Kategorie: ‘Events, Anniversarys & Success’
From AI to IPv6: ACI User Group 2026
Source: Own illustration
Once a year, the ACI User Group brings together experts from academia and industry to discuss the latest developments in modern data center networks. This year, the meeting took place June 23–24, 2026, at BMW in Dingolfing, Bavaria. A total of 40 participants from various sectors—including service providers, banks, automotive manufacturers, and the IT Center at RWTH Aachen University – exchanged views on current challenges and future developments in the operation of complex IT infrastructures.
The IT Center also plays an active role in shaping the User Group: Our colleague Benedikt Paffen, as a user representative in the Cisco environment, was involved early in the conceptual planning and further development of the event, contributing the users’ perspective.
Key topics included high-performance networks for AI applications, IPv6 integration, compliance management, monitoring, increasing security requirements, and the future of virtualization. The annual event provides a platform for exchanging experiences, evaluating new technologies, and jointly discussing solutions for the further development of modern data center environments.
SysAdmin Day 2026: A Quick Peek Behind the Scenes
Source: Own illustration
Today, July 31, marks another SysAdmin Day, a day on which we’d like to thank system administrators for their important work. From workstations to servers, networks, and applications, sysadmins ensure that everything runs smoothly every day and often solve problems before anyone even notices them. Our colleague Peter took a lighthearted look at the daily work of an IT admin. Was it satire and what is reality? Much of what he describes is actually closer to everyday work life than we’d sometimes like to admit.
IDM.nrw Office Officially Launched
Stefan Drees (MKW), Aylin Gündogan (RWTH), Matthias Müller (RWTH)
Source: Own illustration
As research, teaching, and administration become increasingly digital, the importance of secure, cross-institutional identity management continues to grow. Researchers, students, and staff expect seamless and secure access to digital services—regardless of the university or research institution they belong to. Federated identity management provides the foundation for making this possible.
To sustainably support higher education institutions across North Rhine-Westphalia and to coordinate the further development of shared identity infrastructures, the IDM.nrw Office has been established.
The office was officially inaugurated during a launch event held at the IT Center of RWTH Aachen University on 20 May 2026. Representatives from universities across North Rhine-Westphalia, the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the DFN Association, and numerous partners from the research and higher education community joined the event to mark this important milestone. Read the rest of this entry »
IT Center Summer Party 2026: Celebrating Summer Together
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.
CLAIX-2025: Next Milestone for HPC at RWTH Aachen University
Source: Own illustration
With CLAIX-2023, a major step was taken in 2023 toward a modern, energy-efficient, and scalable High Performance Computing (HPC) infrastructure at RWTH Aachen University. Now, CLAIX-2025 marks the next milestone, bringing significant additional CPU computing power to strengthen the field of traditional HPC simulations. In addition, a targeted expansion in the field of machine learning (ML) marks an important step forward. The new system went live on July 13, 2026, and seamlessly complements CLAIX-2023 as part of the proven 1-cluster concept at the Tier-2 level.
The IT Center at the 13th Aachen Company Run
Source: Own Illustration
The IT Center was once again represented at this year’s Aachen Company Run. The 13th Aachen Company Run did not take place at the end of September as usual, but instead on Friday, July 3, 2026. Due to construction work at the event site, the run was moved to early summer.
Follow-up Report: Lenovo Customer Advisory Forum 2026
Peter Watzlawik at Lenovo Customer Advisory Forum 2026.
Source: Own illustration
This year brings a change regarding customer meetings with framework agreement partners and manufacturers. The new framework agreement for IT client hardware was accompanied by a change in manufacturer. As a result, RWTH and all participating universities in North Rhine-Westphalia were supplied with devices from Lenovo starting September 2025. Our colleague Peter Watzlawik, who is part of the working group for client tenders in collaboration with Department 7.3 – Central Purchasing, was invited by Lenovo to this year’s Customer Advisory Forum (CAF). The event took place from June 9 to 11 in Noordwijk aan Zee, near The Hague.
Read the rest of this entry »
A Look Back at the RWTH Talk Lehre 2026: AI in the Higher Education Context
Source: Own Illustration
The RWTH Talk Lehre 2026 took place on June 10, 2026. Approximately 350 participants from the fields of teaching, research, and university administration attended the presentations, workshops, and discussions both in person and online. The event focused on how artificial intelligence is changing and has already changed higher education, as well as the opportunities and challenges that arise from this.
In this article, we provide insights into the individual presentations, discussions, and practical examples. You can find an overview of the program and the individual sessions in our introductory article on Talk Lehre 2026.
A Look Back at EUNIS 2026
Source: Own Illustration
The EUNIS Annual Conference at the West University of Timisoara brought together the European higher education IT community from June 2 to 4, 2026. Under the motto “Advancing freedom in higher education,” the focus was on digitalization, innovation, and the future of higher education institutions.
RWTH Talk Lehre 2026: Shaping AI in Higher Education Together
Source: Own Illustration
On June 10, 2026, RWTH Aachen University invites you to the RWTH Talk Lehre 2026. The event will focus on how artificial intelligence is transforming higher education and what opportunities and challenges this presents for faculty and students. The event is aimed at anyone who is actively involved in shaping teaching at RWTH or is interested in doing so.
The Talk Lehre offers an open forum for exchange, new perspectives, and joint discussions on the further development of teaching and learning formats in the context of AI.
