At the Stuttgart exhibition center next to Stuttgart airport, visitors can watch three competitions on one spot from October 4 to 7, and at the same time, find out about the latest innovations at the Motek trade fair, the leading fair for automation, assembly, and handling technology. In parallel, the Vision trade fair, the world's leading trade fair for machine vision, will showcase innovations in current and future technologies. This provides a unique combination of industrial practice and technical education. For trade fair visitors, but also pupils, trainees, students, vocational and university teachers, the visit is therefore double worthwhile. The competition is a training ground for tomorrow's experts, and it offers HR managers a platform for finding qualified employees.

WorldSkills Competitions

Every two years, young professionals from all over the world compete in the World or European Championship of Skills. They measure their talent in the individual trades in compliance with the demanding WorldSkills standards. The participants qualify beforehand through a national selection process.

In Stuttgart, 26 international teams in Mechatronics, eight teams in Industry 4.0 and seven individuals in Water Technology will compete to determine the world champions. Over the course of four days, the teams, each consisting of two specialists, will develop solutions for highly technical tasks on learning systems provided by Festo Didactic. Festo has been a 'Global Industry Partner' of WorldSkills since 1991. Global Industry Partners play a key role in the cooperation between industry, education, government, and policy makers. Their common goal is to improve vocational education and the recognition of skilled professionals around the world.

The Mechatronics competition has been run on Festo Didactic Modular Production Systems MPS since it was first held in 1991. The concept is based on competence-oriented education and training in mechatronics and automation technology as well as on robust industry-related equipment. The high modularity of the system makes it possible to combine components, modules, and stations to create a production line tailored to specific learning objectives and scenarios.

Industry 4.0 is a new official skill in 2022. The eight teams in the competition will develop their solutions on the Festo Didactic CP Lab System. This cyber-physical learning and research platform teaches basic and in-depth knowledge of digital, fully automated production technologies as well as the construction and programming of digital plant networks. The individual modules of the platform reflect the stations of real production plants. This creates ideal conditions for learning many technologies such as AI, MES, IT security and energy management.

The skill Water Technology is part of the WorldSkills competition for only the second time. The seven competitors are working on the modular learning system Environmental Discovery System EDS Water Management, which depicts the core processes of a water and wastewater treatment plant in the form of a water cycle from source to treatment plant and back again. With the current challenges of global warming and water scarcity, professionals such as water technicians are very much required. The official competition equipment, which is based on the demanding WorldSkills standards, is also provided from Festo Didactic in this discipline.

Brand new to the competition this year is the skill Renewable Energy. This competition will be held from October 15 to 18 at the Miyako fair in Kyoto, Japan. Festo Didactic is providing its Nacelle wind turbine learning system as competition equipment for the first time. With this system, future wind technicians prepare for real-life operating, troubleshooting and maintenance situations. The umbrella organization WorldSkills International is thus responding to the changing situation on the labor market in close cooperation with its members and partners, and by introducing new skills is specifically supporting the training of skilled workers in future professions.

"The promotion of the competition in Germany underlines the importance of vocational training in times of a shortage of skilled workers. Festo has been cooperating with WorldSkills for already more than 30 years to develop the skills of young people," explains Dr. Oliver Niese, Member of the Management Board at Festo Didactic, about the upcoming event.