Tognum wins award for international training

• 55 young people complete vocational training
• Six Chamber of Industry and Commerce award winners
• `Go for Europe´ recognizes Tognum´s commitment

Friedrichshafen, December 6, 2012. 55 young people have successfully completed their vocational training or their courses of dual industrial and college study at Tognum, the specialist for propulsion and power solutions, and its subsidiary MTU Friedrichshafen. “We are proud that we have been able to offer all our trainees employment and we are equally proud that our work on internationalizing our training program has been recognized,” said Steffen Besserer, head of HR Development. Graduates who decided to continue their studies at a higher level at college were given a guarantee of employment when they finish.

Tognum is particularly proud of the six Chamber of Industry and Commerce award-winners who won recognition for their outstanding achievements in both theory and practice. These were mechatronician Julian Boss, industrial mechanics Christian Männer and Florian Hecht and draftspersons Kevin Fuchs, Maximilian Dersch and Nadine König. The 55 graduates include 36 trades-and-technical and four commercial apprentices as well as eight technical and seven commercial students from the Cooperative University.

“For Tognum, training is an international issue. That is why we are increasingly investing in the internationalization of training,” said Besserer. Tognum´s exemplary role in the internationalization of vocational training was underlined by the recognition received from the `Go for Europe´ initiative, a joint project run by representatives of commerce in Baden-Württemberg. During the academic year 2012/2013, Tognum will arrange for 14 of its trainees to complete internships abroad in Great Britain. In September 2012, the first six trades-and-technical trainees from Friedrichshafen spent four weeks staying with host families in Torquay, England. The program included a one-week language course and a three-week internship at an English company. In spring 2013, eight more trainees will be making the trip to Great Britain. The period of training abroad is supported by the EU sponsorship program Leonardo Da Vinci which promotes periods spent in foreign countries for purposes of vocational and further training in order to increase mobility within Europe.

“Spending time abroad not only enhances key characteristics such as intercultural understanding, independence and team skills         experience has shown that after a period abroad, trainees work more independently and demonstrate greater flexibility and motivation,” explained Tognum international trainer Frank Rogall, who accepted the award together with head of training Martin Stocker.

“Periods abroad have already become a fixture for our students from the Cooperative University and we are obviously pleased to be able to offer the same opportunity to some of our apprentices,” added Besserer, outlining the company’s approach. Tognum is currently training a total of 406 young people in eight different trades and nine areas of study.