My First Bachelor’s Thesis Defenses

For the first time in my life, I took part in thesis defenses from the other side of the room—as chair of the examination board.

This was the first group of bachelor's students, and I'd already administered their state exams a little while back. So the students were familiar to me, and I had a pretty good idea of their preparation levels.

I enjoyed the event. I know how nerve-racking it can be to stand there dressed up in front of professors and examination board members and present the project that marks the end of this stage of your life. Some students were nervous; others were fairly relaxed. They all did well. I like this younger generation: they're more open and less inhibited than we were. That makes sense, given that they grew up with easy access to information, the internet, computers, Coca-Cola, and the other benefits of a democratic society operating in a market economy.

The projects covered different topics, but the main emphasis was on analytics platforms, VR, and industry-specific record-keeping systems. Presentations were brief but substantial, and students answered questions confidently. You could tell they'd prepared, which was nice. On the downside, I got the impression that quite a few hadn't written their code themselves, even though this is a software development department. I flipped through the code appendices and saw some pretty shallow AI-generated code. That's not inherently bad, of course, but in my closing advice I urged everyone not to neglect their programming skills and to understand the code an AI model writes for them. One project stood out for its sheer audacity: an Arduino-based fertigation robot. It cheerfully drove back and forth from pot to pot, stuck a moisture sensor into the soil, and sprayed water. It missed its target sometimes, tried to drive the wrong way a couple of times, but never once attempted to attack a bystander. =) Well done to the student—a bold idea and an ambitious project.

At the end, I gave each student a copy of the latest edition of our book on digital platform solutions in agriculture, signed by the authors, along with a message: keep moving forward!

I wish the students continued growth. Don't stop here—keep learning, working, and tackling the many challenges of digital transformation in agriculture.

P.S. A thought just occurred to me: should I mentor and supervise the research of a couple of students next year? I need to think it over carefully...