Winners of the 12th edition of the Interactive Digital Media Student Contest 2026 – UPT
Timisoara, June 12, 2026 – Politehnica University of Timișoara, through the Multimedia Center and the Department of ID/IFR and Digital Education, organized the 12th edition of the Interactive Digital Media Student Contest (IDMSC) 2026. The competition took place in a hybrid format, in the Multifunctional Hall of the UPT Library and online, bringing together dozens of talented young people from Romania and Austria, who presented 22 new and innovative projects. This edition was one with special significance, also marking the 30th anniversary of the Multimedia Center at UPT.
Now in its 12th edition, the IDMSC 2026 student competition aims, as every year, to stimulate the creativity and competitive spirit of the participants. This year's edition brought together 31 students from 2 universities in Romania (Politehnica University of Timișoara and West University of Timișoara), but also international students from the University of Applied Sciences St. Pölten in Austria, members of the European University Alliance E³UDRES². The competition brought together dozens of creative minds of young people passionate about the technological field, who presented projects in the categories: Web Development, Development for mobile devices, Internet of Things (IoT), eXtended Reality and Graphic Design / Audio-Video ProductionThe participants had the opportunity to interact directly with representatives of the economic environment, potential employers, but also with the management of Politehnica University Timisoara and the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technologies.
At the opening of the event, the vice-rector of Politehnica University Timișoara, acad.prof.univ.dr.ing. Liviu Marșavina, thanked the representatives of the companies, who took the time to support this competition, also emphasizing the opportunity that the participants have to be directly evaluated by potential employers, prof.univ.em.dr.ing. Radu Vasiu, the initiator of the competition, spoke about its tradition in UPT, and prof.univ.dr.ing. Cătălin Căleanu, dean of the Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technologies, congratulated the students for their hard work.
The grand prize of the Interactive Digital Media Student Contest 2026 was won by Emanuel Trânc, PhD student at ETcTI, UPT, for the Agricultural Digital Twin (Agritwin) project. This project is an IoT and AI precision agriculture platform, which uses solar sensors on the ground and predictive models in the cloud to reduce crop losses and optimize farmers' decisions. The award was offered by the partners IDMSC and Politehnica University Timișoara, within the European project supporting university innovation Horizon Europe Accelerated Future HEIs.
The awards by category were offered by partner companies: Nokia, ETA-2u, Haufe, Lasting and Cobalt Sign.
To the category Web Development, the TenueVibe project, presented by Nicolae Daniel Hnatiuc (Bachelor's student in Automatic Control and Computers, UPT), was declared the winner. TenueVibe is a platform based on artificial intelligence and modern web technologies (Laravel, Livewire, LLMs), designed to automate the modernization of outdated websites, transforming them into current UX/UI layouts in just a few minutes.
To the category Internet of Things (IoT), the winning project was Steelgate, presented by Andrei Cristian Pop and George Ichim-Andronache (Bachelor's students in Automatic Control and Computers, UPT). Steelgate is a compact network-level security and parental control hardware device that allows you to filter traffic, block ads, and apply restrictions (such as digital detox modes) on all screens in your home, without requiring the installation of applications on each individual device.
To the category Development for mobile devices, the winning project was Swiva, presented by students Kevin Kraushofer, Daniel Studera, Mona Sigmund (master students, University of Applied Sciences in St. Pölten, Austria). Swiva is a mobile application that centralizes ideas, activities and places saved by users, transforming them into real experiences through playful swipe methods. The concept eliminates decision fatigue from free time, emphasizing spontaneity and social interaction, to facilitate the planning of individual or group activities.
To the category eXtended Reality (XR), the Historia Virtualis project, carried out by Serkan Sönmez, Georg Becker, Florian Fussthaler, Sophia Olesko (master's students, University of Applied Sciences in St. Pölten, Austria), was awarded. Virtual History is a multiplayer Mixed Reality (XR) experience that reconstructs the city of St. Pölten in the 1st century AD, transforming historical education into an interactive and social adventure through Hand Tracking technologies and shared virtual space.
To the category Graphic Design and Audio-Video Production, the winning project was The Last Human Signal, presented by students Abesinghe Mudiyanselage Isuru Udara (bachelor's student, Communication - Public Relations, UPT) and Raphael Shaan Gupta (bachelor's student, ETcTI, UPT). The Last Human Signal is a dystopian sci-fi short film and psychological thriller made with custom visual effects and immersive audio design, exploring artificial intelligence's control over memory and free will.
All in the category Development for mobile devices, was also offered a special prize for the StrawBoss project, created by Miroslav Maletici and Mădălin Ghilezan (Bachelor's students in Automatic Control and Computers, UPT). StrawBoss is a digital platform (React Native, NestJS) designed for the efficient management of the harvesting, transport and storage of straw and hay bales. The solution eliminates paper records by digitizing the flow between the field and the warehouse, offering full traceability and offline functionality. Through personalized interfaces by roles (operators, drivers, managers), GPS location with geofencing and OCR technology for fuel receipts, the platform prevents quantity discrepancies, optimizes costs and monitors trips in real time.
„"This year, the participants in the 12th edition of IDMSC 2026 have once again demonstrated that young students have the ability to transform complex technological concepts into practical, necessary solutions, with direct applicability in society. Marking three decades of existence of the Multimedia Center offers us the ideal opportunity to look with pride at this new generation of future graduates and people who will enter the workforce, with a vision and creativity that shapes the future of digital transformation," said Prof.univ.em.dr.eng. Radu Vasiu, director of the Multimedia Center and president of the IDMSC 2026 jury, from Politehnica University Timișoara.
The IDMSC 2026 jury was made up of top experts from industry and academia: Florin Ciocan (Nokia), Arthur Csertus (Cobalt Sign), Mihai Burada (Haufe), Octavian Vlad (Lasting), Astrid Olteanu-Heel (ETA-2U), Prof.univ.em.dr.ing. Radu Vasiu (UPT Multimedia Center), Assoc.univ.dr.ing. Mugur Mocofan (UPT Multimedia Center) Assoc.univ.dr.ing. Silviu Vert (UPT Multimedia Center).
The prizes in objects and money were awarded with the support of IDMSC 2026 sponsors, which were Nokia Romania, ETA-2U, Haufe Group, Lasting and CobaltSign.
The Multimedia Center and the Department of ID/IFR and Digital Education at Politehnica University Timișoara congratulates all participants of this year's Interactive Digital Media Student Contest, proudly recalling the Center's three decades of excellence and especially congratulates the winners for their determination to carry out diverse projects and for the innovative way in which they integrated convergent multimedia technologies.
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