Great interest in the first “Tech Taster Internship” at Komax headquarters

Secondary school students in the Swiss canton of Lucerne are allowed to complete a three-day internship to find out which career or course of study they would like to pursue in future. They can base their decision on their wishes and interests and choose a company of their choice for the internship. The aim is to give students a first taste of the professional world, to confront them with the career or study choices they will face in the future, and to help them discover their own interests and abilities.

A student at the Buchrain Cantonal School did not want to miss the opportunity to take a look at a pioneer in automated wire processing and get a taste of innovation. He spotted Matijas Meyer, CEO of the Komax Group, at a regional soccer game, approached him, and asked if he could do a taster internship at Komax. Matijas Meyer couldn't say yes. At least not right away. But he promised to look into it. And so, in May, the first official “Tech Taster Internship” took place at Komax headquarters in Dierikon.

Three days full of action
The student who initiated the taster internship at Komax was not alone in his interest in modern technology: Eight other young people followed his lead and took part in the three-day internship at Komax. There was a lot to discover: a guided tour at the start showed what a large company looks like and which departments, production plants, and specialists stand behind a product and company. Then it was on to hands-on activities and active engagement. The production of a Mill board game (Nine Men’s Morris), including engraving, was followed by the replication of the same game using Onshape, a CAD software for 3D modeling. Next came the soldering of an LED cube and the programming of the letter X, as it appears in the company logo.

The last day of the internship continued with the topic of programming. Participants were introduced to the general-purpose programming language C# in the Visual Studio development environment and were allowed to program a simulation of a Komax machine themselves. A quiz, questions, feedback, and a certificate led to many happy faces and thus a successful conclusion to the first “Tech Taster Internship” organized by Komax. But how did it come about?

Young Community pilot project
When it came to deciding who could best convey the innovative world of Komax to young people, the answer was obvious. Matijas Meyer turned to the Young Community, a network of around seventy employees aged between 18 and 30 that he had founded in 2018 to better understand their needs and thus be able to support them in a more targeted manner. The Young Community liked the idea, put together a team, and organized the first “Tech Taster Internship”. “As a pilot project,” says Young Community President Nathanael Birrer, who works as a software engineer in addition to his role within the community. “And as a nice change from everyday routine for us employees,” he grins. Whether it will take place again in the coming years has not yet been decided. “But we have received very good feedback from the students, and one participant has even applied for a trial internship with us. That makes us very happy, of course.”