Inspiring enthusiasm for MINT

Prof. Bärbel Renner summed up the intention of the network, which was founded in February: "The aim of the alliance is to inspire enthusiasm for the STEM field," said the Managing Director of experimenta at the first network meeting of the "Zukunftsallianz MINT-Region Heilbronn" on the premises of 42Heilbronn. The TUM Campus Heilbronn as a founding member also took part. Renner added: "We want to communicate the attractiveness of the Heilbronn ecosystem, use the expertise of many local players to develop innovative formats and thereby further develop the unique ecosystem."

The fact that the 20 founding members all attended the event at the programming school shows how much they have internalized these goals and how great the expectations are that they associate with the network of STEM – Science Technology Engineering Mathematics– stakeholders. In addition, three new members werewelcomed: the „Führungsfrauen Raum Heilbronn e.V.“, the „Kreismedienzentrum Heilbronn“ and the „Seminar für Ausbildung und Fortbildung der Lehrkräfte Heilbronn (Gymnasium)“. "You can see how heterogeneous the educational landscape is and how different the reasons are for taking part here – but everyone has the same goal," said a delighted Dr Thomas Wendt, Head of Laboratories at experimenta. With the vocational schools in the Heilbronn district, another institution could be added in the future, bringing the number of members to 24.

Public event planned for the first anniversary

In order to make even better use of synergy effects in the future, the players were initially assigned to three different clusters, with the TUM Campus Heilbronn belonging to the "Science & Research" cluster together with other institutions on the Bildungscampus Heilbronnsuch as the Fraunhofer IAO, the DHBW Heilbronn and the DHBW Center for Advanced Studies (CAS), the Ferdinand Steinbeis Institute, Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences (HHN), the Initiative for Applied Artificial Intelligence (aai) and 42Heibronn. The "Labor Market" and "Schools and Extracurricular Learning Locations" clusters were also founded.

In the coming weeks and months, the stakeholders will exchange ideas and develop strategies both within the clusters and across clusters in order to advance the Heilbronn STEM region. The next large-scale network meeting will take place on November 19 this year. A public event is planned for the anniversary of the network’s founding on February 28, 2025, at which the initial results will be presented.