Biology and technology in practice: Minitube Girls' Day
Soldering irons and pipettes instead of pens, analysis software instead of exercise books, laboratories instead of classrooms: Minitüb GmbH welcomed six young female explorers from regional Secondary schools to this year's Girls' Day and gave them a look behind the scenes of animal reproduction.
In a company presentation, the Tiefenbach-based company introduced itself as a technology market leader in the animal breeding industry and explained to the girls, which tasks, departments, and processes are necessary to be able to supply consumables, high-tech machines, and software for reproduction technology to a global customer base.
In the first practical part, biology lab technician and software specialist Alina Bartzick provided insights into computer-controlled cell analysis and answered questions about how a microscope works and how it is used. For example, the motility of boar sperm was analyzed, which is automatically assessed from the slide using specially developed software. One of the girls commented on the show effect of freezing disposable gloves and plant parts in a matter of seconds using liquid nitrogen: "It would be cool if we could do something like that in biology lessons too!".
As part of the second workshop, the motivated students were given the task of soldering a small electronic circuit for a digital cube by Petra Ziegler, a programmer and mathematician, and learned about the tools of a mechatronics engineer.
After a guided tour of the company premises, the participants left with many new impressions and the realization that the theoretical knowledge gained from science subjects at school opens up an exciting field of activity and career in practice.
“Girls’Day – Future Prospects for Girls” is a nationwide German career-orientation project for girls. On that day, female students aged 10 years and older learn about professions and subjects of study with a proportion of less than 40% being women. The goal is to influence the vocational choices of girls in a very positive way.
In a company presentation, the Tiefenbach-based company introduced itself as a technology market leader in the animal breeding industry and explained to the girls, which tasks, departments, and processes are necessary to be able to supply consumables, high-tech machines, and software for reproduction technology to a global customer base.
In the first practical part, biology lab technician and software specialist Alina Bartzick provided insights into computer-controlled cell analysis and answered questions about how a microscope works and how it is used. For example, the motility of boar sperm was analyzed, which is automatically assessed from the slide using specially developed software. One of the girls commented on the show effect of freezing disposable gloves and plant parts in a matter of seconds using liquid nitrogen: "It would be cool if we could do something like that in biology lessons too!".
As part of the second workshop, the motivated students were given the task of soldering a small electronic circuit for a digital cube by Petra Ziegler, a programmer and mathematician, and learned about the tools of a mechatronics engineer.
After a guided tour of the company premises, the participants left with many new impressions and the realization that the theoretical knowledge gained from science subjects at school opens up an exciting field of activity and career in practice.
“Girls’Day – Future Prospects for Girls” is a nationwide German career-orientation project for girls. On that day, female students aged 10 years and older learn about professions and subjects of study with a proportion of less than 40% being women. The goal is to influence the vocational choices of girls in a very positive way.
