Workshop for Future Engineers - An Innovative Activity for Students in Grades 5 to 8

14.06.2023

On July 1st and 8th, TechnoMagicLand will host a Workshop for Future Engineers—an innovative activity designed for students in grades 5 to 8.

This program consists of two sessions held at our center and independent work at home. Within this activity, children will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in a special world—the world of engineers—and experience it firsthand through their own experiments and encounters. Furthermore, participants will explore the engineering endeavors and ideas of Elon Musk, whose imagination often astonishes even the most seasoned professionals.

We are primarily seeking children who are familiar with engineering, such as those who have built at least one Lego model (or perhaps even more than one!). However, we would be delighted to welcome anyone who believes they are far from this field. All that is required is a genuine curiosity that remains alive within you.

We are searching for those who are ready to attempt something they have heard about millions of times but still perceive as as unattainable as the stars in the sky. The Workshop for Future Engineers is designed for such young individuals. It is prepared to launch you into the engineering orbit, regardless of whether you are bold and resourceful or cautious and doubtful of yourself.

A real engineering problem awaits you, with two sessions and six days in between to tackle it. And you will SUCCEED! Whether with brilliance and ease, even laughter, or by gritting your teeth and giving it your all. But in both cases, the taste of victory and the satisfaction of your accomplishments will bring you a wonderful bouquet of emotions, previously unseen, whose fragrance will linger for a long, long time.

We invite the participants' close relatives—fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers—whose knowledge and friendly support are always crucial to young minds and delicate hands. This should not imply that "Dad solves the problem for you," nor should our dear participants dishonestly present someone else's solution as their own. Proper assistance during homework should take the form of explanation and demonstration of "how it can be done." This will be valuable not only for the created product but also contribute to genuine collaborative creativity in the home workshop. And what we consider most important, unlike ready-made purchased kits where you only need to assemble precisely numbered parts, our activity "throws" you into the promised engineering space where you can unleash your creativity and start from scratch.

During the "homework" phase, participants and their more experienced assistants can create and test even the most extraordinary variations. The only requirement is that they can present them in an engineering manner at the beginning of the second session. The presentation will be highly appreciated if you showcase both successful and unsuccessful attempts, operations, or solutions. Of course, the author's solution to technical problems will be supported by the precise guidance of our team during those moments when you feel encompassed by a creative crisis or deadlock, as often happens to the greatest inventors. And finally, the Engineering Workshop is not entertainment or a one-time show. It is the first step into the field of engineering.

For more information and registration, please call +359 889 805 995.

The designer of the workshop may also have something to say about himself and why he created the workshop.

"Forty years of my life have been associated with designing high-precision optoelectronic systems for special purposes in Ukraine. It was collaborative work with young engineers, and later, leading their team. Their work, life, and fate were everything to me and my life. That's how my father lived and worked, whom I often remember.

For well-known reasons, I found myself in Bulgaria and quickly realized that the problem of young engineering professionals here is no less acute than in Ukraine. This problem has always been close to my heart. I have always sought practical solutions for it and, furthermore, have extensively tested them in my work. Now we will try to breathe life into them here, in Sofia. But there is also another way to look at the problem, from each of our personal perspectives. Thus, a general question arises first—what should a person prepare for? And then, a more specific question—what is engineering, what is this work, what is this career?

With the active participation of young students from TechnoMagicLand, I managed to develop an Engineering Workshop through which we will attempt to answer this question while simultaneously demonstrating one of the solutions to the aforementioned problem.

Indeed, we genuinely want the participating students to feel like engineers to some extent. So, proceed with confidence, dear participants!"

Valeriy Fesenko, Certified Engineer, Laureate of the State Award of Ukraine in the field of Science and Technology.