Info events, webinars and colourful programme from June 26 to 30, 2023

Lukas Heddendorp develops app for TUM Global Week

Why do we need a special app just for TUM Global Week?

Well, originally the app was made for "TUMi", a student initiative that organizes events for international students on a very large scale. Early this year the TUM Global Office contacted me and asked if they could use the app for their Global Week as well, since they saw how well it worked for TUMi.

What specifically can the app do?

With last year's program the user was only able to fill out forms, nothing more. But in the app I programmed you have a real account, you can see what events you've signed up for and link them to your calendar. So it can do everything necessary for a major event to go smoothly.

How did you get involved in programming the original app for "TUMi"?

In 2018 I spent four months abroad in Singapore during my Informatics Bachelor's studies. After returning from my studies abroad I received information from TUM on which international opportunities I could take advantage of at the university in Munich. That's how I eventually got involved with "TUMi" and started to help out.

Presumably TUMi wasn't yet working with an app at the time...

When I began there, at the start of the semester there was a room where you could register and a line that stretched across half the campus – because all the receipts had to be written by hand. And you could only make payments in cash. That was then entered in Excel spreadsheets and you were given a receipt. Let's just say: I got the feeling there was a lot of optimization possible.

And that got the app rolling?

Exactly. I began to build a digital alternative – even though in the beginning it still only supported cash payments. That's because back then we were a casual student organization that was still part of the university and we weren't permitted to accept online payments. During the pandemic in 2020 we founded a legally registered association, an "e.V.", for "TUMi"; I was the founding president. And that really got the entire project going, I was able to redeploy the app – and since then, among other things, we've also been able to accept payment cards. For example now you can pay the participation fees for all the events online.

That sounds like a decisive improvement.

Yes, especially for students from the Weihenstephan campus in Freising who no longer have to make the trip into central Munich to pay their five euros in cash. Popular events, for example a trip to Berlin, were already full before students could drive in from Freising to Munich in order to sign up in person.

Not every former exchange student gets as involved and committed as you. What experiences abroad had an impact on your student involvement at TUM?

My time in Singapore was incredible. But unfortunately the university didn't offer all that much for exchange students, which was a shame. And exactly that was what I wanted to do better here in Munich. As soon as I was a part of "TUMi", I was also actively involved in its board. When you're at a "TUMi" event it almost feels like you're somewhere abroad. You could maybe call it something like "exchange at home".

What events did you organize during the past semester, for example?

In winter semester 2022/2023 we organized over 400 events. During this period we had a total of 14,000 registrations. Our largest event is called "Party Animals", a two-week series of events with ten to 14 events at the beginning of the semester. That really bonds the people together, and for many people it's the highlight of the semester – before it really even starts.

Let's get back to programming: How much work went into the app? To give laypeople an idea…

I'd estimate the work for the app amounted to probably 2,500 hours.

That's a very precise estimate. What's it based on?

Well, if you take a look at the whole picture, I worked five to 20 hours a week on the app for years, from 2019 to now, 2023. And there was even more work before the beginning of every semester, since that's when all the difficulties had to be straightened out and additions had to be implemented in the app. And it's also an awful lot of code, around 17,000 lines.

Wow, what was your motivation?

Even with all the work, it's fun to have a project which tens of thousands of people have already used, especially when you see how the work you've done results in more experiences for students and better processes for TUMi as an association.

What's your take on the upcoming TUM Global Week? After corona, will it motivate people to go abroad?

I have the impression that TUM really places a high priority on promoting global exchange. TUM wants to support everyone looking to enrich their studies or their area of activity with an international learning experience. Speaking as someone who has studied abroad, I think it was one of the best decisions I ever made. So I'm very glad if the app I developed is a contribution to making sure the TUM Global Week runs smoothly. And maybe since the app supports a simplified and better structured registration process, people who otherwise would not have taken part in the TUM Global Week will attend the events after all.