On September 3, Batian Dänekas successfully defended his dissertation and is now officially awarded the title of Dr.-Ing.

In his dissertation “Recording and Accounting for Individuality in Resistance Training Movement Data,” Bastian examines the extent to which individual movement patterns are evident in strength training and how this individuality can be considered in a data-driven way, for example, in automatic rep counting. BigThree100 Dataset was created as part of the dissertation. It contains motion data from 101 athletes performing squats, bench presses, and deadlifts, recorded using the IMU sensors in smartwatches. Based on this data, he investigated the controlled measurement of motion variability, the individuality of motion signatures, and automatic repetition counting.

The thesis Supervisors were Prof. Dr. Rainer Malaka, head of the Digital Media Research Group and dean of Faculty 3 at the University of Bremen, and Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Arnold Baca of the Vienna University of Technology, where he is head of the Department of Biomechanics, Kinesiology, and Sports Informatics. Bastian was also mentored by Dr. Tim Laue from the Multisensory Interactive Systems Research Group at the University of Bremen. 

Bastian Dänekas is now a postdoc at the University of Bremen and supervises both doctoral candidates and undergraduate and graduate students in Department 3. Together with Dr. Tim Laue, he teaches the courses “Sports Informatics” for the bachelor’s program and “Applied Computer Science in Sports” for the master’s program. He also teaches Human-Technology Interaction and has already supervised three master’s projects, some of which have led to doctoral students.

Congratulations on this milestone!