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.
Your Opinion on the RWTHapp Matters
Source: Own Illustration
For many students, the RWTHapp is an integral part of daily student life. To find out how satisfied you are with the app and what features you’d like to see in the future, we conducted a survey in early May. The results provide fascinating insights into the app’s usage, usability, and potential future developments.
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.
Microsoft Select Plus Items Are Now Available in the Software Shop
Source: Own Illustration
Good news for all users of the Software Shop from RWTH Aachen University institutions: Starting immediately, items from the Microsoft (MS) Select Plus agreement can be ordered again.
Following a successful new tendering and the resulting change in the provider for B products, the RWTH Software Shop is once again the central point of contact for all software orders—whether A- or B-products. The shop is operated by our partner asknet.
In this post, you’ll learn what this means, why the ordering domain has changed, and what new features you can look forward to in the user interface.
IT Center Satisfaction Survey 2025 – The Results Are In!
Source: Own illustration
In October and November 2025, we conducted our annual IT Center Satisfaction Survey, in which all members of the RWTH Aachen University were able to rate the services and support offered by the IT Center.
In the survey, we also asked you for suggestions for improvement, which have already been reviewed and analyzed by our various teams and groups over the past few months.
RWTHmoodle: 2026 User Survey
Source: Own Illustration
Since the launch of RWTHmoodle in 2019, we have been continuously working to further improve the teaching and learning platform. The annual user survey plays a key role in this effort. This year, we would once again like to hear from you about how you rate the platform, including its performance and usability. This year, there is a special focus on the use of AI within RWTHmoodle and digital accessibility.
Anyone who was registered in at least one learning space during the summer semester of 2026 as a student, other participant, instructor, or learning space manager is eligible to participate. Between August 6 and 26, 2026, you can help improve RWTHmoodle and our support services by participating in the user survey.
A Journey Through IT History – The Internet of the 1990s
Source: Own Illustration
Beeep… beep…
Crrr… sshhh… beep…
Squeeeek – wiiieeeuuuu – tick-tick-tick – beep!
What sounds like a telephone’s demonic possession is all too familiar to nostalgic souls and early tech adopters. This symphony of beeps and whistles didn’t herald the apocalypse, but rather the establishment of a connection between two modems. They were negotiating speed and protocols for data transfer. At the end of this acoustic incantation, the gateway to the World Wide Web opened – welcome to the Internet of the 1990s!
New Feature in IdM Selfservice
Source: Own Illustration
You can now choose in IdM Selfservice which e-mail address is shared with connected services via your Single Sign-On account. In addition to the contact e-mail address used previously, you can also select, for example, your personal or work RWTH e-mail address.
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.
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