Students build electric motors worldwide

Children build their own electric motor during the Mouse Door Opening Day at Ziehl-Abegg in Kupferzell (Germany). (Ziehl-Abegg)

(Ziehl-Abegg)

Understanding technology: Releasing the brakes on a hoist motor using muscle power. (Ziehl-Abegg)

Group photo with the mouse after the Open Day 2019 at Ziehl-Abegg in Kupferzell (Germany). (Ziehl-Abegg)

The goal is clear: "Every child goes home today with a functioning electric motor," says Sophie Grill at the start of the Mouse Door Opening Day on October 3rd. To ensure this ambitious goal is achieved in the end, the 23-year-old trainee from the Künzelsau industrial company Ziehl-Abegg, together with six other trainees, has worked almost three-quarters of a year in preparation. Because, as always on October 3rd, the "Sendung mit der Maus" (The Show with the Mouse) of West German Broadcasting invited to Door Opening Day this year as well. The concept for the day is simple: Throughout Germany, companies enable children to access production sites and sales rooms, allowing children to experience open doors where they would otherwise face closed ones. Ziehl-Abegg has now extended this initiative to all six continents.

The goal is clear: "Every child goes home today with a functioning electric motor," says Sophie Grill at the start of the Mouse Door Opening Day on October 3rd. To ensure this ambitious goal is achieved in the end, the 23-year-old trainee from the Künzelsau industrial company Ziehl-Abegg, together with six other trainees, has worked almost three-quarters of a year in preparation. Because, as always on October 3rd, the "Sendung mit der Maus" (The Show with the Mouse) of West German Broadcasting invited to Door Opening Day this year as well. The concept for the day is simple: Throughout Germany, companies enable children to access production sites and sales rooms, allowing children to experience open doors where they would otherwise face closed ones.

Ziehl-Abegg has been participating regularly in Door Opening Day since 2016. In 2019, the specialist for fans and electric motors took it a step further: Not only in Germany, but worldwide, on six continents—from Australia to Singapore to Brazil and the USA—children were to build small electric motors at Ziehl-Abegg locations or in schools. And for the first time, the Door Opening Day was planned and implemented entirely by trainees. Sophie Grill, an industrial clerk trainee in her second year of apprenticeship, took on the project management. She learned, as she modestly says, that through this project she not only got to know her company down to the smallest detail but, in a way, the whole world.

In Germany, Ziehl-Abegg opened its doors at the plant in Kupferzell. The plant is located just a few kilometers from the company's headquarters in Künzelsau. Thirty girls and boys aged between nine and 12 were invited. More than 200 applications were received for the coveted 30 spots. So, luck of the draw decided. Worldwide, as Sophie Grill reports, 80 children participated in Door Opening Day. In South Africa and Brazil, the event was held in schools.

When the project leader opened the event at 9:45 a.m. in the Kupferzell plant, the electric motor builders in Australia had already finished long ago. They had started, according to German time, at 1:30 a.m. There, as the message from Australia goes, all motors ran smoothly. The same was to be hoped for in Kupferzell.

On October 3rd, the 30 boys and girls received expert support and guidance: "I am passionate about tinkering," says Jürgen Ulm. The tall man is enthusiastically involved in the Door Opening Day. With a so-called multimeter, a measuring device that looks a bit like an over-sized smartphone, he goes from table to table checking whether the electric motors the children assemble conduct electricity or produce a short circuit. The latter should, of course, not happen. Carefully, he touches two contacts to the copper wire, which later forms the heart of each electric motor. "Now it beeps," he says. That means contact is made. No short circuit, then. By the way, Jürgen Ulm is a bit more than just an enthusiastic tinkerer. Jürgen Ulm holds a professorship and has a doctorate in engineering sciences. He teaches at the Institute for Digitalization and Electric Drives at Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences, Reinhold-Würth University, at the Künzelsau campus. During the Door Opening Day, the professor, by the way, wears what all children and Ziehl-Abegg helpers wear: a blue Mouse T-shirt with the inscription: "Mouse around the world. Introduction to Engineering." Translated freely: A worldwide introduction to engineering, in the spirit of the Mouse.

At one of the tables, twelve-year-old Simon Geisler from Bamberg is diligently grinding a thin copper wire. Eighteen-year-old trainee Lukas Hettenbach is assisting him with the construction of the electric motor. "Grind carefully, otherwise there will be no contact and it won't work properly," he encourages the 12-year-old Simon, who, on this day, is somewhat the apprentice of the apprentice. Lukas Hettenbach, by the way, has not been involved for long either. He only started his apprenticeship as an electronics technician for devices and systems at Ziehl-Abegg at the beginning of September. In the short time, he has already learned a lot about electric motors. That's why he shares with his young protégé where the particular challenge lies when handling the copper wire: in the careful grinding and in the precise winding of the wire into a coil. To cut a long story short: at exactly 1 p.m., well before the end of the event, Simon's small electric motor starts running. It has enough power to turn a small propeller.

But the employees of Ziehl-Abegg also build electric motors capable of moving entire buses and lifting heavy elevators, which the children also see during Door Opening Day. A short ride with an electric bus across the factory grounds, a factory tour, and finally a look into the elevator test room are also part of the program. "This is the door you never open otherwise," says company boss Peter Fenkl as he enters the test room with the children. Here, the word Door Opening Day is taken literally, because even Ziehl-Abegg employees, as Peter Fenkl emphasizes, are only allowed to enter this room with special permission.

Simon Geisler from Bamberg is, by the way, a real Door Opener pro. He has already been lucky three times in the lottery and has visited Ziehl-Abegg, this year together with his nine-year-old brother Florin. At Clavius-Gymnasium in Bamberg, Simon even gave a presentation about the company Ziehl-Abegg in sixth grade. He had seen a segment about elevator motors on "The Show with the Mouse," and, logically, the Mouse film was shot at Ziehl-Abegg in Kupferzell. Fearlessly, Simon then wrote an email asking for material for a presentation. He wanted to know everything—about the company's history and what the company specializes in. He then delivered the presentation in his computer science class. He received a straight A for it.

A trainee team that spends almost three-quarters of a year preparing, a day X where everything must go perfectly for 30 small electric motors to work, two dozen helpers, a cook, a bus driver, and a janitor working overtime on German Unity Day: this is undoubtedly a lot of effort. But company boss Peter Fenkl is confident that this effort is worthwhile. "It's about sparking the interest of young people in technology and showing parents that we do more for the region," says the CEO of Ziehl-Abegg. Of course, you can't establish a "linear economic connection," as the saying goes: What does it actually bring to the company? But for Peter Fenkl, the most important result of this day is that the children have fun. And not only that: "It also makes our employees happy," emphasizes Peter Fenkl.

On an international level, there was, by the way, a gap to fill beforehand: It was about understanding what this Mouse is all about. In Germany, the Mouse and the little blue elephant are undoubtedly stars, but in Singapore or the USA, they are largely unknown. So, Sophie Grill's trainee team turned an annual sales meeting of the international management into a training session about the Mouse Door Opening Day. There was an evening briefing for the international managers, during which the kit for the electric motor to be used on Door Opening Day was introduced. There was also an eight-page illustrated assembly manual, a training video, and information about "The Show with the Mouse." The managers from the management team, as Sophie Grill recalls, had great fun when they themselves got to build the electric motor. "Even among adults, it's like this: everyone looks around—can everyone see that the motor is running?" At their locations, the international managers then shared their knowledge.

In Hohenlohe, specifically in Kupferzell and Künzelsau, the gears clicked together. For example, trainees from the metal training workshop in Künzelsau produced uniform wooden boards with stylized mice using CNC milling machines, which would later serve as base plates for the electric motors, reports Joachim Deißler. The 34-year-old is an electronics trainer. As such, he has extensive experience with trainees as well as with students, because Ziehl-Abegg cooperates closely with the Krautheim Realschule. He has been certain long before the end of Door Opening Day: "All the electric motors will work."

The organizers pay special attention to the schedule. As vocational training manager Jens Münch explains, the age range from nine to twelve years sometimes requires a bit of improvisation. Some children are simply faster at building than others. Jens Münch often consults briefly with his trainers and trainees. Some program points are moved forward, some shortened.
And breaks are necessary too. In the Kupferzell cafeteria, there is currywurst with fries on Door Opening Day.

The parents of Simon and Florin Geisler from Bamberg are very pleased at the end of the event. It was not a mass event, and something was offered for the 30 children who could participate. Above all, the children were allowed to get hands-on themselves. But especially the commitment of Ziehl-Abegg employees impressed Simon and Florin's parents. "You can see that everyone is part of it and sees a purpose behind it. Everyone feels responsible for the success," describes Gudrun Geisler the atmosphere during Door Opening Day. And the success was indeed achieved: Punctually at 2:20 p.m., ten minutes before the official end of the event, Professor Dr. Jürgen Ulm, the man with the thick multimeter, announced, "All motors are running."

At the end, each child received a certificate of participation after the farewell photo. It was written in English, after all, because this was the first international Mouse Door Opening Day.