The future belongs to products and services that use little energy and raw materials. This requires important engineering services.

We are very pleased that the city of Aarau is committed to Engineers' Day and will host the networking event in 2024. When and in what context did you first hear about Engineers' Day? 

To be honest, last year, in the run-up to Engineers' Day, the company Schöck Schweiz AG organised a relay here in Aarau, which we as the city had helped to support.

At the networking event, on 23 January 2024 in Aarau, we will be addressing SDG number 11: "Sustainable cities and communities" Which goal or goals would you highlight as the most important priority in relation to your involvement in Engineers' Day?

In addition to making the excellent achievements of the engineering sector, which is strong in this country, visible, networking among engineers - nationally, regionally and locally - and positioning Aarau as an attractive place to work and do business is certainly important for us.

Why do you think engineers and their achievements are not perceived enough in everyday life and what can engineers do about it?  

I don't think that engineers are fundamentally under-appreciated. - However, in our dynamic and often short-lived times, well-founded and future-oriented functions have a hard time being perceived first and foremost. - A stable presence, also with own events that are advertised accordingly, certainly helps.

If you had one wish to be able to influence the promotion of young talents even more, who would it be and what would it be?

Promoting young talent always has to do with training and further education; accordingly, we need companies that can make such offers; supporting platforms, e.g. from associations, cantons or the federal government, would be helpful if necessary. Many Aarau companies have their own strong promotion of young people or have developed their own further education courses together with the University of Applied Sciences.

An additional aspect is the promotion of awareness among pupils of how varied the professional and career opportunities are in engineering. The good and early cooperation between the primary schools, the vocational schools and the companies is crucial here.

Which future challenge(s) do you see as the most important, for which we urgently need more engineers?

With the rapidly increasing mechanisation of our everyday life - be it in technologies, products or services - engineers are needed in practically all areas. Making the diversity of the engineering profession clear to young people in a language they can understand is an important challenge for the sector.

Now you can do another commercial on your own behalf.

As a city administration, we offer a particularly wide range of functions at all levels, including for engineers, be it in civil engineering, for example, or at our municipal energy supplier, Eniwa.

Do you have another wish in connection with Engineers' Day?

I wish everyone a particularly varied, informative and exciting Engineers' Day 2024.

Thank you very much for this interview!

You can find more information about the city of Aarau here