INVENT a CHIP School-Award 2023

Students from Leibniz-Gymnasium Dormagen won the INVENT-a-CHIP School Award 2023.

| Anja Rottke / VDE
2023-09-08 press release

The microchip whizzes from Dormagen: Leibniz Gymnasium takes first place again in INVENT a CHIP school competition

The competition by the VDE Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research aims to get young people interested in the world of microchips. The interest is growing. 50 percent more pupils participated in the INVENT a CHIP school competition in 2023 compared to the previous year. The multiple award-winning Leibniz Gymnasium from Dormagen took first place, winning €1,000 prize money.

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(Frankfurt a. M., September 8, 2023) A lack of skilled workers, supply bottlenecks and strong competition from the US and Asia: in Germany, microelectronics is a field faced with major challenges. This makes campaigns like the INVENT a CHIP (IaC) school competition all the more important for getting young people interested in microchips & co, especially since the small components are fundamental to many developments in consumer electronics, the energy transition and protecting the environment. A total of 1,076 pupils from 137 schools submitted their quiz solutions in 2023. During the quiz, the pupils had to answer up to 20 questions about challenging aspects of microelectronics. This included topics such as the use of microchips in space, global positioning via satellites, microchip production, as well as brain research as part of the ADDONISS experiment on the International Space Station ISS.

First place for Dormagen’s Leibniz Gymnasium: commitment to STEM pays off

The pupils participating from the Leibniz Gymnasium in Dormagen, 80 in total, achieved the highest average quiz score, taking first place in the INVENT a CHIP school competition for the third time. The prize money of €1,000 will go towards expanding and implementing additional STEM projects at the school. As a supervising teacher, Jörn Schneider has actively promoted the INVENT a CHIP competition for years, demonstrating that consistent commitment to STEM subjects pays off. He states: “Taking part in IaC is a stepping stone to introducing our pupils to microelectronics. We get started as early as sixth grade through a small electronics project and repeatedly address the topic in small projects right through until the final years of school. Activities include soldering circuit boards and designing an electronic circuit. I’m involved in the STEM field in various ways, which primarily include quantum physics, quantum computers and projects on electronics and microcontrollers. As an old ‘hobbyist and tinkerer,’ I like to pass on my enthusiasm for electronics to my pupils”. This commitment has paid off, as the Leibniz Gymnasium has repeatedly been among the Top 10 at the INVENT a CHIP quiz since 2010. 

Second and third place: an impressive number of participants

The second place in the INVENT a CHIP school competition with €750 in prize money went to the Schloss Hasenberg boarding school in Geisenheim, where 89 pupils participated in the competition. Third place with €500 in prize money was awarded to the 218 participants from the Heinrich Hertz technical college in Düsseldorf. Together with the INVENT a CHIP challenge and the accompanying camp, the INVENT a CHIP school competition forms the core of the overall contest. On top of the 20 quiz questions, further campaigns entail learning the basics of chip design and developing a first chip design.

About VDE

VDE, one of the largest technology organizations in Europe, has been regarded as a synonym for innovation and technological progress for more than 130 years. VDE is the only organization in the world that combines science, standardization, testing, certification, and application consulting under one umbrella. The VDE mark has been synonymous with the highest safety standards and consumer protection for more than 100 years. 

Our passion is the advancement of technology, the next generation of engineers and technologists, and lifelong learning and career development “on the job”. Within the VDE network more than 2,000 employees at over 60 locations worldwide, more than 100,000 honorary experts, and around 1,500 companies are dedicated to ensuring a future worth living: networked, digital, electrical.  
Shaping the e-dialistic future. 

The VDE (VDE Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies) is headquartered in Frankfurt am Main. For more information, visit www.vde.com