HAWK graduate Aleksandra Yemelyanovich wins the Helene Lange Prize
The tension at the Edith-Ruß-Haus for Media Art is almost palpable as Marion Rövekamp, Chair of the EWE Foundation, opens the envelope containing the winner’s name. Shortly afterwards, the joyful confirmation follows: Aleksandra Yemelyanovich from the HAWK Faculty of Design in Hildesheim receives the Helene Lange Prize for Digitalisation Research, worth 15,000 euros, for her app ‘Elli’, which promotes reading among children with Down’s syndrome.
“Aleksandra Yemelyanovich particularly impressed the jury with her research into promoting reading skills in children with Down’s syndrome and the ‘Elli’ learning app. Not only has she achieved technically outstanding results in the field of design, but she has also addressed the important question of how to successfully support children with Down’s syndrome on an individual basis and significantly improve their developmental potential,” said Rövekamp at the award ceremony. In doing so, Aleksandra Yemelyanovich has made an equally important contribution to digital education and to greater inclusion. The “Elli” app is also attractively designed and has scope for further development , it provides children with Down’s syndrome with an accessible tool to support their reading skills, which significantly enhances their opportunities to participate in social life, Rövekamp continued.
An app to support the reading development of children with trisomy 21
“In her Master’s thesis, Aleksandra Yemelyanovich developed a prototype for a digital application designed to support the reading learning processes of children with trisomy 21. To establish a sound foundation for this, the current situation was analysed using design research and user experience design methods, in collaboration with the children themselves, their parents and other stakeholders. Aleksandra Yemelyanovich used the insights and findings gained to develop a service in the form of an app, which simplifies numerous processes and tasks relating to the reading learning process for all those involved”, explains her examiner Stefan Wölwer, Professor of Interaction Design and Coordinator of the Digital Environments competence area at HAWK’s Faculty of Design, who supervised the Master’s thesis together with Associate Professor Björn Sedlak from the Faculty of Social Work and Health.
The seven-member jury selected Aleksandra Yemelyanovich from a total of 15 applications from across Lower Saxony. Pia Schlechter and Frederike Jung from the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg were also nominated. Jury member and professor of computer science Susanne Boll adds: “The research areas of the three nominees range from supporting children with disabilities in learning to read, to investigating the influence of selfies at concentration camp memorial sites on the culture of remembrance of the Holocaust, to the use of robots in care. This shows that digitalisation is not an abstract concept, but can indeed be interdisciplinary, interconnected and application-oriented.”
The jury for the Helene Lange Prize is composed entirely of women and, alongside Marion Rövekamp and Susanne Boll, comprises Christiane Cordes, Head of the Department for Culture and Sport at Oldenburg City Council; Astrid Nieße, Professor of Energy Informatics at Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover; Petra Dekker from the roofing company of the same name and chair of the Association of Women Entrepreneurs in the Skilled Trades, as well as Dr Stephanie Abke, managing director of the EWE Foundation, and Ulla Bergen, deputy chair of the EWE Foundation’s board of trustees. Bärbel Hische, a visual artist from the Oldenburg Münsterland region, designed the physical prize, whilst the nominees were each presented with a certificate.
Two-thirds of the prize money is earmarked to support further research – this also includes funding for a domestic helper or a babysitter. After all, time is an extremely scarce commodity in the world of science.
