National Future Day: Zühlke Firmly in Children's Hands

Swiss schoolchildren look forward to the annual National Future Day. They finally have the chance to visit their parents at work and get a taste of the professional world. Like last year, Zühlke again opened their doors in Schlieren. Seventeen participants aged between 10 and 14 had an exciting day. HR Specialist Desiree Lüscher was the main organizer of the event for the first time and tells us about her favorite moments and memories.

The National Future Day wasn’t as exhausting as you might think. In fact, I had a lot of fun giving the kids some age-appropriate insights into the world of technology and innovation. We started off cosily with croissants and orange juice. Then we formed small groups, so that everyone could actively try things out and do a lot of handicrafts.

Children visit their parents at work and get a taste of the professional world

For the National Future Day we prepared two workshops. The first one was "Mechatronic cardboard engineering". Together with our engineers, the children built an electro-hydraulic robot arm made of cardboard, hot glue, and 3D printing. We were at least as excited and curious as the children themselves. And every robot worked perfectly.

In the second workshop, our young visitors got to try their hands as graphic artists. We dressed up in costumes and took photos in a specially designed photo booth. Afterwards, the children processed the shots with the help of Photoshop and our marketing experts. The white wall in the background was then transformed into the skyline of New York. And suddenly the participants were standing upside down or headless in the photos.

Souvenirs and food for thought from National Future Day

We considered it important to show the children that not everything they see in pictures is necessarily real. The self-designed photo was printed out as a poster, which every child took home in the evening as a National Future Day souvenir.

The children visiting their parents at work made a great change to my day; it was highly enriching. Through the eyes of the children I gained new impressions of my own work at Zühlke. Maybe we inspired some of them to become engineers themselves later on. The National Future Day was a benefit for all of us – delicious and educational.