The “TouchTomorrow” initiative aims to get high school students in Immenstadt excited about technology

Mathematicians, computer scientists, natural scientists, technicians: Germany lacks skilled workers in so-called MINT occupational groups; At the same time, fewer people study the natural sciences. That's why Dr. The Hans Riegel Foundation has set itself the task of inspiring up to 10,000 students each year to study MINT subjects. Recently we were able to get an idea of ​​what exactly this looks like in the Oberallgäu MINT area, more precisely at Immenstadt High School.

EIMENSTADT — The counselors introduce themselves to the eighth-graders by their first names Sinji, Isabelle, Robin and Fabian. They all have a master's degree in a STEM subject, and the fact that their team is made up of both females and males is no coincidence. “We're trying to dispel the bias that STEM isn't for women. It's how you grow up in general, how you deal with prejudices and clichés, and that's exactly what we're trying to break down,” says Sinji Litz, MINT instructor and laser technician. “We don't want to convince anyone to do anything here, we just want to point out the possibilities.”

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At five different stations, students can get a taste of their future and perhaps their future career. For example in the field of robotics. At one station, students practice giving commands to the NAO robot using a programming language. In another station, students learn about the world of virtual reality. VR goggles can be used in medical or technical professions for training purposes, among other things, as MINT instructor Fabian Krínček explains to the students. Because in the virtual world, it doesn't matter if we break something or kill it.

The “TouchTomorrow” project came to Immenstadt High School

Oberallgäu District Director Indra Bayer Müller also touched on tomorrow. She was wearing augmented reality glasses. This puts digital information on top of the real world. Bayer Muller received instructions to assemble the engine. The optimizer immediately realized that some operations could also be combined. You don't have to follow every step, but there is also the possibility of putting things together. The district manager found it interesting that you knew what to do just by looking at him: “I don't have to speak German or English or anything else, but I can understand work procedures through these glasses.”

When asked which station he found most important to students, MINT instructor Robin Westinghausen pointed to the robot. In international comparison, Germany lags behind in the field of computer science. Computer science “opens a lot of doors.” Westinghausen, who visits schools across the country, has somewhat comforting news for Bavaria. He believes that Bavaria's schools are advanced compared to all parts of Germany. He cites compulsory subjects in Bavarian schools as one of the reasons for this.