Source: Own Illustration
Summer, sunshine, and a great atmosphere – the perfect conditions for the IT Center Summer Party 2026. In glorious weather, employees, trainees, and student assistants gathered at Wendlingweg to spend an eventful afternoon and evening together. Amid cool drinks, delicious food, and plenty of conversation, there was, of course, also time for games, fun, and group activities.
The official kickoff took place around 1pm with welcoming remarks by Professor Matthias Müller, Director of the IT Center, and the department representatives. In his speech, Prof. Müller warmly welcomed everyone and took the opportunity to thank several colleagues who had recently retired to a well-deserved retirement. Jens Hektor also ensured a successful start to the summer party by treating the staff to a keg of beer as a farewell gift.
IT Center Olympics
A summer party without the Olympics? Hard to imagine! This year, however, the popular event was tweaked slightly. Instead of fixed teams, everyone could decide on the spot whether they wanted to participate. After signing up, each person received a scorecard with six stations that could be completed in any order.
Participants had to complete at least three stations and score at least one point at each to have their score count. At each station, members of the party team served as judges, awarding points and stamping the scorecards with an animal stamp as a reward.
The stations included:
Giant Jenga:
This required a delicate touch: The goal was to add at least two levels to the tower without causing it to collapse. The more levels added, the more points you could earn.
Can Toss:
Using three balls, the goal was to knock over as many cans as possible. Sounds easy – but it wasn’t always.
IT Center Memory:
The Party Team designed a custom memory game specifically for this event, featuring motifs from the IT Center. These included pictures from past parties, of Professor Matthias Müller, and of the AixCAVE. Participants had 90 seconds to find as many matching pairs of cards as possible.
Flipchart:
In this memory challenge, participants had to memorize various symbols and then draw them as accurately as possible from a distance. For one minute, they ran back and forth between the flipchart and the standing table – concentration and stamina were equally important.
Cornhole:
In this popular throwing game from the U.S., the goal was to throw as many of the six beanbags as possible into a wooden board set at an angle with a hole in it.
Basketball:
Those with a good touch could score points here: The goal was to make as many shots as possible in a short amount of time on a mini-basketball machine.
After completing the stations, the scorecards were submitted to the respective departments. The total score was then divided by the number of participants in each department.
This year, the Computational Science & Engineering (CSE) department secured the victory. Andrea Bönsch accepted the IT Center trophy on behalf of the team. Congratulations!
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- Source: Own illustration
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- Source: Own illustration
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- Source: Own illustration
Enjoying the Day Together
While participants were competing for points at the game stations, there was also plenty of activity at the grill and salad buffet. Thanks to the numerous donations of salads and cakes, there was something for every taste, and the beverage cart provided cool drinks for the perfect refreshment.
Well into the evening, everyone ate, laughed, chatted, and celebrated the summer in high spirits. Once again, the summer party offered the opportunity to meet colleagues outside of the daily work routine, make new connections, and have a great time together.
A heartfelt thank you goes to the party team, which organized the summer party with great dedication again this year. We’d also like to thank the IT Center management for making this joint event possible. We’re already looking forward to the upcoming fall party!
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- Source: Own illustration
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- Source: Own illustration
Responsible for the content of this article is Hannah Loock.
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