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Hall of Fame

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National Champions

Projects
Luca BanszerusMichael Schmitz
Luca Banszerus
Michael Schmitz
Luca and Michael are our only twofold national champions. Together with Tobias Kaufmann they became national champions for the most creative project in 2008. They received this award, which is sponsored by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for fabricating and studying graphene. They also became national champions for the best interdisciplinary project for their work on graphene sensoring in 2010, which also won a 2nd award at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists.
Moritz Plötzing
Moritz Plötzing
Moritz is a 3-fold state champion and a national champion. Additionally, he won a 2nd place on the national level making him one of our most successful young scientists. A particularly outstanding achievement is the fabrication of carbon nanotubes together with Benedikt Lorbach and Meike Spiess in 2004 which was recognized as the best interdisciplinary project in Germany. Moritz won the 2nd place physics on the national level together with Binia Neuer and Benedikt Lorbach for their work on plasma crystals in 2003. Moritz also developed a footmouse in 7th grade, he patented his invention, became state champion in work environment and qualified for the national contest for the first time at this unusually young age.
Benedikt Lorbach
Benedikt Lorbach
All of Benedikt's 3 projects qualified for the state level and 2 of his projects even qualified for the national level. The fabrication of carbon nanotubes by Benedikt, Moritz Plötzing and Meike Spiess was recognized as the best interdisciplinary project of Germany in 2004. Benedikt's remarkable machining skills were essential for this breakthrough. Benedikt, Binia Neuer and Moritz Plötzing were awarded the 2nd place physics in Germany in 2003 for their work on plasma crystals.
Tobias Kaufmann
Tobias Kaufmann
Tobias, Luca Banszerus and Michael Schmitz became national champions for the most creative project in 2008. They received this award, which is sponsored by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for the fabrication and characterization of graphene. Tobias and Cai-Oliver Thier developed a photon counting webcam in 2011, for which they were recognized as state champions in engineering.
Meike Spiess
Meike Spiess
Meike's 4 projects all qualified for the state level, where she won two 2nd places. In 2004, Meike, Moritz Plötzing and Benedikt Lorbach became state champions and national champions for the best interdisciplinary project of Germany in recognition of their work on carbon nanotubes. Another particularly notable achievement is Meike's development of an intelligent toothbrush which won a total of 6 awards in 2001.

National Prize Winners

Projects
Adrian Lenkeit
Adrian Lenkeit
Adrian Lenkeit qualified for the state level contest with 7 of his 9 projects. Adrian, Laurenz Walkowsky and Matthias Schäfers were recognized as state champions in engineering in 2011 for their development of a robotic school assistant. His model of a radio interferometer made him state champion in geosciences and astronomy in 2013. In 2014, Adrian Lenkeit, Björn Bouwer and Nico Hochgürtel became state champions in engineering for their development of a robotic arm with an innovative hand. During the same year, his project on many-body simulations with a graphics adapter was upgraded to the contest "Jugend forscht", made him state champion in computer science and was recognized with the 4th place in computer science in Germany as well as the 4th place in physics and astronomy at ISEF 2015 in the USA. Thus, Adrian accomplished the remarkable achievement of becoming state champion "Schüler experimentieren" and state champion "Jugend forscht" in the same year. Together with Matthias he became state champion in engineering and won the 5th place engineering in Germany in 2015 and the 2nd award of the Acoustical Society of America at ISEF 2016 in the USA for his work on acoustic microfluidics. Finally, Adrian, Marvin Lohaus and Max Oehmichen became state champions in engineering and won the national information technology award with their project wave switches wave in 2016.
Matthias Schäfers
Matthias Schäfers
Matthias Schäfers is a quadruple state champion. In 2011 Matthias, Adrian Lenkeit and Laurenz Walkowsky became state champions in engineering for developing a robotic school assistent. In 2012, Matthias became state champion in geosciences and astronomy for building a model of a radio telescope. Also his third project, a model of a radio interferometer, made him state champion in geosciences and astronomy in the following year. Finally, together with Adrian he became state champion in engineering and won the 5th place engineering in Germany in 2015 and the 2nd award of the Acoustical Society of America at ISEF 2016 in the USA for his work on acoustic microfluidics.
Sebastian Klick
Sebastian Klick
10 award-winning projects make Sebastian Klick one of our most successful and most active young scientists. The development of a novel redox flow cell by Sebastian, Jens Nettersheim and Michael Garzem in 2010 was awarded the 2nd place chemistry in Germany and the Future Technology Award of the German Federal Minister of Education and Research. In 2007, Sebastian and Jochen Dierichsweiler became state champions in computer science for their invention of a stick-computer.
Marion Kreins
Marion Kreins
Marion's work on protection of waters from nitrides in 2013 won the 2nd place geosciences and astronomy in Germany, the main award of the federal environment competition and the 1st award of the RWE smart energy contest. She also became the European champion in the student contest of the Siemens Foundation.
Jens NettersheimMichael Garzem
Jens Nettersheim
Michael Garzem
Jens, Michael and Sebastian Klick developed a novel redox flow cell in 2010, which was recognized with the 2nd place chemistry in Germany. Their work also won the Future Technology Award of the German Federal Minister of Education and Research and various other awards.
Rufus Wegner
Rufus Wegner
Rufus was recognized with the 2nd place biology in Germany for his polyculture study in 2022.
Rolf HartmannRamona PickLaura Eschweiler
Rolf Hartmann
Ramona Pick
Laura Eschweiler
Rolf, Ramona and Laura won the 2nd place biology in Germany in 2014 for their first project Silphium perfoliatum - An Energy Source of the Future .
Binia Neuer
Binia Neuer
Binia, Benedikt Lorbach and Moritz Plötzing were recognized with the 2nd place physics in Germany for creating plasma crystals in 2003.
Florian Kotzur
Florian Kotzur
Florian qualified for the state level with each of his 4 projects. In 2004, Florian and Stefan Krumpen became state champions in engineering for their work on microfluidics. During the following year, their project on photonic crystals did not only make them state champions in physics, but it also won the 5th place physics in Germany.
Stefan Krumpen
Stefan Krumpen
Stefan is a twofold state champion. Stefan and Florian Kotzur were recognized as state champions in engineering for their project on microfluidics in 2004. The following year, they became state champions in physics and they won the 5th place physics in Germany for their work on photonic crystals.
Heiko Burau
Heiko Burau
5 projects make Heiko a very active young scientist. In 2008 he became state champion in computer science for his work on numerical modelling with a graphics adapter, which also won the 3rd place computer science in Germany. In 2005, Heiko's work on physics experiments with the cell phone won the 3rd place computer science at the state level.
Evgeny Ulanov
Evgeny Ulanov
In 2015, Evgeny Ulanov and Philipp Schnicke became state champions in physics and they also won the 4th place physics in Germany in recognition of their development and study of a memristor. Furthermore, Evgeny and Noah Schneiders were awarded the 2nd place geosciences and astronomy at the state level in 2014 for their homemade radio interferometer.
Philipp Schnicke
Philipp Schnicke
In 2015, Philipp Schnicke and Evgeny Ulanov became state champions in physics and they also won the 4th place physics in Germany in recognition of their development and study of a memristor.
Stefan HeimersheimJosef Nagelschmidt
Stefan Heimersheim
Josef Nagelschmidt
In 2014, Stefan Heimersheim, Josef Nagelschmidt and Frank Hartmann became state champions in physics and they also won the 4th place physics in Germany in recognition of their quantum entanglement experiments. Furthermore, they were awarded the 2nd place physics on the state level for their study of novel reflection and refraction phenomena at metasurfaces in 2013.
Eric Plum
Eric Plum
Eric qualified for the state level with both of his projects. His patented novel lighting system for bicycles won the 3rd place engineering on the state level in 2001. Eric became the state champion for the best interdisciplinary project in 2003 for his work on pulsars, which also won the award of the German Aerospace Center on the national level for the best aerospace-related project. Furthermore, Eric ranked 16th in the Physics Olympiad (national level of Germany) and qualified for the state level competition of the Mathematics Olympiad in 2002.
Daniel Schlich
Daniel Schlich
7 projects make Daniel Schlich one of our most active young scientists. He qualified for the state level contest with 4 of his projects. His work on saving energy at schools won the 2nd place work environment on the state level in 1995 and it was the foundation for one of the most successful projects of our school: Saving energy at St. Michael-Gymnasium. The latter work made Daniel Schlich, Britta Pielen and Tobias Plötzing state champions in work environment and won a total of 8 awards including the special award rational energy use on the national level and the 3rd main award of the federal environment competition. Another remarkable work by Daniel Schlich is the virtual radio sky, which was recognized with the 2nd place geosciences and astronomy on the state level in 1997.
Tobias Plötzing
Tobias Plötzing
Tobias qualified for the state level with 2 of his 3 projects. Tobias, Daniel Schlich and Britta Pielen became state champions in work environment in 1996 for their project on saving energy at our school, which also won the special award rational energy use on the national level and the 3rd main award of the federal environment competition. In 1998, Tobias Plötzing, Britta Pielen and David Schnicke were recognized with the 3rd place geosciences and astronomy on the state level for their work on protecting the environment using satellite imaging. Another interesting work by Tobias is his study of Peters' elephantnose fish, which led to the development of a life tissue sensor.
Britta Pielen
Britta Pielen
Britta Pielen qualified for the state level with both of her projects. In 1996, her work on saving energy at St. Michael-Gymnasium made her, Tobias Plötzing and Daniel Schlich state champions in work environment in addition to winning the special award rational energy use on the national level and the 3rd main award of the federal environment competition. Britta Pielen, Tobias Plötzing and David Schnicke also won the 3rd place in geosciences and astronomy on the state level in 1998 for their project on protecting the environment using satellite imaging.
Marvin LohausMax Oehmichen
Marvin Lohaus
Max Oehmichen
Marvin Lohaus, Max Oehmichen and Adrian Lenkeit became state champions in physics in 2016 for their project Wave Switches Wave, which also won the creativity award of the State Minister for Schools and the national information technology award.
Frank Hartmann
Frank Hartmann
In 2014, Frank Hartmann, Stefan Heimersheim and Josef Nagelschmidt became state champions in physics and they also won the 4th place physics in Germany in recognition of their quantum entanglement experiments.

State Champions

Projects
Daniel Reschetow
Daniel Reschetow
Daniel is a double state champion. Daniel, Sebastian Dederichs and Bastian Polaczek became state champions in work environment in 2006 for developing laser safety goggles. This work also won the award for the project of greatest creative value on the state level. Daniel and Florian Büttner became state champions in geosciences and astronomy in 2012 in recognition of their project on the radio moon and a radio telescope as a learning environment.
Cai-Oliver Thier
Cai-Oliver Thier
Cai-Oliver became state champion in engineering in 2007 for developing a safe laser pointer, which can point on the screen, but not into the eyes of the audience. He repeated this success 4 years later with his 2nd project. Cai-Oliver and Tobias Kaufmann became state champions in engineering in 2011 for developing a photon counting webcam.
Björn BouwerNico Hochgürtel
Björn Bouwer
Nico Hochgürtel
In 2014, Björn Bouwer, Nico Hochgürtel and Adrian Lenkeit became state champions in engineering for their development of a robotic arm with an innovative hand. Björn and Nico repeated this success in 2015 with their work on soft robotics for which they were also recognized as state champions in engineering.
Robin Stein
Robin Stein
5 projects make Robin one of our more active young scientists. He qualified for the state level competition 3 times, winning the 2nd place twice and the 1st place once. Robin Stein, Daniel Merget and Florian Merget became state champions in engineering in 2003 for their project "A better life for superman". Superman actor Christopher Reeve has been paralysed since a riding accident. As he can only move his head, the team of students invented a system that allows a wheelchair to be controlled by head movements (video). Another particularly interesting project is "Physics experiments in the microwave oven" by Robin Stein and Moritz Plötzing which won the 2nd place in physics on the state level in 2001.
Andreas Bülow
Andreas Bülow
Andreas Bülow qualified for the state level contest with all of his 3 projects. His first project on metamaterials won the 3rd place in physics on the state level in 2007 and he won the 2nd place in physics on the state level in 2010 for studying chirality and metamaterials. In 2009, Andreas, Mike Schmidt and Niklas Trzaska became state champions in physics for their work on terahertz radiation.
Daniel Merget
Daniel Merget
Daniel Merget qualified for the state level contest twice. Daniel, Florian Merget and Robin Stein became state champions in engineering in 2003 for their development of a wheelchair controlled by head movements (video). Daniel Merget and Meike Spiess won the 2nd place in physics in 1999 for developing an intelligent traffic sign.
Sophia Uhlmann
Sophia Uhlmann
Sophia qualified for the state level with 2 of her projects. The project of Sophia and Anna Schweinem on recycled paper in 2001 was particularly successful and made them state champions in work environment. This project was very noticeable for the teachers and students of St. Michael-Gymnasium as Anna and Sophia raised awareness for environmental issues by selling recycled paper products at our school. Their profit was donated for projects in Piéla in Burkina Faso.
Alexander SolmsStefan Maibücher
Alexander Solms
Stefan Maibücher
Alexander Solms and Stefan Maibücher became state champions in engineering in 1996 for their work on swimming pools without chlorine. In 1997 they won the 2nd place in work environment on the state level for their project "Catching the energy thief".
Kilian Günthner
Kilian Günthner
Kilian Günthner was recognized as state champion in engineering in 2009 for constructing a digital reflecting microscope. His work on flood protection in 2008 won the 2nd place in engineering on the state level and the Nicolaus August Otto Special Award for Innovation.
Jochen Dierichsweiler
Jochen Dierichsweiler
Jochen and Sebastian Klick were recognized as state champions in computer science in 2007 for inventing a "stick-computer".
Florian Büttner
Florian Büttner
Florian is an unusually active young scientist with a total of 6 projects. In 2012, Florian and Daniel Reschetow were recognized as state champions in geosciences and astronomy for their project on the radio moon and a radio telescope as a learning environment.
Sebastian Benden
Sebastian Benden
Sebastian Benden became state champion in physics in 2005 for his work on organic electronics.
Florian Merget
Florian Merget
Florian Merget, Daniel Merget and Robin Stein became state champions in engineering in 2003 for their project "A better life for superman", where they developed control mechanisms that allow paralysed people to use a computer and a wheelchair.
Mike SchmidtNiklas Trzaska
Mike Schmidt
Niklas Trzaska
Mike Schmidt, Niklas Trzaska and Andreas Bülow became state champions in physics in 2009 for their work on terahertz radiation, which also won the award of the Hans-Hermann Franzke Foundation.
Sebastian DederichsBastian Polaczek
Sebastian Dederichs
Bastian Polaczek
Sebastian, Bastian and Daniel Reschetow developed laser safety goggles, which made them state champions in work environment in 2006. Their work was also recognized with the award for the project of greatest creative value on the state level.
Anna Schweinem
Anna Schweinem
Anna Schweinem and Sophia Uhlmann became state champions in work environment in 2001 for their project entitled "Recycled paper, why not?".
Laurenz Walkowsky
Laurenz Walkowsky
Laurenz Walkowsky, Adrian Lenkeit and Matthias Schäfers became state champions in engineering in 2011 in recognition of their development of a robotic school assistant.

Upgraded State Prize Winners (1st-3rd)

Note: Especially good projects can be upgraded from the contest "Schüler experimentieren" to the contest "Jugend forscht". In order to be placed 1st-3rd at the state level, these regional champions have to beat the significantly older competition.
Matthias Zalfen
Matthias Zalfen
Matthias Zalfen and Luca Mennen were upgraded to the contest "Jugend forscht" in 2010 for their first project, which provided a solution for simple recognition of vascular disease, and they won the 2nd place in engineering on the state level. In 2013, Matthias, Leon Heinen and Katja Schneider won the 2nd place in physics on the state level for their project on nanowires.
Leon Heinen
Leon Heinen
Leon Heinen and Lukas Trippe were upgraded to the contest "Jugend forscht" in 2011 for their first project, the invention of a novel X-ray apparatus, and they won the 2nd place physics on the state level. In 2013 Leon, Matthias Zalfen and Katja Schneider also won the 2nd place in physics on the state level for their project on nanowires.
Luca Mennen
Luca Mennen
Luca Mennen and Matthias Zalfen were upgraded to the contest "Jugend forscht" in 2010 for their first project, which provided a solution for simple recognition of vascular disease, and they won the 2nd place in engineering on the state level.
Lukas Trippe
Lukas Trippe
Lukas Trippe and Leon Heinen were upgraded to the contest "Jugend forscht" in 2011 for their first project, the invention of a novel X-ray apparatus, and they won the 2nd place physics on the state level.

Honorary Members

Walter Stein
Walter Stein
Walter Stein began supporting gifted and interested students with research projects at St. Michael-Gymnasium on 5th November 1985. From 1986 until his retirement in 2015 he guided 169 of the 241 projects of St. Michael-Gymnasium participating in the student research competition "Jugend forscht". He supervised 73 of the 83 projects that qualified for the state level competition and 16 of the 19 works, that qualified for the national level competition including all 3 national champions. His major contributions to student research and beyond (e.g. co-founding the contest "Jugend forscht" on the Iberian Peninsula) were recognized with the national Teacher of the Year Award 2001, ThyssenKrupp's Idea Generator Award 2006 and the Helmholtz Association's Teacher Award 2006. In 2008, his students won the Award of the European Physical Society for their project "Nanotechnology and School" at the international festival "Science on Stage". Walter Stein's contributions were recognized with a Knight's Cross (Verdienstkreuz am Bande) awarded by the German President Joachim Gauck at Bellevue Palace in 2013.
Veronika Stein
Veronika Stein
Veronika Stein has supervised 15 projects between 1998-2016 winning a total of 65 awards. This includes 8 projects that qualified for state level competitions and 4 projects that qualified for national competitions. With respect to the competition "Jugend forscht", she supervised projects that won the 2nd place in chemistry at the national level in 2010, the 2nd place in Germany in geosciences and astronomy in 2013, the 2nd place at the national level in biology in 2014 and the national information technology award 2016 of the German Aerospace Center. Her students were also exceptionally successful in the student competition of the Siemens Foundation. They include the winners of the award for the project of greatest creative value 2012 and the European champions 2013.

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