Building on the success of the past Open University Day in 2025, representatives from the MAESTRI team were involved at Regensburger Hochschultag on February 13th, 2026. About 3.500 prospectives students attended the event and took the opportunity to explore the various faculties and the campus in Regensburg. This event also serves as a platform for presenting current research projects, engaging attendees to discuss about the importance of research for civil progress.
The MAESTRI project was represented by the Project Coordinator Prof. Mikhail Chamonine, the Project Manager Patricia Franz and the delegates Alexey Stepanyuk and Jens Chen of the Beneficiary Partner Wegard, who brought different demonstrators of their gripping technologies with them. Live demonstrations of grippers attracted visitors’ interests and led to active discussions about the functionality of magnetoactive elastomers and their advantages for soft robotics applications.
The team got further support from PhD student Raphael Kriegl, who works side by side with MAESTRI DC1 Chaitanya Doifode in the OTH laboratory Smart Materials and Structures, guided by Prof. Chamonine. Raphael replaces Chaitanya, who is currently at his 2nd secondment at the industrial partner Wegard in Hannover. Fortunately, Raphael proved himself as MAESTRI insider explaining demonstrators and material samples to the visitors.
Regensburger Hochschultag (RHT) is a yearly public event, organised by University of Regensburg, OTH Regensburg and Hochschule für katholische Kirchenmusik & Musikpädagogik (HfKM). School graduates who are interested in starting a degree program in the coming semester are invited to explore the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs of the three organising institutions.
Special thanks go to the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of OTH Regensburg, who once again provided the space for the MAESTRI demonstrations, poster, and integrated MAESTRI project into the faculty’s stand.
Figure 1 MAESTRI representatives Alexey Stepanyuk, Raphael Kriegl, Jens Chen, Patricia Franz and Prof. Mikhail Chamonine at the stand of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of OTH Regensburg (from left to right).
Figure 2 Alexey Stepanyuk explains the application of magnetoactive elastomers to different gripping technologies to an interested visitor.
Figure 3.1 Jens Chen and Prof. Thomas Fuhrmann from OTH Regensburg in conversation.
Figure 3.2 Demonstration of a gripper picking up the MAESTRI logo lookalike material sample.
