Last year , we shared the story of a new collaboration with the Cologne University of Applied Sciences ( German: TH Köln) for a new course titled Engineering Desktop Applications with C++ and Qt (EDA) . The first edition gave students the chance to explore modern C++ and Qt development in a hands-on setting, with teams designing and building their own music player application. Now, the collaboration has successfully entered its second round. During the winter semester of 2025/26, the focus shifted from audio applications to photo editing tools, challenging teams to create intuitive and capable solutions for modern image workflows. The new theme brought a fresh set of constraints around functionality, performance, and user-experience. The final projects reflected not only strong technical execution, but also a clear understanding of usability, software architecture, and real user needs. A Word from Prof. Dr.…