Girls’ Day Future Day at |TRE|

In April, as part of Girls’ Day, we welcomed eight schoolgirls in Neustadt/Weinstraße and five girls and one boy to Future Day in Gifhorn to give them an exclusive insight into the world of chassis development. Our shareholder Nico Rosberg sent his greetings from China via video message and wished everyone an exciting day at |TRE|.

To get an impression of our work, visitors were given a tour of various departments. The focus was on the areas of simulation, testing and design conception.

At the headquarters of |TRE|, the girls were given an insight into what a simulation engineer for vehicle dynamics and ride comfort does and were allowed to do an interactive “design your chassis” exercise in a calculation software. In addition to a visit to the driving simulator and job application training, the students learned about typical activities in a workshop: A car was inspected and explained from below on the lifting platform and then a thread was cut independently. The participants were also allowed to lend a hand in the test field area and dismantle and reassemble a shock absorber. Sensors were then attached to our |TRE| R8, similar to a vehicle preparation for a test on our 7-post test bench. The tests on the two test benches, which could be experienced live, were a highlight.

In the testing area in Gifhorn, a test vehicle equipped with high-precision measurement technology was demonstrated and explained to the participants. The vehicle’s dynamic properties were then tested under real road conditions – with the pupils experiencing various driving maneuvers up close as passengers. The Design Concepts team gave a short introduction to the development process of chassis components and CAD before the students were allowed to create a rear axle control arm in CAD themselves and calculate the strength. Another station followed: the simulation, which carries out virtual tests with digital twins of component groups and complete vehicles. Here, the students had the task of adjusting various variables in Carmaker, such as the driving speed, in order to make cars jump over a ramp without breaking. The distances jumped were listed and there was an award ceremony at the end of the day. The students had a lot of fun!

With a mixture of theory and practice, we had a lot of fun introducing the participants to our exciting work and giving them an exciting day with us. We were very pleased about the visit and the participation.