Sold out! After just a few days there were no more tickets to be had for this year's Future Lab Gala. 750 spectators in the packed auditorium waited in contagious anticipation for the show to begin - which really pushed the levels of adrenaline behind the curtain even higher.
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Elena Reinders)

The first row featured prominent guests. Even Minister President Armin Laschet wasn't going to miss out on this spectacle!
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

Never change a winning team! Excellent advice – which is why the show kicked off with the final act of last year's Gala. Eight academic hands on the ivories proved once again this year that natural scientists and engineers can indeed have a strong musical streak. Okay, admittedly they did also have some professional support from the local University of Music and Dance.
From the left: Alica Müller (from Prof. Andreas Frölich's class), Prof. Dr. Florian Wellmann (RWTH), Prof. Dr. Marcus Baumann (Rector of the FH Aachen) and Prof. Herbert Görtz (Director of the University of Music and Dance)
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Hermann)

Compere Bernd Büttgens talks to Prof. Dr. Jan Borchers, whose team programmed the Future Lab App – FLApp for short – a mobile guide for those who want to explore of places of scientific interest in the city. Thanks, Jan!
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

Jan Borchers and his PhD student Nur Al-huda follow with a presentation of the smart watch of tomorrow, which they are currently working on. Using actuators – which turn electrical signals into mechanical movements – the watch provides access to a whole range of digital services. Imagine just pinching your skin to call the pizza service! This innovation is really hot stuff, especially seeing as the research results haven't even been published yet. So the audience in Aachen gets to witness a genuine premiere.
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

The Campus Dance Crew from Königshügel in action – the dancers presented moves from somewhere between HipHop, Michael Jackson and Nao robots.
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

Minister President Laschet tells us about a typical day in his life. And, whether he is having talks with the Swedish ambassador or a captain of industry, guess which topic always pops up: the RWTH, of course. Well, as they say, if you've got it, flaunt it! And what does he think of his new job? Laschet, born in Burtscheid, answers in Aachen vernacular with a "Jut".
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

(Foto: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

"Aachen's street dogs are so bored." This rather unflattering sentence from Heinrich Heine's "A Winter's Tale" was quoted by the Ensemble Eikona, or to be precise by the Heine puppet, the star of the act. The graduates from the University of Music and Dance staged the classic song in a highly entertaining way.
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

Opinions in the intermission: Michaela Schraad, 46, and Elmar Riesmeier, 48, think the smart watch is the best presentation of the evening so far, "because it has so much potential". By the way, at the end of the evening they still hadn't changed their mind about that ...
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Elena Reinders)

Christof Schelthoff (FH Aachen) is a mathematics professor and so-called "science slammer". In his mathematical derivation, he proved that marriages only function in the long run when wives pamper their husbands and husbands are left to enjoy their peace and quiet. And what was the professor's QED? That mathematical "proofs" are BS when they start from false premises.
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

Small and short, but leading the field! You don't need ultra-sleek sports car optics to be the Number One. The e.GO from the "House of Schuh" is about to go into production in Aachen's Rothe Erde. "Private pre-orders alone already amount to 2,900 units," says Prof. Dr. Günther Schuh (RWTH).
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

Günther Schuh, his 15-strong team and the e.GO. The media constantly feature reports on the achievements of the company e.GO Mobile AG – reason enough to bring the people behind this performance into the limelight.
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

Kathrin Kurtenbach, 33, agrees. She is a development engineer. She studied in Aachen, and travelled in especially for the Future Lab Gala – and was totally impressed by the e.GO's magical appearance out of the shrouds of mist.
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Elena Reinders)

The next topic is medicine. Grünenthal CEO Gabriel Baertschi (left) and his Chief of Research Dr. Klaus Langner explain what causes backaches and how the pharmaceutical company is tackling Public Enemy No. 1 in terms of widespread ailments. Grünenthal also sponsors the Gala. Many thanks for the support!
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

On stage in last year's show, this time here as a guest – Leibniz Prize winner Leif Kobbelt, who will soon be treating the public to that thing he does with Aachen's historical buildings – this time during the grand Cathedral illuminations in September to celebrate "40 years UNESCO World Heritage". With his light saber ...
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Elena Reinders)

It's nothing new that hearts break. But this one is about to explode. Not from heartache, but due to the criminal interference of a nasty hacker. Prof. Dr. Marco Schuba and Hans Höfken, the FH Aachen's resident experts on data security, demonstrate how hackers work and how easy it is for them to access systems and do damage. Even so, they couldn't resist giving the 750 people in the audience a lightning course in "Hacking for Dummies".
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

Prof. Dr. Ute Antonia Lammel, Dean of the Catholic University of Applied Sciences (KatHO), brought a film along to show what goes on "House Molle", a centre for youngsters from the neighbourhood around the Moltkebahnhof residential area park. The idea is for youngsters to have fun there and explore their creativity. It seems to be working. The dance choreography was certainly brilliant. The researchers from the KatHO are also supposed to have a good time there, too, doing their designated job, which is to observe the youngsters and drawing scientific conclusions.
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

Medical technician and heart surgeon Prof. Dr. Stefan Jockenhövel (RWTH) is busy developing coatings for implants that prevent them from being rejected. To achieve this, he uses materials like chitin from crab shells or dandelion.
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

This happy face belongs to Tim Hildmann, 21. He also thinks the e.GO presentation was the most fascinating. There's something really special about seeing research become reality.
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Elena Reinders)

The "Stimmführer Quartett" of the Aachen Symphony Orchestra makes beautiful music. But there's more to this performance ...
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

... the RWTH's Institute of Communication Systems records the instrumentalists playing – with a camera and a spherical microphone with 36 "ears" (see previous photo, centre). The whole thing culminates in a 3D sound experience which you can walk through and control in virtual space. For example, when you turn towards the filmed violinist, you hear the violin louder than the other instruments. Fantastic!
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

It seems as if some students have too much time on their hands. At least you might think so. Mohammed Sahraoui, for example, is a so-called "stacker". At breakneck speed, he builds up towers of plastic cups – and then dismantles them again. He's so good at it that he has just become the World Champion in "Sport Stacking" for the 15th time! He has also secured his place in the Guiness Book of Records for 24-hour stacking. Oh yes, and – by the way – he also studies mechanical engineering.
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

Usually, you only see this at the Charlemagne Prize Award Ceremony. Everyone stands up and belts out that time-honoured old Aachen City Hymn "Urbs Aquensis" – a no-brainer for the Lord Mayor, and for the audience, too!
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Herrmann)

But, of course, a Future Lab Show is expected to come up with something that goes further than "time-honoured". And that's what the rock group Autumn Colours did when they took over and really rocked the good old "Urbs", and its singers. And that was the closing number in this year's Aachen Science Show ...
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Andreas Hermann)

"Die Show ist nun zu Ende, die Lichter gehen aus.
Ihr wart ein duftes Publikum, zu dem wir gerne wiederkomm'n.
Der Abgang macht die Show erst schön,
drum sagen wir danke, auf Wiedersehen!"
(Frank Zander, Plattenküche, 1977)
(rough translation:
"The final curtain falls, the footlights wane.
You're such a lovely audience we'll gladlycome again.
The finale gives our show its perfect final touch
So we say 'till next time, and thank you very much!")

We can only agree with the sentiment!
Thanks also to the wonderful team at Theater Aachen!!!!!
(Photo: Stadt Aachen_Elena Reinders)