Workshops for pupils from the border triangle

Looking back on our school days, some of us may still remember math olympiads, reading, or art contests. The Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences has been hosting such a contest since 1995. The focus, however, is on current, voltage, coils, and capacitors. Participants calculate circuits involving resistors and physical phenomena related to magnetic fields. High school students in the upper grades register for the Olympiad through their physics teachers.

The Olympiad is organized on a cross-border basis. Each year, 20 students from Poland, the Czech Republic, and Germany are allowed to compete against one another. Girls also regularly participate. In Germany, participants are selected through an invigilated (written) examination. This examination is administered simultaneously at various high schools and technical colleges. This gives the students a taste of the final round, which takes place at the university in the large lecture hall of the Peter-Dierich-Building.

Without support, the university would find it difficult to manage such an event. The VDE Dresden Regional Association (VDE Bezirksverein Dresden e.V.) provides the students with prizes worth 1,000 EUR. In past years, for example, the winner received a laptop, tablet, or PC. The top ten finishers are thus rewarded with technical items. The Sparkasse Oberlausitz-Niederschlesien regularly supports the entire event to ensure it is organized appropriately. The collaboration with the Zittau Vocational Training Center is also of particular importance. The school organizes a buffet for the awards ceremony in the town hall’s Bürgersaal and provides catering services for the participants during the ceremony. The Varnsdorf Music School (CZ) provides the musical entertainment with its big band.

The Olympiad, which takes place on March 21, 2015, is preceded by three workshops. During these workshops, the students meet at the university and conduct measurements and experiments in laboratories where university students also complete their practical components to supplement their lectures. These events also offer an opportunity to explore technical curiosity. In addition to laboratory setups, there will also be equipment similar to that found in real-world applications, such as in substations or along high-voltage power lines.
The Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science wishes the Olympiad participants every success, both in their preparation and during the actual invigilated (written) examination.