Experience: Future Day at CSA Engineering AG

Future Day: a discoverer yesterday, a developer today

Every year, November presents CSA Engineering AG with a special opportunity to give the next generation a greater understanding of the world of technology and innovation. On Future Day, which this year took place on 9 November, we opened our doors to young, curious minds who wanted to spend a day getting a taste of the diverse careers on offer in the engineering and computer science sectors.

Shaping the future – young people at the helm

This year, in Levi, Fadi, Laurent, Lukas and Loïc, we welcomed five inquisitive young people who threw themselves into the exciting technologies and challenges.

A day full of discoveries

Soldering

The day began with an exciting dive into the world of electronics. The boys were tasked with soldering a metal detector kit – an activity that requires precision and careful attention. What do the different components do and how are they used? In the end, under the expert guidance of Thomas, everyone achieved success: making the red LED illuminate when holding the measuring coil near metal!

A social lunch break

Just like last year, the lunch break was once again a time for socialising and sharing ideas. Our young guests loved the pizza. The owner of Casablanca served us in the dining hall, where we all got together to sit at a table.

Programming

In the afternoon, the youngsters had a go at programming. The micro:bit is a microcontroller that can be used to introduce children and young people to programming, with its many sensors and actuators making it ideal for this task. Many had already learnt the programming language Scratch at school, which made it easier to get started. Nevertheless, there were a few challenges: how do I keep track of the programme sequence, how do I react to different events, how do I process different events at the same time? Ben and Florence were kept busy providing expert support. LEDs were illuminated, the room was filled with music and sounds and the minds of the young programmers even got a little frazzled.

Learning & having fun

Including these two activities in the programme allowed the young people to experience the variety and challenges of working as an embedded engineer. Not only were they able to try out numerous activities themselves, but they also learnt a great deal in the process. The opportunity to ask our engineers questions provided additional insight into the profession and made the day a valuable and enjoyable learning experience.

Feedback – the voice of the future

It goes without saying that at the end of the day we were eager to hear what the five boys had to say about our programme.

“I liked building the metal detector and programming with micro:bits. I really liked the atmosphere and the working environment here with you all and the other employees. I’ve learnt different ways to programme something. Thank you for inviting me to lunch, it was delicious.”

“I really liked the soldering. I thought it was great that they explained the individual parts. I learnt that the current can only flow through the diodes in one direction. I thought it was great that they helped us with programming when we didn’t know what to do. It was a cool day”.

“I enjoyed building the metal detector. Programming was also fun. The pizza was great. I learnt how electronics work and how to programme. I now know what an electronics engineer does”.

“I really liked everything. Soldering was a lot of fun and so was programming. I also really liked the fact that we built a metal detector. I learnt how to solder and got a very good insight into programming. Today gave me a great insight into computer science and electronics”.

“I really enjoyed programming in the afternoon because it’s like small puzzles that need to be solved. I learnt that it's difficult to write an error-free programme and that it's also difficult to solder in a way that means everything works afterwards”.