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Schoolgirls programme robots

2025-03-14 ‘How many of you have worked with a robot before?’ asks Nick Oeltjen, looking around questioningly. About 20 girls from the Oedeme Grammar School and the Herderschule Lueneburg look at him questioningly. Nick is studying for a Master's in Management & Engineering and is starting the robotics workshop with his audience this afternoon as part of the ‘ProMINT’ project. For one week, 34 female students from the 11th and 12th grades are guests at Leuphana. Under the direction of Prof. Dr. Brit-Maren Block, they are introduced to technology degree programmes with a focus on ‘Digital Transformation’.

Not only vacuuming made easy

Prof. Block teaches and conducts research in the fields of electrical engineering and automation technology, as well as the didactics of engineering at the Leuphana School of Management and Technology. The grammar school students are facing a real professional.

She is the one who will now shed light on the darkness: ‘Well? Which of you has a vacuum cleaner robot?’ At least ten arms go up and the girls smile. So robotics is not that far removed from the everyday life of the schoolgirls.

Programming in the thinnest of layers

They quickly split into two groups. Half of them gather around a robot arm that they are supposed to teach how to move gently but purposefully around small building blocks.

To do this, one girl grabs the robot arm and manoeuvres it a little jerkily past the blocks, while her classmate does the programming on a laptop. When the ‘guided tour’ is over, the robot has to manage on its own to move around the wooden blocks without knocking any of them over. Good programming is everything.

In the first run without helping hands, the robot whizzes just past the wooden parts; a breath of wind makes them wobble, but they remain standing. High-tech deluxe, programmed by schoolgirls in a few minutes. The introduction ends with insights into the various fields of application for robotics.

Workshops and company visits

The ProMINT project week offers a wealth of exciting insights into virtual reality, 3D printing, production management and upcycling, as well as visits to companies such as Uvex Safety Gloves GmbH & Co. KG, Evomotion GmbH, Nordzucker AG and Marposs Monitoring Solutions GmbH.

‘We want to inspire students to study at our faculty and at the same time introduce them to practical work. In particular, young women should be introduced to topics such as data science, product development or sustainable management. We are really going out on a limb to achieve this,’ says Brit-Maren Block. She is receiving active support from Gillian Guerne, who is also doing her doctorate in the field.

Secondary schools in the region on board

With the idea of bringing female pupils to the university for a week so that they can gain insights into engineering, they knocked on various school doors at the beginning of the project: ‘It was laborious at first, but now it has paid off. We have already organised these weeks several times with the Herderschule, the Oedeme Grammar School, the Wilhelm-Raabe-Schule and also our partners in Buechen.’

More girls for STEM

Designed for female students aged 16 and up, the main aim is to make science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) interesting for female students. The Leuphana School of Management and Technology is the right place for this. Here, school leavers can study Business Administration, Business Informatics, Engineering and Economic Psychology. Equipped with leading teachers in the fields, the latest technology and great research collaborations such as the Hereon Research Centre, there are plenty of opportunities to immerse yourself in STEM.

Creativity is needed

The ProMINT project week offers schoolgirls insights into all areas, with a particular focus on the sustainable aspects of the course. Combined with the practical world of the future engineers, this results in an exciting programme. ‘Of course, our first goal is to increase the proportion of women studying engineering. However, we also need their creativity in the STEM field,’ says Brit-Maren Block. The project week, which brings together students, role models and female pupils, shows the organisers the great potential of the initiative.