Daughters’ Day is designed to encourage girls to consider careers beyond the common clichéd gender roles. The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology has supported this initiative since it began, introducing girls to the many career opportunities open to them in research, technology and innovation. On 27 April, companies across Vienna once again opened their doors for Vienna Daughters’ Day. Fourteen girls came to AIT’s headquarters in Floridsdorf to find out more about the exciting areas of research undertaken at the institution and discover more about its female scientists’ careers and daily work.
Scientist Tanja Tötzer from the Center for Energy explained how AIT helps large and small cities to become more resilient to climate change and to implement effective climate protection measures.
More than 99 percent of planet earth is hotter than 1,000°C. Geothermal system can use underground temperatures for heating or cooling. How cooling works at these temperatures and what a geologist at AIT spends all day researching was then explained by Edith Haslinger from the Center for Energy.
Road safety is an important topic, whether you are on two wheels or four. Anna Huditz from the Center for Low-Emission Transport showed the girls how AIT is contributing to the development of the transport systems of tomorrow, and using mobile measuring equipment to make Austria’s road and rail networks fit for the future.
Katja Fröhlich from the Center for Low-Emission Transport took the girls on a journey into the world of battery research, showing them how the heart of every modern electric drive – the battery – works, and the research being done to make the manufacturing process more environmentally friendly.
“Daughters’ Day is an opportunity to show the girls the varied nature of a career as a ‘scientist’, and demonstrates specific career paths at AIT,” says AIT Managing Director Wolfgang Knoll. “Because the search for young talent can never start too early. Some of our current female scientists became aware of AIT as a result of similar initiatives.”