Airbus Foundation Explorers Centre inaugurated

First robot workshop successfully launched with 24 children from Ottobrunn
@HABAdigital - @AirbusFDN - #digitalliteracy

Taufkirchen/Ottobrunn, 12 October 2018 – The Airbus Foundation and HABA Digitalwerkstatt have inaugurated a new learning and education centre at Airbus’ Ottobrunn/Taufkirchen site. The Airbus Foundation Explorers Centre teaches children skills in programming, robotics and aerospace.

The aim of the Explorers Centre is to motivate and encourage children and young adults to develop a passion for new technologies, sciences and engineering, helping them improve their skills in these areas. Initially taking place every Friday morning, local schoolchildren between the ages of eight and 12 have the opportunity to participate in a three‑hour workshop to transform an mBot (a mini robot) into a digital space rocket and to programme it to fly to the International Space Station (ISS). The workshops are delivered to school groups by specially trained instructors from HABA Digitalwerkstatt, with plans to train Airbus employees to lead the workshops in future.

A total of 24 schoolchildren from Class 4c at Ottobrunn primary school (Grundschule Ottobrunn) already took part in the first workshop on 12 October, where they had the chance to build and programme robots.

“We are very proud to open the Explorers Centre at our Taufkirchen/Ottobrunn site. We are fortunate to have highly trained and committed employees at Airbus and want to pass on our passion and knowledge to the next generation of budding engineers and scientists. We view this as a real investment in the future,” said Dirk Hoke, Member of the Board of Directors of the Airbus Foundation.

The Airbus Foundation is collaborating with HABA Digitalwerkstatt on this project. Digitalwerkstatt is a creative education and experience space where children between the ages of six and 12 across Germany can discover the digital world in a fun and playful way and develop important skills in the field of new technology. In the courses and workshops, children learn how to programme, build robots, experiment with 3D printing and create animated movies.

“We are passionate about introducing children to the digital world in a fun and playful way, using digital technologies to promote skills that will be important to them in the future, such as resilience, problem-solving skills and frustration tolerance. The partnership with the Airbus Foundation is very exciting for us, as we want to inspire future generations to explore and discover the digital world in conjunction with aerospace,” said Verena Pausder, Founder and CEO of Digitalwerkstatt.

The Airbus Foundation Explorers Centre is one of the Airbus Foundation’s youth development programmes and initiatives, which include Airbus Little Engineer, Airbus Flying Challenge and the Discovery Space virtual learning platform.

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About the Airbus Foundation

The Airbus Foundation, chaired by Tom Enders, CEO of Airbus, includes Airbus, Airbus Helicopters and Airbus Defence and Space as founding and contributing members. It is the company’s vehicle for corporate philanthropy, using the group’s resources, aeronautic and space products, competencies, diverse workforce and culture for driving innovation to address societal issues. In particular, the Foundation supports the global humanitarian community and inspires and prepares young people for the challenges of tomorrow. Since its launch in May 2008, the Airbus Foundation has facilitated more than 60 relief or goodwill flights to numerous destinations around the globe. More information can be found at http://company.airbus.com/responsibility/Foundation.html.

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About HABA Digitalwerkstatt

The Digitalwerkstatt is a creative education and experience space where children between the ages of six and 12 can discover the digital world playfully and develop important skills in the field of new technology. For the past three years, the courses and workshops have encouraged children across Germany to learn programming skills, build robots, experiment with 3D printing, create animated movies and much more! The Digitalwerkstatt also offers workshops for parents, teachers and everyone interested in education. The programme includes school courses that focus on the conception and realisation of digital projects, which are integrated into the daily curriculum. The content is designed by experienced media pedagogues, teachers and IT specialists in cooperation with partners such as the Chair of Primary School Pedagogy and Didactics at the Ludwig-Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich. Further information is available at: https://www.digitalwerkstatt.de/

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