The 12th Summer School of Mechanical Engineering concludes today at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering. Over the past four days, 120 primary school students from across Slovenia have been exploring, creating and discovering just how diverse modern mechanical engineering can be. To round off the week, they will present their projects and what they have learned to their parents.
Through 14 hands-on workshops, students in the final three years of primary school stepped into the shoes of young engineers. They built miniature wind turbines, motorised aircraft, portable water purification systems, solar flowers and weather stations, experimented with 3D printing and laser processing, and explored how mechanical engineering connects with medicine, computing and other fields.
“The fact that 120 young people joined us this year shows that technology and hands-on creativity can genuinely capture their interest when we give them the right environment to explore. We want them to see just how broad mechanical engineering is, and above all, to realise that one day they can use their knowledge to help shape solutions for the world they will live in,” says Prof. Dr Jernej Klemenc, Dean of the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering.
Hands-on learning is at the heart of the Summer School. Rather than simply learning about technology, participants design, build, programme and test their own projects. Along the way, they bring together knowledge from technology, physics, mathematics and computing – and quickly discover that curiosity, persistence and a willingness to keep looking for better solutions are just as important in engineering.
This year, particular attention was once again given to encouraging more girls to explore science and engineering. The Girls for Girls programme featured two workshops: one where participants designed jewellery and produced it with the help of a collaborative robot, and another where they explored the connection between medicine and mechanical engineering through a cardiovascular system simulation.
“We are especially pleased to be running two Girls for Girls workshops this year. We want to encourage more girls to discover mechanical engineering and show them that it is a field where they can develop their ideas, knowledge and talents,” Klemenc adds.
The four-day programme concludes today with presentations to parents, giving the young participants a chance to showcase what they have built and share what they have learned.
The strong interest in this year’s Summer School is an encouraging sign that young people are keen to engage with science and technology – particularly when they are given the opportunity to explore, experiment and turn their own ideas into something that actually works.
The 13th Summer School of Mechanical Engineering will take place from 24 to 27 August 2027, with applications expected to open in April 2027.
