Many students from Hamburg in grades 8 to 13 took the opportunity: as part of the MINT Experience Day at TU Hamburg, they gained exciting insights into STEM careers and study options. At 25 interactive and information booths, TU institutes, initiatives, and companies from the region provided an insight into the world of engineering and natural sciences. Among those represented were the Stadtreinigung Hamburg, Continental AG, and Hamburg Wasser. Especially in front of the many hands-on booths, numerous interested students gathered.
At the Mercedes-Benz booth, for example, visitors could get a glimpse into the daily work life of the car manufacturer and practice virtual welding using VR goggles. Ensan Yilmaz, a 10th-grade student at the Süderelbe district school, particularly liked this booth: “I found the Mercedes booth exciting because I am very interested in cars.” Furthermore, the day gave the student the chance to learn about study opportunities at TUHH: “I found out that a dual study program definitely suits me since you can work while studying.” When asked if he already has an idea where he wants to study, Ensan grins and says: “At TUHH – one hundred percent.”
From mobile robots to virtual flight experiments
Meanwhile, the robotik@TUHH booth offered an introductory course on three different robot models. Visitors could even drive the mobile RoboMaster and its smaller counterpart BitBot themselves. At the stationary LEGO Spike Prime, one could observe how the robot solves a Rubik’s Cube. For one student, especially the open trial-and-error mode in robotics research was enlightening: “I find it interesting that the technology is not yet fully developed and that new things are constantly being added.”
At the booth of the DLR School Labs, visitors could even step into the of a pilot using a flight simulator. In front of three screens, with joystick and pedals, the youngsters got a good impression of what it must feel like to be in the cockpit of a real airplane. However, most trainee pilots crash during the five-minute flight, especially during the challenging landing, according to Marvin Uke from the School Lab. Student Luis Wörner, however, landed safely after his five-minute flight in a propeller plane. He was fully convinced by the simulator: “It was definitely fun, the simulation is very realistic and professionally designed,” he said. Luis does not want to design airplanes as an engineer himself, though: “I would rather become a pilot,” he said. The MINT Experience Day certainly further fueled his passion for flying.
The entire day was organized in the form of a rally, where the young people could collect a stamp from each booth they visited. This was meant to encourage them to actively ask questions, try out experiments, and engage with trainees, students, and experts. In this way, the foundation for future internships and apprenticeships is also to be laid. Ina Klose, project manager of NachwuchsCampus, was pleased about the large turnout: "As organizers of the MINT Experience Days, we are especially happy that our concept ensures lively exchange year after year between the companies, TUHH, and the potential young talents and students, and that the event is gaining increasing approval – both among companies and students, extending beyond the NachwuchsCampus project."
The NachwuchsCampus project
The MINT Experience Day is an event within the framework of the NachwuchsCampus project, carried out by the KinderForscher working group, established in 2006 at TUHH’s Institute of Technical Biocatalysis. The project aims to inspire young people for natural sciences and technology. Through cooperation between schools, university, and industry, it seeks to promote interest in STEM education and degree programs, emphasizing the importance of engineering sciences. To this end, the KinderForscher team organizes school-business cooperations, develops experiment kits, and implements events for school classes from grades 8 to 13 within the NachwuchsCampus project. The project is funded by the Hamburg Authority for Economy, Labor and Innovation and represents a cooperation model between TU Hamburg, the KinderForscher working group at TUHH’s Institute of Technical Biocatalysis, and the Business Association for Hamburg South.
Upcoming events
For those who want to explore even more after the Experience Day, TUHH offers further exciting programs:
The Merck Curiosity Cube from June 24 to 26 invites children from grades 3 to 7 to 45-minute experimental workshops on the TUHH campus. Here, young researchers can explore and experiment with further STEM topics in small groups or as a school class: https://www2.tuhh.de/kinderforscher/experimentieren-im-curiosity-cube-2026/
The robotics camps on June 13 and 14 also offer the opportunity to get a first glimpse into programming small LEGO robots: https://robotik.tuhh.de/robotikkurse-schueler/kursangebot/robotik-camp
