From Bremen to Thailand – Our anual Mobile4D Project Trip
As part of our bachelor project Mobile4D at the University of Bremen, we had the special opportunity to travel to Bangkok, Thailand, together with our lecturer and project supervisor, Dr. Thomas Barkowsky. It was an experience that shaped us both professionally and personally.
As a group of five Computer Science students, we visited our partners at ICT TropMed and the Medical Informatics Research Unit (MIRU) at Mahidol University in Bangkok. The goal of the trip was to present the projects we had developed in Bremen, receive practical feedback, and work together on improving our applications.
From the beginning, it was clear that this would not be a typical study trip. The focus was not only on presenting results, but on real collaboration between our team, our partners in Bangkok, and the students in Bremen. This direct exchange helped us improve our medical software solutions in a much more practical and targeted way. The main focus was on the current Mobile4D projects, including SIRcraft, Mosquito Classification, 4Trace, eConsent, ePro, and TB Sudan.
We started with short pitches to introduce the current status of each project. After that, we gave live demonstrations of our applications and showed their main functions and possibilities. Together, we discussed where improvements were still needed and where the biggest potential for further development lay. This led to new requirements, fresh ideas, and clear next steps for future collaboration.
One of the biggest advantages of the trip was the chance to continue working directly on site. Changes did not have to wait until later but could be developed, tested, and reviewed immediately together. This made the collaboration much more intensive, efficient, and productive than a purely digital exchange.
Besides the project work, we also took part in a meeting related to the STONES project. During this meeting, we discussed future opportunities for collaboration, new joint ideas, and possible next steps for working together.
The trip was not only valuable from a professional perspective. Meeting international students and researchers gave us new views on our own projects and showed us how important communication, openness, and cooperation across borders really are. Especially in medical informatics, it became clear how important international partnerships are for building practical and sustainable solutions.
Looking back, the trip to Thailand was an important milestone for our work in the Mobile4D project. At the same time, it was a memorable experience that helped us grow as students and as a team. It strengthened us professionally and showed us how much can be achieved through direct collaboration, mutual trust, and the willingness to look beyond our own perspective.
