"Many good engineers are needed for the exciting topics of the future," said Frederic Seng, himself an engineer in the Research and Development Department of Herrenknecht AG, while motivating his young audience at the Engineering Open Day at Max-Planck High School in Lahr in early February. In various lectures held by engineers from companies from the Ortenau district, pupils learned at firsthand about professions and career opportunities in the area of technical engineering and the natural sciences.

Schwanau, Germany, February 13, 2013. This is the third time that Max-Planck High School has invited senior level pupils to the school in Lahr for an Engineering Open Day. The aim of the cooperation with different companies as well as the University of Offenburg and Karlsruhe Institute for Technology is to motivate young people to take up professions in the areas of technology and the natural sciences. "In cooperation with the company Herrenknecht, we have once again attracted top-class experts and been able to offer the pupils in Lahr a special information event", said headmistress Waltraud Oelmann. Almost 100 pupils took up the invitation.

Frederic Seng informed the pupils about the newest developments in machine and plant engineering in the exploration of fossil fuels and energy from hydropower. These include the tunnelling machines of Herrenknecht AG for vertical, sloped or horizontal shafts, which have already been put into operation around the globe from Australia to China to Switzerland in the construction of hydropower stations. "Energy alternatives are challenges for engineers", said Dr. Marc Peters, head of research and development in the Business Unit Utility Tunnelling at Herrenknecht, giving pupils food for thought to take with them. He introduced a newly developed environmentally-friendly method for anchoring offshore wind power plants in the seabed.

Herrenknecht employs a great deal more than 200 engineers from different specialized areas such as mechanical engineering, the economy or construction at its company headquarters in Schwanau alone. Herrenknecht is highly dedicated to promoting the technically-oriented younger generation. It sponsors Max-Planck High School, for example, with a five-digit donation every year.