From the canteen to D-Shop, two year-8 classes got a look behind the walls of the SAP headquarters in Walldorf.

As part of the IES How We Run initiative and the SAP Young Thinkers Community, and under the sponsorship of SAP CDIO Florian Roth, 40 students and 4 teachers were invited to visit SAP and explore technology, digital topics, and SAP’s workplace.

“I am super happy to be a patron for this tour once again. It’s a win-win experience; the students can experience technology and business and our employees profit from the teaching challenge and the teenagers’ fresh perspective. The future belongs to those who are curious. Let’s inspire exploration and curiosity.”  SAP CDIO Florian Roth

The agenda was tight, with SAP colleagues from various departments leading the tours and providing many interesting stops throughout the day.

The students were able to learn the importance of accessibility and inclusion in conversation with Alexander Kuban, as he demonstrated how he uses inclusive software on the example of his Apple iPhone.  A big thank you to Florian Kohlbrenner for his support at this station.

The VR Experience was an immersive visit with Oculus devices where everyone was able to try VR for themselves as they interacted with the Virtual IES Showroom. Thanks to Tim Puplinkhuisen, Heiko Froehlich, Aaron Koob, Amar Civic, and Deaa Barni for their work onsite and behind the scenes.

We visited the Experience Center & S.MART in WDF49 and learned how modern technology is changing retail.  Thanks to Mario Goettlicher and Michelle Christina Schweitzer for the demonstration which sparked a lively conversation on data privacy

The D-Shop with Oliver Schaefer, Stefan Wiedler, and Florian Oberacker sparked the students’ interest with hands-on experimentation with the augmented sandbox, 3D printing, robots, and musical carrots.

Andreas Huppert gave a very quick introduction to programming mBots and then let the students try programming on their own with a bit of competition ensuing to see which duo completed the programming successfully first.

Rico Keller took us all on trip through time to 1972 and back. We learned about SAP’s rich history and the world develop in the Immersive Experience room in WDF21.

After seeing the IES Showroom virtually it was only natural to visit in person. Anja Rosker welcomed the group and taught us some fun facts about SAP in form of a quick quiz. Rewards (yum) were given for correct answers.

Thanks to the tour guides: Murat Karakullukcu, Britta Lehn, Ebru Yildir, Sophie Schmitt, Gina Nowak, and Julia Kindgen, for not only giving SAP fun facts, and an overview of all the different occupations and opportunities SAP offers but also for navigating the SAP campus and keeping as much to the timeline as possible.

Kudos go to Oliver Gutzeit for the organization and planning of this successful event. Finally, a special thank-you to Florian Roth, without whom this would not have been possible.