If you want to keep the talent pool for your region well-filled, you have to start young and throw the net wide open. That’s exactly what the Young Brainport Summer School, which introduces a group of students from all over the world to Brainport Eindhoven, has in mind for this week. Forty youngsters from Bangladesh, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Ireland, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Spain, Turkey, the Czech Republic, USA and the United Kingdom have applied. If all goes well, they will return home as Brainport ambassadors at the end of the week.
This year’s Young Brainport Summer School has a full programme in which the acquisition of knowledge is the common thread, but there’s also time for relaxation. There will be company visits to Alius Energy, ASML, Baker Hughes, Huijbregts Group, Philips, PSV, Solliance and TU Eindhoven. During these visits, the passion for science and technology already present among the participating students (15 to 18 years old) should be further encouraged by getting acquainted with various innovations. Renowned researchers and entrepreneurs take these young people into the world of new technologies. The students also have to carry out assignments.
“In this way, the region will achieve the new growth that is necessary for the future,” says Yvonne van Hest, programme manager of Brainport Development. “Due to the shortage on the technological labour market, many companies in Brainport Eindhoven have a lack of well-trained personnel. This is why we have this important challenge to create the largest possible talent pool of students from both home and abroad. The summer school is one of the ways to fill this talent pool.”
