In this Heroines October We would like to focus on women from the MINT community who make a very special contribution to MINT education in NRW. We would like to start with Karin Ressel, head of the Minden-Lübbecke Technology Center. We have her in August Technical center visited. “Your” technical center? You can find out why this actually applies in this case in the article.
Immerse yourself in another world
When you enter the technology center, you feel like you are in another world. The old, listed building was formerly a cigar factory. From the outside it seems huge but inconspicuous - but inside an oasis full of exciting objects awaits you. You can't get enough of the many colorful, full shelves. Here you can find everything a hobbyist's heart desires: from copper pipes and wooden blocks to magnets and springs.
The technology center is a place where students and adults can learn the basics of technology in a playful way. The Talent House Workshops, which are offered here, have a special focus on girls' work, because Karin Ressel wants to inspire more women for technical careers. But boys and adults are also welcome to experiment and create here.
Enthusiasm for technology
Karin Ressel is a woman with a vision. She wants to get people excited about technology by using objects in her courses that appeal to people intrinsically. The objects must make people curious, they must challenge them and stimulate them to understand. Ressel not only regularly looks for such objects himself, but also develops them himself.
An example of this is a workshop in which participants can make rings out of copper pipes. They not only learn something about the material and its properties, but also about the craftsmanship and aesthetics. The basic courses in 16 professional fields, from construction / architecture / surveying to IT and mechanical engineering to technology and natural sciences, are a good addition to the advanced zdi course program. But also professional fields outside of the MINT areas, such as gastronomy, health, education or administration are covered. The course content is available at different levels of difficulty in order to reflect different needs.
In order to guarantee the quality of the courses, the course participants are observed by educators as they work in the course. In order to ensure an anonymized evaluation of these observations, they are recorded in folders that are provided with numbers instead of names. The participants also have a number with which the observations can be assigned. This enables a clear statement to be made about both the skills of the participants and the suitability of the course modules. In addition, the participants themselves can also give feedback on the courses. This means the offer can be adapted to the needs of the dialogue group.
Ressel also brings the courses closer to schools. She conducts workshops herself, does a lot of networking work and cooperates with various institutions and associations. She is a passionate mediator of technology who knows how to win teachers over to her offerings - also thanks to the exciting objects that can be built, tinkered with, soldered and screwed in the courses.
Even winding paths lead to the goal
Karin Ressel originally wanted to study mechanical engineering. Instead, she pursued a career as a civil servant - and doesn't really regret it: "I would have been able to help a lot fewer people in my life if I wasn't so familiar with the pitfalls of German bureaucracy," she says, referring to the many People who have already been able to find employment, further training or simply a place to learn and feel good through the technology center.
Back in 1994, Karin Ressel and 60 women founded the association that would become the starting point for the technology center. When the club's former location was to be demolished, the club was on the verge of becoming homeless. In her urgent search for a location, Karin Ressel discovered the listed cigar factory in 2009 - and bought it herself without much hesitation. “I have leased the factory to the association for the next 30 years. “So no one can take the roof over our heads,” says Ressel happily, and he still doesn’t regret the purchase to this day.
The laurels for the commitment
For her tireless efforts, Karin Ressel received the Federal Cross of Merit in 2016. What does this award mean to you? “What the doctorate is to others is the Federal Cross of Merit to me. People treat you differently when you have such an award. It’s a recognition of my work and a motivation to keep going.”
As an inspiring personality combined with a lot of drive and a vision, Karin Ressel and her technology center make a valuable contribution to the education and promotion of women in technical professions.
