Specialists

SWITCH is a joint initiative of the City of Aachen, the Aachen Chamber of Industry and Commerce and the Aachen Chamber of Crafts. Students who have already decided to drop out of university, lateral entrants and unsuccessful graduates who are unable to start a career are placed in a shortened vocational training program if possible. Training can begin at any time. More than 300 companies in the Aachen region offer apprenticeships to SWITCH applicants.

SWITCH was created in response to the growing need for skilled workers and the increased demand for trainees.

Aachen enjoys an outstanding position as a university location. With over 62,000 students in the 2021/2022 semester, Aachen is home to over eight percent of all students enrolled in NRW and accounts for around 24 percent of the city's population. However, studying is not the right choice for everyone. Every year, over 3,000 students in Aachen leave university without a degree. At the same time, companies in the region are increasingly struggling to fill training positions with qualified applicants. According to the Aachen-Düren Employment Agency, around 2,300 of the 6,567 apprenticeship positions remained unfilled last year.

SWITCH combines these two aspects and brings university dropouts and lateral entrants together with companies. With the opportunity to complete a shortened vocational training program in Aachen, SWITCH offers university dropouts an attractive and alternative training path. At the same time, companies are happy to hire university dropouts and career changers due to their experience and prior knowledge from their studies.

The phase-out of coal-fired power generation is leading to significant structural changes in the Rhineland mining region, which are accompanied by economic losses and job losses in many areas. The "Ergonomic Competence Center for Gainful Employment in Industry 4.0", or AKzentE4.0 for short, is being funded with around 16 million euros and is concerned with the humane introduction and implementation of Industry 4.0 concepts and technologies in the Aachen region. The competence center is concerned with the question of how digital technologies and artificial intelligence can be used to promote the competitiveness of regional companies and make structural change in the Rhenish mining area socially sustainable. Further information on the project can be found on the AKzentE4.0 website.

The Aachen region is characterized by a unique mix of high technology and production expertise, supported mainly by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and renowned universities. Industry 4.0 technologies and concepts, especially AI-based applications, have only been implemented by a few companies in the region to date. The reasons range from a lack of know-how to reservations about the benefits for companies and their employees. There is a need for support in the development and introduction of new technologies as well as the need to examine their impact on employees and working conditions. At the same time, there is scope for action and decision-making that must be used to shape a technologically and socially innovative working world of the future.

The overarching goal of the project is to establish an occupational science competence center in Aachen for the field of gainful employment in Industry 4.0, to test it and at the same time to develop an implementation strategy for its continuation. Industry 4.0 technologies, in particular AI-based applications, are to be researched with regard to their potential for operational work design and made tangible for companies. Consortium projects will develop ergonomic methods and procedures that can be used for participative and prospective work design and ergonomic evaluation. In addition, innovative concepts for technology transfer as well as qualification measures and (re)training programs are being developed.

The three central components of the Aachen Competence Center are:

• Infrastructure: Mixed reality model factory for testing and further developing innovative approaches and evaluating work design parameters, which can be continuously expanded through operational components and innovative demonstrators, as well as an openly accessible knowledge repository
• Networking: Various networking formats for exchange with and integration of local stakeholders, clusters and institutions

• Methods: Ergonomic evaluation methods and work design strategies for humane work design in the age of digitalization

Scientific partners

Institute of Ergonomics at RWTH Aachen University
Machine Tool Laboratory at RWTH Aachen University
Department of Robotics and Fundamentals of Computer Science, Aachen University of Applied Sciences
Department of Vehicle Systems and Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering, Aachen University of Applied Sciences
Department of Media, Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences
FIRe.V. at RWTH Aachen University

Implementation partner

CBM GmbH
MA&T Sell & Partner GmbH
Vereinigte Unternehmerverbände Aachen e. V.
City of Aachen (Department of Economics, Science, Digital City and Europe)
Aachen Chamber of Skilled Crafts

Application partner

AIXTRON SE
Aurubis Stolberg GmbH & Co. KG
DIRKRASondermaschinenbau GmbH & Co. KG
DufterGmbH
Elektrotechnik Ell
Fecken-Kirfel GmbH & Co. KG
HECKER& KROSCH GmbH & Co. KG
Lauscher Präzisionstechnik GmbH
Lebenshilfe Aachen Werkstätten & Service GmbH
NEUMAN & ESSER GmbH & Co. KG
oculavisGmbH
Ph-MECHANIK GmbH & Co.KG
Schiffer Metal- & Vakuumtechnik GmbH
wagnerGmbH Eschweiler[MS(A1] 

This research and development project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) as part of the "Future of Work: Regional Competence Centers for Work Research. Designing new forms of work through artificial intelligence" in the "Innovations for the production, services and work of tomorrow" program (funding code: 02L19C400) and is being supervised by the Project Management Agency Karlsruhe (PTKA).

As the city of Aachen, we are pursuing the goal of becoming climate-neutral by 2030. A major goal that is followed by action. The primary energy sources in the region are wind and solar energy. But how can we manage the expansion of solar energy with a persistent shortage of skilled workers?

This is where the "SolAixQ - Solar learning in the neighborhood" project comes in, contributing to the sustainable integration of refugees and long-term unemployed people into the labour market while also strengthening local companies. Participants in the project are given the professional and personal skills they need to work as "solar helpers" in employment subject to social insurance contributions.

Local companies are supported in integrating the participants into their operations. The aim is also to develop and consolidate a strong network of local companies, promote the exchange of knowledge and experience across industries and create offers for companies to meet the multidimensional challenges of skills shortages and digitalization.

The initiative was launched to counteract the growing demand for qualified specialists in the STEM fields (mathematics, information technology, natural sciences, technology). Through close cooperation with schools, universities, companies and research institutions in the region, the ZDI network offers a wide range of projects and activities. These include practical workshops, excursions, competitions and research projects that enable pupils to experience STEM subjects at first hand and deepen their knowledge.

There is a particular focus on supporting girls and hard-to-reach students. The network actively promotes equality and inclusion in these areas in order to create a balanced and diverse STEM community.

By involving companies from the region, the ZDI Aachen and Heinsberg district network helps to build a bridge between educational institutions and industry. This not only promotes pupils' interest in STEM subjects, but also strengthens the link between the regional labor market and the future generation of skilled workers.

Overall, the ZDI Aachen and Heinsberg district network plays a decisive role in shaping the STEM education landscape in the region by promoting the potential of young people and contributing to the development of innovation locally.