In mid-May, eight 7th grade schoolgirls from the IGS Linden in Hanover visited the Institute for Forming Technology and Machines. This school year, the Institute and the Collaborative Research Centre 1153 are jointly offering the project "Construction - From the Idea to the Product" at the Gesamtschule (comprehensive school). The cooperation is part of the CRC's commitment to promoting young researchers and gender equality and is explicitly aimed at schoolgirls. The aim is to introduce them to technical issues in a playful way. Under the guidance of scientific staff and student assistants, the participants learn, for example, the basics of CAD construction and apply them themselves by digitally implementing their own mobile phone holder or other creative ideas.
With the excursion, they were now able to gain a practical insight into working in the field of mechanical engineering. Building on what they had learned in the workshop, they were given an insight into design using CAD and designed a forging tool themselves. During a tour of the IFUM's experimental hall, there were also numerous demonstrations. For example, the students learned about a cylinder compression test for recording flow curves at 1,000 °C and an automated forging process, as well as methods of sheet metal forming and a modern 3D printer.
And the visitors were also allowed to be hands-on themselves. What forces are actually needed to shape metal? How is aluminium, a light metal, formed in comparison to steel? Here, the schoolgirls were allowed to try out open-die forging - quite classically with hammer and anvil.
The visit marked the successful conclusion of the workshop for the current school year. It will be continued in the autumn with the next year's class.
