Girls‘Day 2024 30.04.2024 - On April 25, we opened our doors to inspire girls for technical professions. In our laboratories at the Arltgasse in Vienna-Ottakring, young talents were able to experience technology up close and discover exciting career opportunities.

For the Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying - BEV, it is important to get girls in particular interested in technical professions at an early age. For this reason, every year on Girls' Day, schoolgirls are invited to visit the BEV laboratories to get an idea of the many different areas of activity.

After a brief welcome from the Secretary General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs Mag. Eva Landrichtinger, BEV President Dipl.-Ing. Wernher Hoffmann and BEV Vice-President Mag. Robert Edelmaier, things got underway straight away.

Exciting Experiments
Stations with various experiments were prepared for the young visitors, where, for example, they could determine pH values themselves - such as that of cherry juice. Length and mass were measured. "Radar guns" could also be tested spectacularly: Cheered on by their classmates, students attempted to break the current running record of almost 30 km/h in a traffic speed measurement as done by the police.

In the acoustics laboratory, the students measured whether their preferred music volume was OK for their hearing and which pitches could still be perceived.

Attention: High Voltage
A 10 cm long electric arc was generated live in the high-voltage laboratory to raise awareness of the dangers of high voltages - for example, when a young person climbs onto a railroad carriage as a "test of courage".

They were also able to measure their own strength. The determination of filling quantities in mugs and prepackages was tested. Even radioactive material was a topic: how is it transported and how is it handled?

At one station, the effects of extreme temperatures were demonstrated. Each participant was able to freeze a balloon at extremely low temperatures - it shrank enormously. But as soon as the balloon was back in the warm ambient temperature, it expanded again as if by magic

Farewell quiz and prizes
The numerous experiments were well received by the schoolgirls. All the stations were accompanied by a quiz, and there were great prizes for the winners at the end.

There was a lot of fun trying things out and we hope that we were able to arouse or at least strengthen the students' interest in a technical career.