On June 5th, 2025, it was that time again: the Business School of Pforzheim University hosted its annual awards ceremony. Each year, students are recognized for excellent academic achievements and special engagement with sponsorship awards from companies.

Dean Professor Dr. Thomas Cleff opened the event with an appreciative speech. He emphasized how much the students enrich Pforzheim University through curiosity, outstanding performance, rational thinking, and commitment.

Another highlight of the evening was the induction of the best Bachelor's and Master's students of a cohort into the international honor society Beta Gamma Sigma.

Honoring outstanding academic performance

Jeffrey Feufel received the award for the best thesis in the field of Information and Communication Systems in the Business Administration/Purchasing & Logistics program. The prize was presented by Dr. Torsten Mallée, Vice President and Director of International Business Development at AEB. His thesis focused on developing a set of rules for automated traffic planning for AGV systems.

Another award from AEB went to Josias Kinzel, Carsten Schmid, and Kay Stindl for the best project in the same program. The three students received a prize sponsored by AEB.

Odette Abou Mrad was awarded the sponsorship prize from attempto GmbH Karlsruhe for excellent academic performance in the Business Administration/Digital Enterprise Management program (now BBA/Digital Business Management) and for her outstanding engagement in innovation and sustainability. Laura Sanz-Rodriguez, the new site manager of attempto Karlsruhe, presented the award.

The Robert Bosch GmbH also recognized two students this year: Maren Barth from the BBA/Digital Business Management program and Andrei Albu from the Master's program in Information Systems, each receiving a sponsorship award. The prizes were handed over by Gregor Schrott, Vice President of Bosch Digital Innovation.

The auditing firm EY also honored three students for their top performance in the first semester. Marcello Musa from Business Administration/Taxation and Auditing, as well as Carina Arnold and Joshua Wiedmann from Business Administration/Controlling, Finance, and Accounting, each received an award. The prizes were presented by Peter Werling, Partner and Head of Assurance Southwest Germany, and Steffen Maurer, Auditor at EY.

The Joachim-Paul Prize, named after the late Professor Joachim Paul (who passed away in 2017), was awarded by Professor Dr. Matthias Handrich to Daniel Steppat for his excellent academic achievements in the Business Administration/International Business program.

Julian Arzt from the Bachelor’s program in Business Law (LL.B.) impressed with his thesis on (Product) Liability for damages caused by AI systems. The award was presented by Henning von Restorff, former lecturer in IT law and practicing attorney for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law at Ladenburger Rechtsanwälte.

Beta Gamma Sigma: Induction into the international honor society

In the second part of the event, the focus was on inducting outstanding students into the international honor society Beta Gamma Sigma. Professor Dr. Dirk Wentzel, Chapter Advisor of Beta Gamma Sigma, conducted the ceremony.

Since 2014, Pforzheim University has been represented by its own chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma after successful accreditation by the renowned international organization "Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business" (AACSB). Beta Gamma Sigma is a global network that only admits the most high-achieving students of each cohort. The university nominates suitable candidates, who are then invited to join after review by the BGS board in the USA. This year, 68 students from the Faculty of Business and Law were inducted — 33 Master's students and 35 Bachelor's students. This recognition is closely linked to the values of the organization, which these students have demonstrated. "Beta" stands for honor, "Gamma" for wisdom, "Sigma" for seriousness, and enthusiasm.

Congratulations to all students for this excellent achievement!

For more information and pictures click here.