At the „International Waterbike Regatta“ in Kiel, students and pupils from all over Europe are constructing high-tech boats. Upper Styrian know-how has also put to sea as part of the competition: Key components for the Austrian representative in the contest, the Vienna HTL Rennweg, were manufactured by the Turnau technology company Heldeco. During the special project, the apprentices at the family-run business were firmly at the helm.
When students and pupils pedal hard, they’ve either overslept – or they’re taking part in Europe’s biggest boat-building competition for tomorrow’s engineers. This is because, at the „International Waterbike Regatta,“ over 300 highly motivated students from all over Europe are pedalling their way to victory. While the propulsion must come from pure muscle power, it’s ultimately brainpower that decides victory or defeat. This is because the speed of the self-developed watercraft is heavily dependent on their design and construction.
Heldeco, from the border region between Aflenz and Turnau, is in the proverbial same boat as the Austrian representative in the international competition: important components for the team from the Vienna HTL Rennweg come from the manufacturing plant of the Upper Styrian component manufacturer. This is because the „HTL 3 Waterbike Racing Team“, as the students from the third and fourth years of the HTL Mechatronics branch call themselves, found support in the peer group of the family business. What's more, the apprentices even had the helm in their hands throughout the entire manufacturing process of the optimised propeller.
„Our apprentices have optimally implemented the students“ calculations and drawings. The result is an example of real teamwork – and is definitely something to be proud of. It was a pleasure to watch our future skilled workers at work,„ explains Heldeco Managing Director Helmut Dettenweitz. Intervention from foremen and apprenticeship trainers was “almost unnecessary," Dettenweitz says with a wink.
Just a few days ago, the work of the HELDECO apprentices in the competition in Kiel, Germany, on the Baltic Sea was finally reviewed: in the 100-metre sprint, in the slalom, and in the disciplines of „Acceleration“, „Long Distance“, „Forward-Stop-Backward“ and „Bollard Pull“, the three propellers produced withstood the reality test – and did so very successfully. The HTL team secured first place in the 100-metre sprint and second place in the „Acceleration“ discipline. In the overall result, the HELDECO partner achieved a sensational 5th place.
Team leader and HTL professor Claus Bürger expressed his gratitude for the cooperation accordingly: „In the course of this cooperation, Heldeco not only bore the manufacturing costs but also provided us with T-shirts and caps.“
Cooperating with the boatbuilding team at HTL Rennweg offers apprentices not only the chance to tackle „exciting and new tasks“ but also to position themselves as an „attractive employer“ from a company perspective, explains Heldeco's authorised signatory Sabine Dettenweitz. „As a family business, it is particularly important to us that our apprentices feel comfortable. We ensure this not only through exciting projects like this one but also through a familial atmosphere and numerous incentives, such as adjusting working hours to public transport schedules, employee events, the opportunity to combine apprenticeship with the Matura, and sustainable career and advancement prospects,“ states the decision-maker. For the upcoming autumn, Heldeco is still looking for new starters for apprenticeships as cutting machinists or operational logistics specialists.
