Whether cell phones, calculators or e-bikes - many of our everyday products only work because they contain microchips. But microchips not only help to make our daily lives easier, they are also important for the energy transition and climate protection: for example, by optimally controlling solar panels and heating systems or optimizing battery charging cycles. The nationwide competition
INVENT a CHIP (IaC) competition organized by the VDE Verband der Elektrotechnik Elektronik Informationstechnik e.V. (Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies) with funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) aims to familiarize school students with this technology of the future and get them excited about the world of technology.
750 euros for 2nd place
The Schloss Hansenberg boarding school took second place in the INVENT a CHIP School Award and was rewarded with 750 euros. The total of 103 participants had an index of 0.71 (with an index of 1, all students would have answered all questions correctly). Online, the students had to answer up to 20 tricky and technically challenging questions and tasks about microchips and microelectronics. Here is a small selection: What is the advantage of semiconductor transistors? How many functioning chips can be produced per wafer on average? What is the main raw material for microchips? The boarding school has ranked high more often in the past, 3rd in 2021, 2nd in 2020, 3rd in 2019.
Entering the world of chips
The IaC quiz with the associated school prize for grades nine to 13 is the first introduction to the world of chips. This year, a total of 572 students from 126 schools submitted their solutions. In addition to the IaC quiz, the IaC Challenge with the IaC Camp forms the core of the INVENT a CHIP competition. In addition to the quiz questions, the camp is about learning the basics of chip design and implementing your own initial chip designs. The best of the IaC Challenge and the IaC Camp are currently being selected, and the awards ceremony will take place in November in Berlin.
INVENT a CHIP is supported by numerous sponsors: Bosch, Cologne Chip, Globalfoundries, Infineon, Mentor Graphics, Siemens, DKE.
