April 28, 2025
Plano, Texas, USA
Siemens Digital Industries Software, in collaboration with Sony, has held the first Immersive Design Challenge with the aim of empowering today’s students with the tools and skill set needed for their role in the workforce of tomorrow. The challenge saw 900 participants, representing 230+ universities from 38 countries, to create impactful ideas, develop their digital mindset and digital skill set – and to learn more about how sustainable design principles can be combined with immersive engineering technology to imagine the future.
“We’ve had an incredible global response to our first immersive design challenge,” said Dora Smith, senior director, Future Workforce and Academic Strategy, Siemens Digital Industries Software. “Students from around the world leveraged our microcredentials to master new domains. They brought creativity and critical thinking to develop sustainable solutions, addressing wicked challenges in food scarcity, healthcare and battery lifecycle management. The experience the teams have gained during the challenge helps prepare them to be real-world ready in the future workforce.”
A global response across 38 countries
The first round consisted of short questions about the student’s product / idea and their understanding of Immersive Engineering. The second round featured a short list of 40 teams who developed and visualized their ideas with support from Siemens experts and mentors using Siemens’ NX™ Student Edition. Alongside the learning and networking opportunities, all challenge participants earned digital badges to recognize their achievements.
Bringing ideas to life before a live online final
Three finalist teams worked with Siemens’ NX™ Immersive Designer software and the Sony XR head-mounted display on campus to bring their idea to life with support from Siemens’ experts. The teams presented their concepts during a live online event and included teams from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia and Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Germany.
The projects ranged from immersive engineering-based digital twin of Formula Student car, simulation and visualization of a horticulture focused lunar lander to a project to increase recycling efficiency, improve battery performance and reduce waste in the automotive battery industry.
Comprised of representatives from Siemens alongside Hirohito Henry Kondo, General Manager, New Contents Creation Business Unit, XR Business Division, Sony Corporation and Prof. Dr. Paloma Diaz, Professor, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain & Chair of the Global Engineering Deans Council, the Jury selected NextCycle from FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany as the team whose idea best addressed the challenge. The jury considered criteria such as level of innovation, quality of the business case, how well the team leveraged Siemens’ NX Immersive Designer and the Sony XR Headset, and the sustainability impact of the team’s idea.
The NextCycle team impressed the jury with their innovative concept 'BatteryTwin XR: an Integrated Digital Twin for a Sustainable EV Battery Lifecycle' - demonstrating not only technical creativity but also a clear commitment to sustainability and real-world impact.
Winning team is crowned
Following the announcement, NextCycle team leader, Suavi Yildirim shared “This challenge has been an incredibly rewarding experience for our team, pushing us to think creatively and collaborate effectively. A special thanks to our Siemens mentor, Buket Kurtulus, the entire Siemens team, and our university for their unwavering support. I truly believe all three finalist teams did an excellent job, and I look forward to the opportunity to continue collaborating and refining our solutions for real-world implementation in the future.”
The team members from NextCycle are invited to participate in Siemens’ Realize LIVE event later this year and their university will receive a Sony XR head-mounted display and one-year license for NX Immersive Designer.
The Immersive Design Challenge was initiated by Siemens’ academic and future workforce team. To learn more about the challenge and the finalist teams, visit: https://immersive-design-challenge.com/
Siemens Digital Industries Software helps organizations of all sizes digitally transform using software, hardware and services from the Siemens Xcelerator business platform. Siemens' software and the comprehensive digital twin enable companies to optimize their design, engineering and manufacturing processes to turn today's ideas into the sustainable products of the future. From chips to entire systems, from product to process, across all industries. Siemens Digital Industries Software – Accelerating transformation.
Note: A list of relevant Siemens trademarks can be found here. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners.
Email: press.software.sisw@siemens.com
Link to Press Release
Plano, Texas, USA
Siemens Digital Industries Software, in collaboration with Sony, has held the first Immersive Design Challenge with the aim of empowering today’s students with the tools and skill set needed for their role in the workforce of tomorrow. The challenge saw 900 participants, representing 230+ universities from 38 countries, to create impactful ideas, develop their digital mindset and digital skill set – and to learn more about how sustainable design principles can be combined with immersive engineering technology to imagine the future.
“We’ve had an incredible global response to our first immersive design challenge,” said Dora Smith, senior director, Future Workforce and Academic Strategy, Siemens Digital Industries Software. “Students from around the world leveraged our microcredentials to master new domains. They brought creativity and critical thinking to develop sustainable solutions, addressing wicked challenges in food scarcity, healthcare and battery lifecycle management. The experience the teams have gained during the challenge helps prepare them to be real-world ready in the future workforce.”
A global response across 38 countries
The first round consisted of short questions about the student’s product / idea and their understanding of Immersive Engineering. The second round featured a short list of 40 teams who developed and visualized their ideas with support from Siemens experts and mentors using Siemens’ NX™ Student Edition. Alongside the learning and networking opportunities, all challenge participants earned digital badges to recognize their achievements.
Bringing ideas to life before a live online final
Three finalist teams worked with Siemens’ NX™ Immersive Designer software and the Sony XR head-mounted display on campus to bring their idea to life with support from Siemens’ experts. The teams presented their concepts during a live online event and included teams from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia and Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Germany.
The projects ranged from immersive engineering-based digital twin of Formula Student car, simulation and visualization of a horticulture focused lunar lander to a project to increase recycling efficiency, improve battery performance and reduce waste in the automotive battery industry.
Comprised of representatives from Siemens alongside Hirohito Henry Kondo, General Manager, New Contents Creation Business Unit, XR Business Division, Sony Corporation and Prof. Dr. Paloma Diaz, Professor, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain & Chair of the Global Engineering Deans Council, the Jury selected NextCycle from FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg in Germany as the team whose idea best addressed the challenge. The jury considered criteria such as level of innovation, quality of the business case, how well the team leveraged Siemens’ NX Immersive Designer and the Sony XR Headset, and the sustainability impact of the team’s idea.
The NextCycle team impressed the jury with their innovative concept 'BatteryTwin XR: an Integrated Digital Twin for a Sustainable EV Battery Lifecycle' - demonstrating not only technical creativity but also a clear commitment to sustainability and real-world impact.
Winning team is crowned
Following the announcement, NextCycle team leader, Suavi Yildirim shared “This challenge has been an incredibly rewarding experience for our team, pushing us to think creatively and collaborate effectively. A special thanks to our Siemens mentor, Buket Kurtulus, the entire Siemens team, and our university for their unwavering support. I truly believe all three finalist teams did an excellent job, and I look forward to the opportunity to continue collaborating and refining our solutions for real-world implementation in the future.”
The team members from NextCycle are invited to participate in Siemens’ Realize LIVE event later this year and their university will receive a Sony XR head-mounted display and one-year license for NX Immersive Designer.
The Immersive Design Challenge was initiated by Siemens’ academic and future workforce team. To learn more about the challenge and the finalist teams, visit: https://immersive-design-challenge.com/
Siemens Digital Industries Software helps organizations of all sizes digitally transform using software, hardware and services from the Siemens Xcelerator business platform. Siemens' software and the comprehensive digital twin enable companies to optimize their design, engineering and manufacturing processes to turn today's ideas into the sustainable products of the future. From chips to entire systems, from product to process, across all industries. Siemens Digital Industries Software – Accelerating transformation.
Note: A list of relevant Siemens trademarks can be found here. Other trademarks belong to their respective owners.
Contacts for Press
Siemens Digital Industries Software PR TeamEmail: press.software.sisw@siemens.com
Link to Press Release