The kneeling sculpture at the main entrance of the Hasso Plattner Institute for Software Systems Engineering (HPI) in the Potsdam district of Griebnitzsee is known as “Mister Net”. Created for Expo 2000, the light installation of the Spanish artist Jaume Plensa features multicoloured LEDs and its own acoustic environment and embodies transparency and communication – the two ideas on which the HPI was founded. Indeed, not just the sculpture, but the whole architectural concept of the Institute bears the unmistakable stamp of these motivating ideas.
Where once the Berlin Wall used to divide, people are now working to remove communication barriers. Because alongside its teaching commitments, the Institute is also a focus for research into the structure of software programs which nowadays have grown so complex and sophisticated that even information scientists find them hard to understand. The avowed aim of the Institute is to develop engineers’ ability to present and explain complex software systems, thus promoting greater co-operation between programmers, developers and other IT specialists.
The idea of setting up an institute for teaching software systems engineering in Potsdam came to the SAP pioneer Hasso Plattner in 1998 when he was talking a walk by the Einstein Tower. As Plattner said, he wanted to create a place that would “promote the development of a culture of engineering in the software industry.” To realise this dream, Hasso Plattner put around Euro 50 million of his own fortune into a foundation.
The decision to locate the Institute in Potsdam had a number of reasons. Hasso Plattner was born in Berlin and grew up near the river Havel, in an outlying city district. His grandmother lived in Potsdam. But the city itself also helped to swing the balance, as he explains:
“When we were thinking about the calibre of teachers and students the Institute would want to attract, we also thought that Potsdam would be the right choice, because with its wonderful countryside and architecture and with its rich variety of cultural offerings, Potsdam is just the kind of place where intelligent and highly gifted scientists and engineers would feel at home.”
In 2004 the Institute’s benefactor was nominated honorary professor at the University of Potsdam; he now teaches one seminar in English pro semester at the HPI.
Entry requirements for applicants are exacting. But once a student is admitted he or she can be certain that all doors will open to them – including those of the professors.
77 students from 1999 – the foundation year – have now taken their Bachelor’s degrees. There is also the option of going on to take a Master’s. People in Potsdam are also optimistic that the Institute will serve as a seeding bed for business start-ups in the region.
The HPI has received Euro 13.7 million funding from the ERDF.
Hasso Plattner
