"My Future in Technology" - the organiser and author of this project is the city of Wroclaw, represented by the Wroclaw Agglomeration Development Agency and two city departments: Education and Environment and Agriculture, as well as seven leading companies of the new technology industry, namely: Campgemini, Nokia, QAD, Gigaset, Espotel, Objectivity and Techland. They are supported by professional counsellors, as well as teachers and principals of schools that have been incorporated into the project. These are seven Wroclaw secondary schools: No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 12 and 15, as well as eight middle schools: No. 12, 14, 15, 18, 21, 28, 37 and 39.
Meeting with journalists and participants of the project, from the left: Piotr Szatkowski - Objectivity, Agnieszka Augustynów - Gigaset, Sebastian Kulej - Nokia, Maciej Bluj - Vice Mayor of Wroclaw, Piotr Poprawski - Capgemini, Maciej Sibiński - Espotel, Paweł Marchewka - Techland, Agata Sala - QAD, photo: Tomasz Walków
Why such a project?
What motivated the renowned IT companies to join and de facto implement the program, which included: competitions with questions-riddles in the areas of mathematics, physics, computer science and the environment, as well as meetings of professionals with students and parents, open days in IT companies, as well as programming workshops, dedicated just for girls? As Monika Cwynar-Kepa, Project Manger and substantive spokesman of My Future in Technology put it, 'We want to show the young people the world they themselves and their parents often have no access to on a daily basis. New technologies are created before our very eyes - we work in companies that deal with the future every day. They allow us to constantly develop and improve our theoretical and practical knowledge. Now we want to pass it down to young people and inspire them to think about their future careers.
Monika Cwynar Kepa, HR Manager at Capgemini Software Solutions Center Poland; Project Manager and substantive spokesperson for My Future In Technology, photo: MFiT
Authors of the project are convinced that the opinion that students hate science is exaggerated and even false. Because - and this is confirmed by the students of academic middle school with the Technical University of Wroclaw, which supported the initiative - teenagers want to learn maths and physics, but what they expect from adults is not to be overloaded with the curriculum and be taught in an interesting form. That's why My Future in Technology is based on puzzles that require both knowledge, and creative thinking.
The first quiz question
Example questions that students will answer - in groups and individually, because they could declare such a form of participation in the project - are: Which would fly to the moon faster - a bat or a fly? Why is it better to listen to music from the speakers than from headphones? What can you use to heat the house, if the power goes out? The issues range between "pure" mathematics or physics, but also touch on the issues of man's natural environment and its protection - this is an additional advantage in My Future Technology, by the initiative of the municipal Department of Environment and Agriculture.
The actual questions-riddles, available at www.myfutureintechnology.pl and their Facebook profile: www.facebook.com/myfutureintech will be a task for the students to solve as part of the competition. The prize is four vouchers with a total value of 800 PLN for the winners, and a 3D printer with a supply of materials for the school, with the largest number students involved in the activities offered by My Future in Technology. The competition entries will be evaluated by the representatives of the companies participating in the project and the Wroclaw Agglomeration Development Agency.
On March 21, during a press conference with all the contributors of the project, the first competition question was announced, thus officially starting the pilot project in Wroclaw.
Competitors now cooperate
During the inauguration of the project in Infopunkt Barbara, Vice Mayor of Wroclaw, Maciej Bluj expressed his satisfaction that the representatives of innovative companies, which grow in Wroclaw so well, were willing to participate in projects such as My Future in Technology. 'As one of the three cities where the largest number of people is employed in the IT sector, apart from Warsaw and Krakow, our city has considerable potential to carry out the "grassroots work." And My Future in Technology is one of those city educational initiatives targeted at high school students, which are to emphasise the city's focus on the development of innovative technologies and tightening cooperation between business and universities.
"Partners" symbolically launch the project in Wroclaw, photo: MFiT
It is therefore both surprising and valuable that companies that are competitors in a sense in their own business field, have joined forces to create a project, which, if proven successful in its pilot edition, has a chance to continue, featuring even more partners - on each of the parties involved.
'So far there hasn't been an educational project of this nature in Poland, says Mayor of Wroclaw Rafal Dutkiewicz. 'It is unusual not only to see such extensive cooperation between the private and public sectors, but also the successful cooperation between companies, which compete for customers and employees on a daily basis, adds the mayor.
