Practical learning: Students develop a visitor portal as part of a team project

A practical focus is central to the Faculty of Computer Science at Ulm University of Applied Sciences (THU), and this is particularly evident in the team-based project. During the summer semester of 2026, students worked in seven teams on real-world tasks from the IT industry. One of these projects was carried out in collaboration with ACD Elektronik GmbH: the development of a web-based visitor portal.

The students developed a digital solution for company visits, covering everything from planning and check-in to the automatic notification of contact persons and the printing of visitor passes. The result is a high-performance system based on modern technologies such as Laravel and Docker. The project is now even available as an open-source project at https://github.com/P0etInc0de/VisitorPortal.

The project was supervised by Prof. Dr Alfred Michael Franz, who emphasises its strong practical relevance: “Students learn to solve complex tasks as a team and to apply their knowledge in a targeted manner.” Frederik Timmermann, Head of IT at ACD Elektronik GmbH, also sees the collaboration as a valuable opportunity to combine academic innovation with specific business requirements.

The project demonstrates that students at the THU learn early on to take on responsibility in real-world projects and to develop practical skills.

Image: Group photo of the students and the project team, from left to right: Peter Claaß, Jan Wangerin, Lena Berger, Jonathan Läpple, Jannik Schabel