From modern manufacturing to clean water and renewable energy: Festo promotes excellence in vocational education and training and fosters dialogue between education and industry to develop the skilled workers of tomorrow.

"Electronics is essential for technical careers, driving both automation and sustainability. It’s time to rethink how these skills are taught," explains Dr. Oliver Niese, Chairman of the Management Board of Festo Didactic SE. The blended learning solution Electeo by Festo Didactic makes electronics education effective, personalized, and digitized.

In Europe, Germany's mechatronics experts are simply top: at the European Skills Championship EuroSkills Gdańsk 2023 in Poland last September, Daniel Schmid and Timo Oßwald, both apprentices at Festo, won the gold medal in the skill mechatronics. They thus completed the extremely successful record of the German national team, which came second behind Switzerland in the 'Best of Nations' ranking in 42 trades.

"The shortage of skilled workers is a challenge for companies in Europe. We need to invest much more in education and training. That is why I propose to make 2023 the European Year of Skills," said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The highlight of this Year of Skills will be the 8th EuroSkills competition of professions in September in Gdańsk, Poland. Mechatronics is one of the most attractive and promising skills, and it will be held on the MPS, Festo's Modular Production System.