Technology day
The Day of Technology is an annual day of action that inspires young people across Germany with a wide variety of events for the professional field of technology .
background
The Federal Ministry of Education and Research, together with numerous institutions, companies and associations, declared 2004 to be the “Year of Technology” as part of the Science in Dialogue Initiative . The initiators pursued the goal of introducing young people into technical professions and thus counteracting the shortage of skilled workers. In workshops , exhibitions, concerts as well as internet chats, open days and series of events, a total of more than 550,000 people were able to find out everything about technology Made in Germany , experiment for themselves and get to know the people behind the technologies. The year of technology helped to deepen the understanding and fascination of technology and thus provide orientation in a technical world. As a permanent institution, there has been a Technology Day every year since then.
execution
Technology Day has been taking place nationwide in numerous cities in Germany since the Science Year 2004. Technology associations and companies organize a colorful program every year around the fascination of technology. In order to highlight the opportunities in the handicrafts, the organizers present the entire range of training and study opportunities as well as professions in the technology sector. As in the “Year of Technology”, special offers for young people range from exhibitions to workshops, open days in training companies and hands-on activities. There are practically no limits to the creativity of the individual organizers. A day of technology can take place in different places. “Participate” is the catchphrase of the entire day of action. The young participants should "experience" technology in all its facets by making scientific and technical phenomena tangible.
Prominent patrons
Technology Day is held every year under the patronage of a prominent person. At the beginning, politicians like the former Federal President Horst Köhler and Federal Minister Ms. Schavan gave the day of action a face. This was followed by Armin Maiwald (2009) and Ralph Caspers (2010), both of whom are known from “Sendung mit der Maus”. In 2011, the well-known TV presenter and trained car mechanic Lina van de Mars was the official patron. In 2012 and 2015 the ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst took over the patronage, for 2013 the racing driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen was won.
Initiators
The initiators of the action day include the Association of German Engineers (VDI), the DVS - German Association for Welding and Allied Processes , the Association of Electrical, Electronics and Information Technology (VDE), the German Association of Technical and Scientific Associations (DVT) , the competence center Technology-Diversity-Equal Opportunities , the Düsseldorf Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), Wissenschaft im Dialog (WiD), the Düsseldorf Chamber of Crafts (HWK), the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and the Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences . Technology Day has become a fixed date and will take place on June 14th and 15th, 2013 for the tenth time.