Inspiring the next generation: Engineering intern at Onics

Fewer young people today are choosing an education in engineering. This is the situation in many Western countries and Denmark, where Onics is located, is no exception.

As a result of this, fewer engineers are entering the workforce and according to the Danish Society of Engineers, Denmark will lack 13.000 engineering graduates by 2030.

The consequences of this negative trend are evident: a shortage of engineers means fewer qualified people to contribute to solving immediate societal challenges such as climate change, problems within the healthcare system, and increased cyber security risks.

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Igniting passion for engineering through internships

At Onics, we want to be a part of reversing this negative career trend and inspire more young people to choose an education and career within engineering.

Therefore, we have recently welcomed Oskar, an 8th grade elementary school student with a curiosity for engineering, for a three-day vocational training program in our Engineering department.

Here, Oskar had the chance to dive deep into the mechanics of our IoT products and explore how the products are developed and used in the field for IoT solutions.

He has also been able to apply his school knowledge about electricity to set up electricity circuits as well as try his hand with embedded software development.

“It has been a really nice experiencing overall and I feel like I have learned a lot from my days here. It has been fun spending some time tinkering with the different products and trying out software development. I could definitely see myself as a software engineer in the future”, says Oskar.

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Early exposure and hands-on experiences

Director, Head of Development Projects at Onics, Thomas Augustinus who has initiated the engineering internship, thinks that early experiences like these are crucial for inspiring the youth to pursue a career in engineering and science:

“I believe it is extremely important to spark young people’s interest in the technical subjects like engineering by giving them a great hands-on experience. The return is not so much the technical skills – three days are not enough for that – but to pique their curiosity and make them want to continue when the internship is over”, says Thomas Augustinus.

And according to him, it is not the last time Onics will welcome an intern in the Engineering department.