OPTIMA sets up new robotics workshop

On July 22, Optima established a new robotics AG at the Helmut-Rau-Schule. The materials were handed over during project days. The program will be offered starting in the new school year. The participants of the robotics AG at the Georg-Wagner-Schule in Künzelsau visited Optima on the same day and gained insights into everyday life at the mechanical engineering company from Schwäbisch Hall. The schools in the region are grateful for the support. With this offer, Optima reaffirms its commitment to the region and sustainably counteracts the shortage of skilled workers.

"With offers such as the Robotics AG, Optima has been inspiring children and young people from the region for technology for many years," says Alexander Wüst, engineer at Optima Nonwovens, who coordinates the event for young people together with other Optima employees. With the Robotics AG, a course for students interested in technology, Optima uses fun and games to arouse interest in technical professions at schools in the Schwäbisch Hall district. The company provides personnel, materials such as Lego kits and laptops, as well as training sessions for teachers - including at the Helmut Rau School in Mainhardt. Starting in September, the school will offer its own robotics AG. The materials required for this were handed over to the school on July 22 as part of the of the project days. As a result, five schools in the Schwäbisch Hall district now have a robotics working group.

The participants of the Robotics AG at the Georg Wagner School from Künzelsau visited Optima on the same day and gained insights - among other things into the assembly hall and virtual reality technology. On-site visits are intended to motivate the children and young people for an internship or apprenticeship at the machine manufacturer.

In 2012, Optima launched the Robotics AGs. With LEGO Mindstorms, children between the ages of eleven and fifteen are introduced to technical professions through play. The children build robots and write simple programs to control the robots. Together with schools in the region, courses are created that give students new perspectives. These are mainly secondary schools, which show a great deal of interest. They already have technical subjects integrated into the curriculum anyway. However, there is often a lack of capacity to support students even more intensively in the individual areas.

Why Optima is committed to the next generation? The constant need for technical specialists on the one hand and the lack of trainees on the other could become a challenge for industrial companies. This makes it all the more important to seek the interest of the younger generations at an early stage.