BioVT at the MINTmachwelt 2024

Three days of MINT experience - that was the promise of the varied programme of the MI(N)Tmachwelt from 5 to 7 September 2024 in the competence centre at the ‘Gartenschau’  in Kaiserslautern for young and old. 

BioVT and its iLAB experiment kits were part of the MINT programme on all three days. The first two days were reserved for pupils in years 8-13. BioVT was present with two fully booked workshops on the topics of ‘Understanding microorganisms up close - discover the invisible heroes of your everyday life’ and ‘Discovering chromatography: What colours does a green leaf have?’. With lots of exciting information and fascinating experiments, we were able to give the young people an insight into the many facets of biotechnology.

On the third day, the doors of the MI(N)Tmachwelt opened to all curious MINT-enthusiastic young people and children from the age of 4. Thanks to the wonderful weather, many families streamed into the competence centre to explore the numerous hands-on stations.  Our iLAB´s offer, which aims to inspire interest in other topics in the MV department at RPTU in addition to bioprocess engineering, was once again presented in an own room with many colourful stations. On the subject of mechanical engineering, there was the opportunity to build machines with different gearboxes from a construction kit - a highlight for many dads, who also enthusiastically joined in the building.

There was also the possibility of building small helicopters from Lego bricks and then drawing them. A station on fluid mechanics showed how flows could be visualised with the help of ink and all-purpose cloths. In the bioprocess engineering area, a bubbling algae suspension in a simple photobioreactor impressed the young visitors, as did the microscopy of the tiny cells growing in it. The not green basil cells growing on a culture medium also amazed the young and old guests.  At another station, everything focussed on yeast. Here, the young researchers were able to find out which sugar the yeast prefers to utilise and whether yeast growth is temperature-dependent. Of course, a close look at the yeast cells under the microscope was also a must. In addition to our popular microbial fingerprint, our chromatography station also became a crowd-puller this year. Here, answering the question ‘Which black pen was used to draw this smiley?’ required analytical instinct. As a reward for the mostly correct chromatographic analysis, the children were able to take home a colourful work of art on filter paper as well as a lot of new knowledge.

In the end, the three days at MI(N)Tmachwelt were a complete success. We are delighted that we were able to introduce so many children, young people and parents to the fascinating world of bioprocess engineering and other MINT subjects. It was impressive to see the enthusiasm and eagerness with which the visitors explored our stations.

More information about our offerings for schools, students, and teachers can be found here (information available in German only).