This study explores a simulation-based approach to improve machine availability in a manufacturing environment by integrating Smart Manufacturing principles and sensor-based modeling. Focusing on the case study of a paper envelope production line in a manufacturing plant in Peru, the study applies SIMIO software to simulate and compare two operational scenarios: the existing configuration without sensors and a proposed configuration with predictive sensors. In addition, the impact of unscheduled interruptions of the cutting machine on production was analyzed. Post-SIMIO simulation, real-world machine testing yielded a mean time between failures (MTBF) of 11.5 hours, a mean time to repair (MTTR) of 52 minutes, 78.5% operational availability, and an average daily output of 5400 envelopes. Simulating sensor detection of paper jams, blade breakage, and misalignment resulted in 92.3% availability in the enhanced scenario. This represents a notable improvement of 13.8% compared to the real-world scenario. These findings demonstrate that SIMIO's digital modelling and sensor-based predictive techniques can boost production capacity, decrease downtime, and increase machine availability without transforming the physical system. This study emphasizes the importance of simulation and smart manufacturing in optimizing industrial performance and reducing costs. 

We explored perceptual and aesthetic effects of repetition, variation, and deviation in visual structures. Based on previous findings in aesthetics research, we hypothesized that non-obvious order or complex variations of shape or color stimulate perception and potentially evoke interest. People trained in design or fine arts created six sets of visual structures, each on a 6x6 grid by a) repetition of a module consisting of four dark-grey elements (two rectangles and two triangles), b) variation through systematic rotation of the module, and c) deviation from this ordered variation by altering one element of each module. Furthermore, they varied color by replacing one element in each module of each structure with a light-grey element. Another group rated these images block-wise in randomized order on liking, interest, powerfulness of affect, and obviousness of order on a 7-point-scale. In addition, we collected responses to an open question regarding the individual focus when rating powerfulness of affect and we asked for each person’s background and interest in art and design. Visual structures appeared most interesting and powerful to participants when they showed a systematic variation (b) compared to a repetition of the modules (a) or a deviation from order (c). Images gained higher liking ratings the more obviously ordered they appeared, whereas obviousness of order played a less clear role for powerfulness of affect and showed no significant effect on interest evaluations. Color variations had no overall positive aesthetic effect. In response to our open question, some participants reported that they experienced less powerfulness of affect when elements showed a simple order but also when they appeared to be arranged arbitrarily. Future studies could assess how intentional a structure appears; this could apply not only to ordered structures, but also to apparently deliberate deviations from order.

Abstract

This work presents detailed 3D modelling and simulation of the mechanical effects induced by lightning strikes in protected carbon fibre-reinforced polymer laminates. Firstly, physically based models that represent the mechanical overpressure that results from a lightning strike are revisited. In particular, this paper compares the implementation of an analytical strong shock wave approximation with the solutions obtained from computational fluid dynamics (CFD), considering different equations of state, to represent the supersonic expansion of the hot plasma channel when simulating the mechanical damage induced by lightning strikes. The assessment of the pressure profiles, the numerical predictions of the displacement and velocity fields and the analysis of the predicted damage maps show that, for two lightning protection layers, the effects of the supersonic plasma expansion loads obtained from the strong shock wave approximation compare reasonably well with those obtained from CFD, independently of the equation of state solved numerically. Subsequently, the predictions of the 3D modelling strategy of the mechanical response of composite laminates subjected to lightning strike employing the strong shock wave approximation are compared with mechanical deformation measurements obtained from lab-scale lightning test results. Accurate deflection and out-of-plane velocity fields are predicted, validating the 3D modelling strategy. Moreover, the predicted damage maps correlate well with the (bulk) damage identified by C-scan (considering only the damaged area below the second ply).

Life-Cycle Performance of Structures and Infrastructure Systems in Diverse Environments contains the lectures and papers presented at the Ninth International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering (IALCCE 2025, Melbourne, Australia, 15–19 July, 2025). This book includes the full papers of 228 contributions presented at IALCCE 2025, including the Fazlur R. Khan Lecture, seven Keynote Lectures, and 220 technical papers.

The papers cover recent advances and cutting-edge research in the field of life-cycle civil engineering, including emerging concepts, new theories and innovative applications related to life-cycle design, assessment, inspection, monitoring, repair, maintenance, rehabilitation, and management of structures and infrastructure systems under uncertainty. Major topics covered include: life-cycle carbon assessment of civil infrastructure systems, life-cycle design and assessment for structures and infrastructure systems, life-cycle management of civil infrastructure,  whole life costing,  life-cycle risk analysis and optimization of civil infrastructure, and life-cycle  digital tools for civil engineering, among others.

This open access book provides both an up-to-date overview of the field of life-cycle civil engineering and significant contributions to the process of making more rational decisions to mitigate the life-cycle risk and improve the life-cycle safety, reliability, resilience, and sustainability of structures and infrastructure systems exposed to diverse environments in a changing climate for the purpose of enhancing the welfare of society. It will serve as a valuable reference to all concerned with life-cycle of civil engineering systems, including students, researchers, practitioners, consultants, contractors, decision makers, and representatives of managing bodies and public authorities from all branches of civil engineering.

The design review process is part of the building permit in Germany. In a paper-based process, the exchange of information is performed by sending a set of documents and drawings to the relevant parties.

Documents and drawings in the format PDF become more accepted by building authorities in Germany. Also, the application of BIM in the construction industry is increasing. The change of accepted digital formats requires also adjusted methods for the exchange of information. Especially the problem of transferring meta data related to documents arises.

Existing proposals for the exchange of meta data given in codes are analyzed in this paper. The suitability for design review processes is evaluated and legal issues are considered. Known methods for the exchange of meta data are only partly suitable in the context of design review processes. Hence, a proposal for standardized meta data in design review processes for buildings is developed.

Kaum eine Begrifflichkeit im Kontext des digitalen Marketings dürfte in jüngerer Zeit so viel Aufmerksamkeit erhalten haben, wie die des „Metaverse“. Das damit beschriebene Zusammenwachsen von virtueller und physischer Welt kann neue Geschäftsmodelle ermöglichen und birgt das Potenzial, die Bedingungen an den digitalen Märkten auf den Kopf zu stellen – auch wenn dafür aktuell noch einige Hürden zu überwinden sind. Dabei scheint es angebracht, sich von allzu einseitigen dogmatischen Zielvorstellungen zu lösen. Denn neben teilweise sehr abstrakten Zukunftsvisionen existieren heute bereits zahlreiche realisierte Anwendungsfälle, die der angestrebten Fusion beider Sphären schon sehr nahekommen.

Nicht zuletzt im Entertainment Segment, auch etwa im Kontext des Gamings, ist dabei die Entwicklung besonders weit fortgeschritten. Auf Gaming-Plattformen wie Fortnite, Minecraft oder Roblox treffen sich - virtuell - Millionen von Menschen, natürlich um zu spielen, aber eben auch zunehmend im Rahmen von Events. Innerhalb von in sich geschlossenen virtuellen Welten wie Sandbox oder Decentraland, werden Festivals und Veranstaltungen entsprechend unserer physischen Realität inszeniert, mit dem Ziel, ein möglichst „immersives“, also den analogen Anmutungen und Gewohnheiten entsprechendes Erlebnis zu gewährleisten.

Auch die Musikindustrie hat diese Spielwiese für sich entdeckt: Bereits 2019 trat der US-amerikanische Produzent und DJ Marshmello live, „digital“ auf der Online-Game-Plattform Fortnite auf und spielte ein Konzert vor 10 Millionen „virtuell“ anwesenden Zuschauern. 2020 konnte Travis Scott diesen Rekord auf 27,7 Millionen User ausbauen. Im gleichen Jahr spielte ein virtualisierter Lil Nas X auf Roblox und generierte dabei 33 Millionen unique Viewers (Regan, 2021).  Inzwischen gibt es neben diesen Spiele-Plattformen eine ganze Reihe von virtuellen Event-Locations vom Spezialanbieter Ceek.io – der Konzerte von Bon Jovi und Lady Gaga im Angebot hat – bis hin zu Meta (Facebook), das 2022 anlässlich des Superbowls die Foo Fighters für ein immersives Konzert auf einer Virtual-Reality-Bühne inszenierte (WuV, 2022).

Wenngleich sich derartige virtuelle Auftritte bisher noch auf den musikalischen Mainstream konzentrieren, bietet das Metaversum jedoch auch für die Spielarten des Metals Chancen, sowohl auf der Veranstalter- als auch auf der Künstlerseite. Konzerte und ganze Festivals könnten ins Metaversum verlegt oder durch parallele virtuelle Veranstaltungen begleitet werden. Merchandise und Musik lassen sich sowohl analog als auch (zusätzlich) digital, etwa als NFT, in der virtuellen Sphäre verkaufen. Und auch Backstage- und VIP-Erlebnisse ließen sich, den analogen Gepflogenheiten entsprechend, virtuell abbilden.

Der vorliegende Beitrag widmet sich - auf Basis einer ethnographisch-technischen Analyse - konzeptionell den Chancen, die sich der Veranstaltungs- und Musikbranche und dabei insbesondere dem Metal-Segment sowie den einschlägigen Festivals im Metaversum eröffnen. Konkret soll untersucht werden, welche Innovationspotenziale virtuelle Welten für die Branche bieten, welche Ansätze bereits erfolgreich sind und welche Erfolgsfaktoren für virtuelle Events, den Handel von korrespondierendem Merchandise und für ein nachhaltiges Branding bestehen. Welche Hindernisse sind dabei für ein erfolgreiches Agieren in virtuellen Sphären zu überwinden? Und wie lassen sich die bestehenden Geschäftsmodelle virtuell anreichern oder übertragen? 

Der Rückgriff auf ChatGPT & Co. vereinfacht vieles im Alltag. Es ist unkompliziert und naheliegend, sich insbesondere Texte durch generative KI schreiben zu lassen oder auch Zusammenfassungen von komplexen und langen Artikeln damit zu erstellen, gerade wenn Zeit und Aufmerksamkeit begrenzt sind. Aber werden wir damit nicht zu bequem? Lassen wir unsere grauen Zellen damit verkümmern? Oder verkennen wir mit solchen Fragen das Potenzial der Technologie? Und welche Kompetenzen brauchen wir dann überhaupt in Zukunft noch?

This paper presents an extension of the Subject-oriented Business Process Management (S-BPM) methodology to integrate organizational structures and agent assignment mechanisms. While S-BPM offers a robust framework for modeling business processes based on the Parallel Activity Specification Schema (PASS), it lacks explicit constructs for associating organizational agents—such as humans, machines, or services—with process subjects. To address this gap, we propose an enhancement of the S-BPM methodology by incorporating an external organizational model and an Organizational Query Language (OQL) interface. This extension enables fine-grained specification of process initiation permissions, dynamic assignment of agents to subjects, and direct derivation of access rights to business objects from process models. Our approach leverages an organization model server to evaluate OQL expressions at runtime, supporting context-sensitive and rule-based agent selection. We demonstrate how these enhancements facilitate advanced organizational scenarios, such as context-dependent approval processes and multi-agent assignments. By embedding access rights directly into process models, our solution eliminates the need for traditional access control lists. This integration significantly improves automation, compliance, and maintainability in enterprise environments.

Künstliche Intelligenz ist derzeit in aller Munde – zwischen Innovationshype und wachsender Skepsis. Auf den bpa Care about Innovation days wird Prof. Dr. Andreas Wagener gleich doppelt vertreten sein: mit einer Keynote zum Spannungsfeld zwischen KI und Nachhaltigkeit – sowie einem praxisorientierten Workshop, der Einsteiger den konkreten Umgang mit generativer KI vermittelt.

Im Interview spricht er über Chancen und Herausforderungen der Technologie – und erklärt, warum gerade die Sozialwirtschaft ein besonderes Potenzial hat, von KI zu profitieren.

In this paper, we introduce a novel approach to reliably verifying DRAM addressing functions and function components from software. We perform the first systematic analysis of 5 DRAM function reverse-engineering tools on 2 different DDR3, 4 DDR4, and 4 DDR5 system configurations, revealing a significant variance in the success rate of these tools, from 0% to 92.9%. We discover the previously unknown rank selection side channel and reverse engineer its function on two DDR4 and two DDR5 systems. These results enable novel DDR5 row-conflict side-channel attacks, which we demonstrate in two scenarios: First, we evaluate the DDR5 row-conflict side channel in a covert channel with 1.39 Mbit/s. Second, we evaluate the channel in a website fingerprinting attack with an F1 score of 84% on DDR4 and 74% on DDR5.

This paper systematically analyzes 32 offensive Rowhammer papers, including 48 experiments. However, we avoid finger-pointing but identify 6 threats to the validity and relevance of Rowhammer research results and give multiple examples. The threats include small sample sizes, over-estimated attacker capabilities, unrealistic attack scenarios, non-comparability of the results, age and wear of hardware, and sub-optimal attack performance metrics. Additionally, we provide recommendations with detailed justification to the scientific community to mitigate those threats: (1) pre-experimental testing of DIMM integrity, (2) increasing and broadening the DIMM sample size, (3) expanding reproduction studies of published work, (4) defining attacks in real-world conditions and distinguishing them from theoretical ones, (5) publishing DIMM manufacturing data, (6) documenting DIMM wear and, (7) leveraging multiple metrics for bit flip evaluations.

This study explores the influence of student-generated electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) on university image within the context of an increasingly competitive higher education landscape. Drawing on social identity and congruence theories, we examine how both satisfied and dissatisfied students' positive and negative eWOM influences the highereducation institution's brand perception. The study reveals that dissatisfied students demonstrate social creativity. Despite their dissatisfaction, they spread positive eWOM, which further increases their self-brand incongruity. Student (dis)satisfaction has a significant impact on the detrimental effect of students' negative eWOM on the educational institution's brand image. Students' (dis)satisfaction also moderates the influence of commitment on self-brand incongruity. It is imperative for educational administrators to foster a strong relationship between students and their institution, as high levels of commitment can mitigate the perceived incongruence of dissatisfied students and enhance the institution's image. The study's insights highlight the strategic value of managing eWOM for policymakers and administrators in higher education.

Industrie 4.0 hat mit der Verschmelzung von physischen Systemen und digitalen Lösungen wie Künstliche Intelligenz (KI), Internet of Things (IoT) und Cloud-Computing einen tiefgreifenden Wandel in der Fertigung ausgelöst [1]. Im Zentrum dieser Entwicklung steht der Digitale Zwilling (DZ) [2] – eine virtuelle Abbildung physischer Objekte und Prozesse, welche Echtzeitüberwachung, Simulation und Optimierung ermöglichen. Trotz ihrer Vorteile stehen DZ in verschiedenen Sektoren vor erheblichen Herausforderungen bei der Einführung. Hohe Implementierungskosten sowie technische und organisatorische Probleme hindern die Industrie häufig daran, den vollen Nutzen aus diesen Lösungen zu schöpfen [3].

Ziel dieser Studie ist es, die Lücke zwischen neuen Technologien und deren praktischer Anwendung zu schließen. Sie verfolgt den Ansatz, ein kostengünstiges und leicht umsetzbares DZ-Modell mit TRL von 5 zu entwickeln, allein mithilfe frei verfügbarer Open-Source-Plattformen und gängiger kommerzieller Software.

Digitale Zwillinge verbessern die Echtzeit-Überwachung, die vorausschauende Wartung und die Automatisierung. Trotz des weitverbreiteten Einsatzes in der Fertigung, der Automobilindustrie und im Gesundheitswesen wird die Technologie in der Landwirtschaft nur begrenzt genutzt [4]. Generelle Hindernisse für die Einführung in Deutschland sind strenge Datenschutzgesetze (77 %), ein Mangel an Fachkräften (64 %) und finanzielle Zwänge [5]. In der Landwirtschaft kommen Unsicherheiten bezüglich der Rentabilität, hoher Anschaffungskosten und begrenztem technischen Support hinzu [6].

Trotz dieser Herausforderungen können DZ die Digitalisierung der Landwirtschaft verändern, indem sie virtuelle Darstellungen von Anlagen und Prozessen in Echtzeit liefern und so die Landwirtschaft nachhaltig unterstützen. Angesichts des hohen Anteils der Landwirtschaft an Treibhausgasemissionen und Energieverbrauch [7] können DZ dabei helfen, CO₂-Emissionen, Biodiversität und Bodenqualität systematisch zu erfassen und so die nachhaltige Entwicklung fördern [8].  

Virtual reality has proven to be a valuable addition in the tool belt of teachers. Immersive learning environments are applied in various settings, including, but not limited to the medical and nursing domain. In this study we present “We care in VR”, a simulation for practicing nursing tasks for care at home, a part of nursing that is currently underrepresented in available VR applications. We investigate how realistic interactions are perceived by end users compared to consistent usage of buttons on the controllers and how they affect the ease of use of the simulation. We conduct an empirical study with 50 participants from three vocational schools of nursing and a university of applied sciences. Results suggest that our simulation already works quite well and is accepted by the target group, but still needs improvement regarding ease of use, especially for users without any previous experience with VR applications.