Promoting the next generation of engineers is a focus of ewz's employer branding strategy. The goal is to position ewz and the Department of Industrial Operations of the City of Zurich as an attractive employer with a wide range of engineering professions. On Engnieers'Day, they would like to show insights into the exciting everyday working life of engineers*.

Answers from Philipp Hatt about Engineers' Day.

When and in what context did you first hear about Engineers' Day? 
In 2020, we were made aware of Engineers' Day for the first time by the organizing committee. ewz is a company of the City of Zurich and, like the transport services (VBZ) and water supply (WVZ), belongs to the Department of Industrial Operations. Since all three departments have different and exciting engineering professions to offer, the idea of a joint event was born. The "Züri Engineers" event aims to show all participants the variety of engineering fields that are responsible for water, energy and public transport in the city of Zurich.   

Your company is now participating in Engineers' Day for the second time as a donor. Why are you involved in this event?
Due to the great response last year, we will again be holding the Züri Engineers Event in 2022 with the motto "from blue and white to green". This year, exciting projects related to sustainability will be presented. If the pandemic situation allows, the event will be held in a hybrid format. This means that there will also be the opportunity to physically participate and exchange ideas directly with representatives from ewz, VBZ and WVZ. Due to our versatile entry opportunities in the different disciplines of engineering, our event is an exciting insight for both graduates* and experienced professionals.

What goal or goals would you highlight as the most important priority in terms of your involvement in Engineers' Day or in everyday life?
Promoting the next generation of engineers is a focus of our employer branding strategy. We see the positioning as an attractive employer with our bouquet of different engineering professions in ewz and in the Department of Industrial Operations as a goal here. In doing so, we would like to provide insights into the exciting day-to-day work of our engineers. That is why it is important for us to present concrete projects from practice at the Züri Engineers Event.  

Why do you think engineers and their achievements are not perceived enough in everyday life and what can engineers do about it?  
Many technical topics in our daily lives were considered to be solved. They were also not in the media spotlight, such as shareholder value thinking. With the current challenges from climate, mobility, etc., society now also perceives that the scientific disciplines are becoming more necessary than ever. Now we need voices that will stand up for the technical professions as well. If we do not succeed in increasing the value of these professions, we will experience similar problems in the medium term as with the health professions.

If you had one wish to be able to influence the promotion of young talent even more, who would it be and what would it be?
At universities, the proportion of female students is still significantly smaller than that of male students - even if this has increased somewhat in recent years. In view of the advancing shortage of skilled workers, it would be desirable if even more women would choose engineering fields of study. This can only be achieved by promoting young talent at the elementary school level and thus discarding classic "gender professions".  

Further information about the event: Link