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Technology workshops: vehicle construction challenge successfully mastered
[September 18, 2014]

Technology workshops: vehicle construction challenge successfully mastered


(ENP Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) ENP Newswire - 18 September 2014 Release date- 15092014 - Vienna - 'Let it Roll': this was the name given to the technology workshops held by the Kapsch Group from August 18-29, 2014 as part of Vienna's 'wienXtra-Ferienspiel 2014,' a vacation program for children.



Together with the ScienceCenter-Netzwerk association, Kapsch offered interactive summer workshops for the second time, this year for parents and their children between the ages of six and ten years. Around 102 children and their adult companions faced a ten-day joint challenge: 'Build a vehicle and make it drive down a ramp.' The creative construction building blocks consisted of simple materials such as empty milk cartons and juice packages, straws, and boxes. Trained ScienceCenter-Netzwerk employees and Kapsch apprentices supervised and advised the budding researchers in two-hour workshops.

'It is really exciting to see how differently each team approaches the construction process, and how creative their individual methods are despite the simplicity of the materials provided,' said Rudolf Bernscherer, Head of Human Resources at Kapsch. The workshop involved the children building a vehicle together with their parents. The frames of the vehicles were made of simple recyclable materials. The challenge was to get the vehicle in motion without an electric drive. Anyone who succeed in this was allowed to equip their vehicles with a battery-operated drive and LEDs in the next step. 'Children are inquisitive by nature. To satisfy their curiosity, everything in our interactive workshops focuses on trying out new things, creativity, and having fun with technology and science,' explained Barbara Streicher, Executive Manager of the ScienceCenter-Netzwerk association.


Learning by playing and having fun This is the second year in a row in which the Kapsch Group has cooperated with the ScienceCenter-Netzwerk association in conducting the interactive workshops. In August 2013, interactive workshops especially for Vienna after-school care groups were offered jointly. The ScienceCenter-Netzwerk is a common effort between Austrian organizations and individuals that aims to bring science and technology to life through a wide variety of activities. 'We are very pleased to be able to cooperate with the ScienceCenter-Netzwerk once again. Last year, we already saw how much children learn when they experiment,' said Rudolf Bernscherer. 'This project allows us to jointly create a space in which children can try out and experience science and technology. The important thing is that this helps them learn to look beyond their own horizons and lose their fear of technology and the natural sciences. This ability could then play a role in what they later choose as a career.' Kapsch places great value on fostering enthusiasm among young people - especially girls - for the technical and scientific professions. By means of many different projects and events, the company aims to specifically promote young people's interest in technology, as well as their vocational training, and to increase the proportion of women and girls embarking on technical careers.

The ScienceCenter-Netzwerk joins more than 140 partners from the fields of education, science and research, exhibition design, the arts, media, and industry. Our goal is to facilitate access to science for all and to make science come alive. The wide range of activities we offer encourages self-directed learning, hands-on experimentation, and thinking outside of the box - for all ages and regardless of previous knowledge. In its capacity as a non-profit association, the ScienceCenter-Netzwerk acts as a hub and motivator for the network and organizes and researches pilot projects.

For additional information: www.science-center-net.at Kapsch is one of Austria's most successful technology corporations, specialized in the future-oriented market segments of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), Railway and Carrier Telecommunications Solutions as well as Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Kapsch is organized as a group company with the entities Kapsch TrafficCom, Kapsch CarrierCom and Kapsch BusinessCom. As a family-owned company headquartered in Vienna, Kapsch has been dedicated to the continuous development and implementation of new technologies for the benefit of its customers since 1892. With a wide range of innovative solutions and services, Kapsch makes a valuable contribution toward responsible approaches to a mobile and networked world. The companies of the Kapsch Group employ approximately 5,500 people at subsidiaries and branch offices around the world.

Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/kapschnet Tags Workshop Press contact: Alf Netek Chief Marketing Officer Kapsch AG Am Europlatz 2, 1120 Vienna, Austria Phone +43 50811 1700 E-mail [email protected] Bettina Widlar Senior Consultant Grayling Austria GmbH Siebensterngasse 31, 1070 Vienna, Austria Phone +43 1 524 43 00-38 E-mail [email protected] Mag. Petra B. Preinfalk Verein Science Center Netzwerk Phone +43 1 710 19 81-16 Cellphone +43 664 240 79 46 Email [email protected] (c) 2014 Electronic News Publishing -

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