Girls' and Boys' Day 2025 @ IMW - "What does a mechanical engineer actually do?"

After a welcome and more detailed information on the topic of "What does a mechanical engineer actually do?", the IMW continued with the classification of mechanical engineering in today's world. Prof. Lohrengel's presentation quickly made it clear that a lot of energy can be saved through modern mechanical engineering and that mechanical engineering therefore makes an important contribution to climate protection. For example, research is being carried out into lighter shafts for cars or rice as a resource-saving material.

The participants then designed wooden coasters, which were laser-cut from wood in our student workshop "TU Create".

We then moved on to a very up-to-date subject: CAD (computer-aided design) coupled with VR (virtual reality). Here, the students designed a car tire as an example and then used VR glasses to view the installation in the complex vehicle assembly, as is already common industry practice.

After a lunch break and a short tour of our institute, the assemblies of a bicycle were examined in small groups. A brake, a chain drive and a crank bearing were assembled and calculated independently. The motto here was "hands-on mechanical engineering," and an initial understanding of the technical terms "torque" and "gear ratio" was developed.

Would YOU also like to get to know the IMW and mechanical engineering? Please contact us at: office@imw.tu-clausthal.de or register for the next Girls' and Boys' Day 2026.

PS: You can also get a first insight via our overview on the IMW homepage: www.imw.tu-clausthal.de