School projects

Since 2005, the Deutsche Telekom Foundation has been sponsoring the "Junior Engineer Academy" (in German, for short: JIA), which awakens an early interest in technical professions and careers in engineering among middle school students. The Junior Engineer Academy is firmly anchored in the school curriculum as a two-year elective subject and is always based on cooperation between schools and universities, scientific institutions and companies that give students the opportunity to put the knowledge they have acquired in the classroom into practice.

The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics at Aachen University of Applied Sciences supports Aachen's Einhard Gymnasium with technical fabrications as part of the JIA. Contact persons for the project are Mr. Oliver Frühwein (deputy principal of the Einhard-Gymnasium) as well as Prof. Dr.-Ing. Kristian Arntz and Dipl.-Ing. Ralf Sander (FH Aachen, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics).

The Einhard Gymnasium in Aachen has set up a Formula 1 club and is taking part in the "Formula 1 at school" project as part of the elective subject JIA. In 2016, our department specifically helped with the design and production of the racing cars (see link below).

Formula 1 in Schools (F1 in schools) is a multidisciplinary, international technology competition in which students ages 11 to 19 design and manufacture a miniature Formula 1 race car on a computer and then enter it into a race.
The aim is to use the fascination and global presence generated by the "big" Formula 1 to create an exciting, engaging learning experience for young people, making the fields of product development, technology and science more accessible and understandable, and better highlighting careers in technology.

In regional competitions and a German championship, the gas cartridge-powered bolides compete against each other on a 20-meter race track. The winning team represents Germany at the F1 in Schools World Championship, which is held annually in the run-up to a Formula 1 Grand Prix. The decisive factor is the team's performance in design (CAD), manufacturing (CAM, finishing, surface design), compliance with rules (measurement = scrutineering), racing (reaction time, vehicle speed), business plan and oral presentation. The team itself presents itself on the day of the competition with a portfolio and a customized team box.

Junior Engineer Academy in Faculty 8 2016: Fascination Racing

Teams of pupils from various schools in the Aachen region and students from Aachen University of Applied Sciences take part in the one-week competition project "pro8". Within one week, the teams develop a concept to solve a task set by an industrial partner. At the end of the week, the teams present their technical concept to a jury in the form of a poster presentation and a written paper. The school teams compete with each other in the pro8 project, but not with the teams of students. In this way, they learn about elements of study at a technically oriented university of applied sciences and how to deal with students from different semesters and courses of study, as well as how to work with professors and academic staff from the faculty.