200 young people who have successfully completed their studies or doctorate at TU Ilmenau in the past three months celebrated their graduation on Saturday, August 23, 2025, together with families, friends, fellow students, professors and the university's Presidential Board in the Audimax.
Study
"Ilmenau makes you feel welcome": Master's graduate looks back on a successful period of study at TU Ilmenau
"We often look straight ahead to the next goal instead of pausing for a moment and being proud of what we have achieved. Today should be such a moment," said Master's graduate Maik Seemann in his graduation speech, looking back on the time spent studying at TU Ilmenau on behalf of all graduates: "Regardless of whether it's a Bachelor's, Master's or doctorate - this degree is a great achievement."
"When I came to Ilmenau, I wasn't sure what I wanted," continued the Biotechnical Chemistry graduate.
Today I can say that I have found the answers here. My study program, which seemed uncertain to me at first, turned out to be just the right one. The practical work, the proximity to research and the special atmosphere at this university have shaped my path.
According to Maik Seemann, it wasn't just the cafés, clubs, societies and events that made studying at TU Ilmenau special for him.
I have experienced the openness and helpfulness of the people here. Ilmenau makes you feel welcome, not just as an anonymous number, but as a person with your own strengths and weaknesses. This sense of community is, I believe, one of the greatest strengths of this university.
Passion, courage and commitment
University President Prof. Kai-Uwe Sattler, Vice President for Teaching and Learning Prof. Anja Geigenmüller, Vice President for Research and Young Scientists Prof. Stefan Sinzinger and the deans of the five departments personally presented the graduates, including nine doctoral candidates, with their degree certificates. Five graduates received an award for the best final grade in their year, i.e. a grade between 1.0 and 1.2 and thus a degree "with distinction".
As President of TU Ilmenau, I would like to congratulate you on behalf of all members of the university. I would also like to congratulate you personally on your successful graduation and would be delighted if you remained associated with this - your - university.
This wish was echoed by the Student Council, which honored some particularly committed graduates with the honorary award:
We wish you the same passion, courage and commitment for whatever lies ahead as you have shown during your time here.
Benjamin Ratcliffe, also a student at TU Ilmenau, provided the musical accompaniment to the graduation ceremony.
Electrical Engineering and Information Technology Award awarded for master's thesis on mobile communications
Dennis Hofmann was delighted to receive a special award. The graduate had already been honored for his outstanding degree in February. During the recent graduation ceremony he also received the Electrical Engineering and Information Technology Award from the Förderverein Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik e.V. Ilmenau for his Master's thesis in the study program of the same name. The prize, worth 500 euros, was presented to him by Vice Dean Prof. Jochen Seitz.
In his thesis, Dennis Hofmann investigated how reliably the Ilmenau 5G network can be used for teleoperated driving (level 4) on the way to autonomous driving. To this end, he carried out measurements on predefined routes in Ilmenau's road traffic. To find out whether the mobile network can be used to transmit videos between the vehicle and operator reliably and with little delay, he used his own measurement setup to analyze the image resolution, the codec used and the influence of the time of day and network load on stability and latency, among other things.
The result is a practical evaluation of 5G performance, which has already been incorporated into projects for automated and connected driving in the Ilmenau real-world laboratory, explained Prof. Seitz in his laudatory speech:
This excellent Master's thesis is just the final component of an outstanding Master's degree, which Mr. Hofmann completed virtually in standard study time - despite a stay abroad.
Impressions
