Gaining experience with technical professions – Students from Vilsbiburg secondary school visit Flottweg and Info Truck

Linking theory and practice helps students better understand the material, especially in STEM fields. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and math, and is the basis for many forward-looking professions. The Vilsbiburg secondary school in Bavaria’s has had a STEM focus since 2011 and places great importance on practical experience. As such, the Vilsbiburg secondary school has been working with Flottweg for several years in an effort to get young people excited about technical training and occupations. Students from the Vilsbiburg secondary school had two opportunities to learn about technical careers.

The students had the chance to implement their own STEM project.

Drilling, milling, mounting, and wiring – School students visit Flottweg

At the beginning of February, 142 students from the 6th grade class at the Vilsbiburg secondary school, together with their five teachers, got their first look into the world of technical professions at Flottweg. Completing their own small projects, each student was asked to build a fan at the in-house training workshop with the help of Flottweg trainees. After assembling their fans step-by-step, these students were then permitted to use the CNC machine and mill their names into their fan. The students were also given a guided tour of the Flottweg factory, and gaining insight into the working world of this separation technology specialist. Teacher Alexandra Zehentbauer is in full support of the practical experience that these young students gained at Flottweg: "As a STEM school, it is particularly important that we instruct our students on STEM topics and provide them with many opportunities to learn about various technical professions. This will prepare them for a world that is no longer conceivable without STEM. I would like to thank Flottweg for this amazing partnership with our school. Our students really enjoyed their day at Flottweg, as did their teachers."

As a personal touch, each fan was engraved with the name of the respective student.

InfoTruck provides insight into metal/electronics industry

In addition to visiting Flottweg’s training workshop, these school students also had a second opportunity in February to learn more about the world of STEM professions: These young students had the opportunity to learn more about the metal and electronics industries in an InfoTruck with an area of almost 80 sq m. The goal of InfoTruck is to impart knowledge from STEM fields while also providing information on the numerous training opportunities in the metal and electronics industries. Three Flottweg trainees held presentations on their industrial mechanic training and were on hand to answer any questions the students  had. In addition, various stations were provided with games that reflected the different work performed by STEM professions. "It is very important for us to give students their first insight into the world of work. This enables young students to discover their enthusiasm for STEM professions, even at a young age", explains Training Manager Daniel Wimmer. "Anyone who is interested and would like to find out more about the training we offer can also deepen their knowledge by completing one of our practical training programs."

A group of students together with their teachers with their STEM projects in front of the Flottweg plant site.