As part of the project "The Fascination of Technology" initiated by the Chamber of Trade and Industry in the Northern Black Forest (IHK Nordschwarzwald), two school classes from the secondary schools in Dornstetten and Schopfloch visited J. Schmalz GmbH, specialists for vacuum technology, on 25.10.2006 and 26.10.2006. The aim of this project is to allow young people to visit the company, to awaken their interest for technical jobs and to inform them about the training offered by Schmalz.

On 25.10.2006, for example, 26 children from the secondary school in Dornstetten were first greeted by Wolfgang Schmalz, managing director of J. Schmalz GmbH. Wolfgang Schmalz encouraged the students to become interested in technology and emphasised how important technological progress will become in the future. "Our prosperity is based on technology, be it in information technology, electronics or energy generation. We must participate in this development, if only to guarantee future jobs", he said. At the end of his speech, he thanked the persons at IHK Nordschwarzwald who initiated and organised this project.

A day full of different impressions now lay before the schoolchildren. Personnel manager Martin Helbling presented the company and emphasised how important technical trades and professions are for the future. He also stressed the enormous importance of the English language in an increasingly globalised world. Werner Morgenthaler, leader of the IHK innovation, technology and quality-management division, referred to the English language and demonstrated this with the aid of job interviews held in English, which are today already common, even for skilled workers.

This introduction was followed by a guided tour of the company, accompanied by two commercial trainees, Julia Kaufmann and Julia Hrastic, to show the students the various departments of the company.

After a midday meal, it was time for the children to get some hands-on experience. With the assistance of training manager Rudolf Mönch and the industrial trainees, they cooperated in teams to make their own memo holders in the training workshop. Sven Helbling, also an industrial trainee at Schmalz, then presented three fascinating experiments to demonstrate the possibilities of vacuum technology.

Finally, the children had the opportunity, in a dialogue with personnel manager Martin Helbling, to learn more about the training courses offered at Schmalz. Martin Helbling again stressed how important it is for young schoolchildren and students to learn about possible jobs by taking on holiday jobs or doing placements and thus to actively accept their responsibility for the future.

All in all, both sides can profit from the project "The Fascination of Technology". The schoolchildren found the visit to Schmalz very interesting and both girls and boys were very enthusiastic about the opportunity to make something for themselves. On the other side, Martin Helbling, in his function as personnel manager, had the opportunity to describe what business and industry will expect in the future from the young generation entering the labour market.