© VDE, Hannibal

... 'Special Prize of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research'. This went to Patrick Bär (18), Luca Beetz (17), Josias Neumüller (16) and Marcel Schöckel (16) from Markgraf-Georg-Friedrich-Gymnasium in Kulmbach. They want to avoid back pain caused by a straining sitting posture and have developed a microchip-based "seat sensor" for this purpose. "With the help of various sensors, it recognizes whether you are sitting crooked or bent," explains the team. A vibration motor attached to the back is activated to alert the wearer to the bent sitting posture.