Hammering, sawing, tinkering, amazement: HARTING celebrates 15 years of KiTec

HARTING celebrated the highlight of this year's KiTec competition. It was a double occasion: the presentation of the HARTING Research Prize and an anniversary at the same time. For 15 years, the project "Children discover technology" has been inspiring pupils in Espelkamp for crafts and technology.

The focus of the event at the New Training Centre HARTING (NAZHA) was on the buildings of the fourth grades of all Espelkamp primary schools. Under this year's theme "Everything that comes out of the house ..." imaginative constructions have been created in recent months. What they all have in common is that they were built with simple tools, a lot of perseverance and even more inventiveness.

Beforehand, HARTING's Vice-Chairwoman of the Board, Maresa Harting-Hertz, visited a school class and looked over the children's shoulders as they built. It quickly became clear what KiTec is all about: trying things out, rejecting them, starting anew and taking pride in what they have created themselves.

Exactly this moment was later taken up in a film clip, which staged the arc of tension between artificial intelligence and craftsmanship with a wink. The central message: AI can inspire and help. The children themselves have to understand, build and create.

In addition to this perspective, HARTING trainees who have themselves previously taken part in the KiTec competition also spoke up. They described their path from initial experiments to their choice of career. Curiosity turned into skill and the enthusiasm for creating one's own has remained to this day.

"An initiative like KiTec thrives on the commitment of the teachers – they make it possible for technology to be experienced in schools in the first place," said Margrit Harting. "You can see how successful this is in the children themselves: It's impressive what ideas they develop and how they implement them with a lot of commitment."

The effect is also evident in the long term: In the past decade and a half, around 3,000 children have taken part in KiTec.

On the occasion of its 15th anniversary, KiTec also sent a strong signal beyond Espelkamp: High-ranking representatives from politics, business and educational initiatives acknowledged the importance of the project for the future of the region. Among the guests were Ali Doğan, District Administrator of the Minden-Lübbecke district, Petra Pigerl-Radtke, Managing Director of the East Westphalia Chamber of Industry and Commerce in Bielefeld, and Dr. Henning Vieker, Mayor of the City of Espelkamp and patron of KiTec. The round was complemented by Yvonne Reckling, chairwoman of the board of the Wissensfabrik, Sepp Heckmann from the association "KiWiZ – Kinder – Wissen – Zukunft e. V." and Heinrich Vieker, former mayor and long-time companion. Their presence underlines that projects such as KiTec make a concrete contribution to securing skilled workers by arousing curiosity, promoting talent and opening up perspectives.

The most convincing buildings as well as a particularly successful project documentation were awarded:

1st place: "Toaster", Espelkamp-Süd primary school association, Isenstedt sub-site (Lina Sofie Emmerling, Naya Frenkel, Pia Kröker, Enna Joy Schmale, Anni Warkentin, Lara Celine Windhorst)

2nd place: "The Doll's House", Espelkamp-Süd primary school association, Benkhausen sub-site (Linda Fransen, Rosali Kirsch, Noelia Joanne Köhn, Tim Olenberg, Alessia Stirtz, Uliana Zabiiaka)

3rd place: "Mixer", Grundschule am Auewald, class 4c (Chanel Bergen, Julia Ferderer, Adrian Grams, Lolan Younis)

Best Documentary: "Swivel Chair", Espelkamp-Süd Primary School Association, Frotheim Sub-Site (Can Ashton, Jonas Deibert, Leandro Lilliu, Kian Schäfer, Glen Robert Vorrath)