Brose arouses girls interest in technical professions

Twelve girls will experience the fascination and various facets of a technical apprenticeship when taking part in the "Girls for Technology Camp" project week organized by the automotive supplier Brose at the beginning of August. From August 1st to 5th, 2010, the 12 to 14-year-old girls from secondary schools in Coburg, Kronach, Bamberg, Rattelsdorf and Bad Königshofen will gain an insight into working in a modern technical profession.

This year, Brose takes part for the ninth time in a row in this initiative of the Bildungswerk der Bayerischen Wirtschaft e.V. (Education Center of the Bavarian Industry Association) and is actually the only company in Upper Franconia to do so. The event, which is organized by the Bildungswerk throughout Bavaria, is also promoted by the Bavarian Ministry for Economic Affairs, Infrastructure, Transport and Technology. The main objective of the camp is to raise girls' acceptance of technology and hence win more female applicants for this area.

Brose will introduce the participants to professions such as mechatronics engineer, machine tool technician and technical product designer. Under the guidance of Brose's trainers, the girls can put their technical skills to the test in the production of a metal board game, a seat adjuster which can be used as a cell phone holder and an electric switch. Representatives of the organization team and the company as well as the parents will be invited to view the project results in a final presentation.

"Young women with a good education have excellent career opportunities in technical professions. Our objective with this camp initiative is to encourage girls' desire to experiment by providing them with the opportunity to put their theoretical knowledge of maths and physics learned at school into practice," Michael Stammberger, head of apprentice training, explains the company's involvement.

In addition to eight commercial and industrial/technical apprenticeships, Brose cooperates with the universities of cooperative education in Stuttgart and Friedrichshafen and offers three degree programs for Bachelor of Engineering (cooperative education) as well as Bachelor of Science in Information Systems.

At present, 230 young people are participating in Brose's apprenticeship programs in Coburg, Hallstadt, Würzburg, Wuppertal and Berlin.