We survived the two weeks at CERN. It was a very exhausting yet unique time filled with many wonderful new impressions and ideas. It was a pleasure to meet our colleagues from the Design Factories in Melbourne and New York and to have the opportunity to connect with various people at CERN.

Week 1: Journey to Kepler-42

The first stop on our journey was the still uninhabited planet Kepler-42 in the C726 solar system. But before setting off, we had some earthly matters to discuss. We had the chance to introduce ourselves individually and get to know all the participants of CBI A3. Then the briefing started, and we were divided into our international groups. The project’s goal was to create a health station from scratch. For this, Anni and her team were responsible for the power supply, using a tsunami-like river to operate the power generator. Nico faced the challenge of water treatment, having to rely on simple methods like filtering water with dirt since advanced technologies were not available. Fabi dealt with the construction of the building. Surprisingly, earthly construction methods are also applicable on distant planets. By the end of the week, we had a prototype for the entire station, and we are now prepared for any extrasolar missions. But there was much more beyond our mission. We were treated to pizza and cheese fondue in the evenings and had the honor of attending the 10th anniversary gala of IdeaSquare.

Week 2: Ideate, Ideate, Ideate… back to Earth

Back on Earth and back to reality, we returned to our core teams. Team Fanni was almost reunited (Herbert, we miss you!). First, we were equipped with tools to let our creativity run wild. The Opportunity Cards we brought finally came into play and were studied in detail. This led to ideas like our AgriTech, genetically modified lianas, or the SuperSponge for city protection. At the end of the week, we got to present these ideas with prototypes and expo booths. During this week, we were invited to a “Pot-Luck Dinner” to sample dishes from the home countries of the participants. Team Germany was represented by a precisely calculated cheesecake. Highlight of the week? The Antimatter Factory tour!

All in all, the two weeks were very enlightening, and we look forward to exploring the ideas we found in the coming weeks.

BTW heres our cheesecake recipe:

Ingredients for the Dough:

• 400 g flour
• 200 g sugar
• 200 g butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 pinch of salt

Ingredients for the Filling:

• 2 kg quark (20% fat)
• 400 g sugar
• 8 eggs
• 2 packets of vanilla sugar
• 2 packets of vanilla pudding powder
• 400 ml sour cream
• 400 ml heavy cream (sweet cream)
• Grated zest of one lemon

Place the ingredients for the shortcrust pastry in a bowl, quickly knead them together, and set aside.
For the filling, cream together the margarine, sugar, vanilla sugar, pudding powder, and eggs in a bowl. Then mix in the quark and sour cream. Whip the heavy cream until stiff and fold it in.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (356°F) top and bottom heat.
Press the shortcrust pastry into a greased 26 cm (10-inch) springform pan, pressing it up the sides about 2-3 cm (1 inch). Pour the filling into the pan, smooth it out, and bake in the hot oven on the second rack from the bottom for 1 hour.
Note: Do not remove the cake from the pan until it has completely cooled, as the consistency of the quark filling will still be too soft immediately after removing it from the oven.