Student Exchange with a Twist

Water hyacinths are native to South America – not Africa. So, at first glance, this wouldn’t seem like the typical topic for an international exchange program involving IT students from Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, South Africa, and the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria (FH Upper Austria) at its Hagenberg Campus. But when African lakes are threatened by this biological “invader” and GPS-powered sensor technology offers a way to tackle the issue, the ideas of top IT students suddenly become highly relevant. Since late October, these students have gathered at FH Upper Austria’s renowned IT hub for a three-week innovation sprint.

The program, called “International Minor: Global Acting in IT,” is a collaboration between FH Upper Austria’s School of Informatics in Hagenberg and four partner institutions: Belgian Campus in Pretoria (South Africa), PXL University of Applied Sciences in Hasselt (Belgium), Fontys ICT in Eindhoven (Netherlands), and Universidad de Lleida (Spain). Students from these universities spend three weeks at each partner institution, working together on a shared project.

Invasive Species – A Global Challenge
The central theme is “Invasive Species” – and the South American water hyacinth is a prime example of one in Africa. With no natural competitors in many African lakes, the plant spreads rapidly, choking waterways and disrupting ecosystems.

At Hagenberg, under the guidance of Volker Christian, students developed floating sensor devices powered by solar energy and batteries, equipped with GPS. These devices are designed to measure key chemical substances in lake water and transmit the data wirelessly to a central hub for analysis. By deploying many of these sensors across lake surfaces, researchers can get a real-time map of chemical distributions, which can then be compared with the spread of water hyacinths – helping scientists draw new conclusions.

African Partners Focus on Real-World Implementation
Project partners include the Center for Biological Control at Rhodes University, the Department of Water & Sanitation of the Republic of South Africa, and the Rotary Club of Brits-Hartbeespoort.

“This year, 15 students took part in this unique international study experience, including two from FH Upper Austria’s Media Technology and Design program,” explains Christina Huber-Beran, head of the International Office at Hagenberg Campus. She sees the program as a one-of-a-kind opportunity for students to study in five different countries within one semester and collaborate in a multicultural team on a meaningful project.

To foster community and cultural exchange, the students enjoyed a welcome dinner at the Hagenberg Campus, a guided tour of the Ars Electronica Center in Linz, and a day trip to Gmunden.

“Three of the Best Weeks of Our Lives”
Jan Saayman, a software engineering student from Pretoria, South Africa, shared his experience: “We were invited by FH Upper Austria to complete our ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) module in Hagenberg. This module is a key part of our project to help solve the water hyacinth problem in the Hartbeespoort Dam in South Africa. Volker Christian taught us so much – from programming different IoT sensors to building a fully functional prototype that we’ll use in our project.”

And since the students also had the chance to explore what Jan calls “the beauty of Austria,” the time in Hagenberg became, for him and his fellow students, “three of the best weeks of our lives.”