Trainees build their own laser setups for Future Space Kassel - HÜBNER Trains and Inspires Young Talents for Lasers

A practical start for the new laser laboratory in the Future Space Kassel: In the future, the educational institution in the city center of Kassel will use laser setups built by the trainees of the HÜBNER Group. Together with the affiliated foundation HÜBNER and Kennedy gGmbH, the Future Space receives practical and financial support for the new laser laboratory.

HÜBNER Managing Director Claus Schäfer (from left), Trainer Ingo Schwede and trainees Andre Meyer, Fabian Eisenberg, Annika Schukow and Charleen Fuchs hand over the laser setups to the Future Space team Rico Janusch, Till MacCormac and Cornelia Kramm-Rettberg. Photo: HÜBNER Group/Bernd Schoelzchen
Trainer Ingo Schwede (from left) with trainees Fabian Eisenberg, Annika Schukow, Charleen Fuchs and Andre Meyer in the Future Space. Photo: HÜBNER Group/Bernd Schoelzchen
The inside of the laser setups produced by the HÜBNER trainees. Photo: HÜBNER Group/Bernd Schoelzchen

In-house production of future technology

The HÜBNER trainees built the laser setups during an internal training week, which traditionally takes place at the end of the first year of training. The setups were presented by trainees Annika Schukow, Fabian Eisenberg, Charleen Fuchs and Andre Meyer together with HÜBNER Managing Director Claus Schäfer and Hildegard Weirich, Lead of Foundation Hübner und Kennedy gGmbH.

Trainees Annika Schukow and Fabian Eisenberg demonstrated the laser setups. “As trainees, we carried out the entire project on our own, from planning to delivery,” explains Annika Schukow, an industrial management trainee and project manager for the training week. “We are very pleased that our self-made setups will be used for the training of young people in the future.”

Supporting young people in future-oriented fields

“It is important for us to be able to make a practical contribution to promoting the skills of young people in such an exciting and promising business area,” says Claus Schäfer, Managing Director of the HÜBNER Group. “The market for laser technology and photonics is growing and is an exciting field for the future. In the future, we will need bright minds to develop and design solutions in this field. That’s another reason why we are very happy to support the work of Future Space.”

 

Future Space: Focus on natural sciences

The Future Space is a place in the center of Kassel, Germany, where people of all ages can expand their knowledge of science in a creative environment and conduct their own experiments. The Hübner and Kennedy Foundation has supported the Future Space since its inception. With its support, a new laser laboratory was built at Wilhelmstraße 5 – across from the Future Space – which will serve as a public showroom for laser technology.

This room is designed to inform and inspire visitors about the possibilities of laser technology. In particular, young people such as students will benefit from the vivid presentation of laser technology. Among other things, the basics of quantum mechanics will be explained and demonstrated. The new showroom will be open to the public for the first time on Thursday, March 27, between 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm.

 

Foundation promotes STEM projects

The Hübner and Kennedy Foundation places particular emphasis on projects in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). “In a working world increasingly shaped by digital and AI-based technologies, skills in laser and quantum technology are essential for the future,” says Hildegard Weirich, Lead of the Foundation Hübner and Kennedy.“That’s why it’s important to arouse young people’s interest in this complex and highly technical field so that they can recognize their own potential in it. The Foundation Hübner and Kennedy will continue to support STEM projects in the Kassel region.”

 

Investing in tomorrow’s skilled workforce

As a training company, the HÜBNER Group attaches great importance to preparing young employees as well as possible for their professional lives and to supporting research and educational institutions in the region. An important part of this is the training week, during which all HÜBNER trainees demonstrate the organizational and technical know-how they have acquired in a practical project at the end of their first year of training.

Photonics is the Group’s newest business division, alongside Mobility Rail, Mobility Road and Material Solutions. HÜBNER’s laser products are used in a wide range of applications, including basic scientific research, life science applications such as microscopy and spectroscopy, and industrial manufacturing.

 

Training remains high priority at HÜBNER

Training has always been a high priority at HÜBNER, as Managing Director Claus Schäfer emphasized: “Supporting young people on their way into the working world and training the specialists of tomorrow has been an important part of our corporate identity for many years. Despite the current economic challenges, we will continue to offer traineeships at our headquarters in Kassel.”

Applications are still being accepted for training opportunities in 2025. HÜBNER is looking for interested individuals to train as machine and plant operators, IT specialists in system integration, mechatronics engineers, industrial mechanics, industrial management assistants and management assistants in digitalization management. In the HÜBNER career portal, interested individuals can upload their applications directly in the “Job Opportunities” section: https://jobs.hubner-group.com

 

For more information on Future Space (in German): www.futurespace.org