The theme of this year's Junior.ING competition is "Arena - well roofed". The task for the school classes was to design a roof for an open-air arena and build it using simple materials. The roof construction had to bear a load of at least 250 g and withstand a wind load simulated with a hairdryer. The design was largely free.
With an average of 6,000 participants, the Junior.ING school competition is one of the largest in Germany. Since the 2018/2019 school year, the Saxony Chamber of Engineers has also been taking part with its own state competition. The winners automatically qualify for the national competition. The competition is organised in the age categories up to grade 8 and from grade 9 and is open to individual and group work by pupils from general and vocational schools.
Since 2021, the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs has included Junior.ING in its list of recommended competitions worthy of support. The aim is to get pupils interested in science and technology in a fun way. The competition topics change every year, demonstrating the versatility of the civil engineering profession. In this way, the chambers promote the engineering profession in order to counteract the shortage of skilled labour in the technical professions in the long term.
