After the summer break, four apprentices began their apprenticeships at Sensirion. The high-tech company currently employs 14 apprentices in the computer science, business administration, electronics engineering, design and facilities management career tracks. This year Sensirion introduced a Welcome Day for the new apprentices in order to give them a warm welcome to the company and acquaint them with the other apprentices. The Sensirion apprentices and all the trainers started the day with a croissant. After the quick bite, some of the trainers went back to work while the apprentices headed straight to the Sensirion Academy, where they all introduced themselves to each other. Their trainers were present as well. After the informative round of introductions, the assembled were divided into four groups. All the groups were given the same mission. Using the provided materials, the objective was to create a construction that would protect a raw egg when dropped from a height of 4 to 5 meters. The different groups had a multitude of ideas, including a parachute and a cube constructed of drinking straws. All the eggs survived the test. So the Sensirion apprentices wanted to take things further. All agreed that the eggs should be dropped from the SkyBar on the roof of the building. Only one egg succumbed to this more precipitous drop and broke. The other groups mastered this challenge as well.

Everyone had worked up an appetite during this activity, which they satisfied in the cafeteria in Building A. At 1:00 pm, the day continued with a drive to the Walensee. There the apprentices were charged with building a raft out of the provided materials. Later a race was held on the lake, with prizes ranging from Sensirion umbrellas to a trophy. The umbrellas proved useful later, as it began to rain following the clean-up. The participants lingered for a spell at “Gäsi-Beizli” before heading back to Stäfa. The day had been a great bonding experience as well as educational.

Sensirion’s first apprentice camp recently took place in Einsiedeln. Nine apprentices, two vocational trainers and various practical instructors spent a week working in the forest. They were accompanied during the week by the Bildungswerkstatt Bergwald. The association offers week-long forest workshops for school groups and companies. The apprentices and trainers gathered on Sunday evening before being brought to their accommodation, the St. Josefsdörfli, by the leaders of the program. The Dörfli is a little north of Einsiedeln and comprises several houses. The apprentices were split into two groups, the “Greenteam” and the “Akazuki”. The two teams spent each day working at different locations, changing each day. Activities included the installation of seven differential locks over a stream, building a fence, removing bark from trees to fight bark beetles and clearing branches from the sides of the road. The evenings were variously organized by the groups, vocational instructors or Bildungswerkstatt Bergwald. Afterwards, participants could have fun in the entertainment room, where ping pong, table football and other games were available. The work was very varied and the apprentices had to draw on their physical strength rather than simply sitting around in the office. They headed home on Friday evening with a lot of great memories.

Find some impressions in our short movie.

This year, Sensirion apprentices once again organized an excursion. The day was split into an educational section and a fun section. In the morning, the group took a guided tour through the Zurich airport. The two guides drew on their longstanding experience working at the airport, sharing exciting details about key figures and background with the apprentices. The group also had the opportunity to see aircraft such as the Airbus A380 – the world's largest passenger plane – up close. After the tour, the apprentices split up for lunch before making their way to the Paintball Arena in Schänis, where they spent the afternoon. In paintball, players wear special equipment that includes protective clothing and a paintball gun for shooting paint pellets at the opposing team. The playing field comprises houses that are exclusively made up of walls and various small hiding spots, such as barrels and car tires. After the game there was a surprise for Marco Höhener, who stepped down from his role organizing the apprenticeship program (now managed by Morena Casarico) last year. The apprentices expressed their gratitude with a floorball stick that Höhener could choose himself. They then ended the evening with delicious Asian cuisine at the Sayori Restaurant in Rapperswil.

This year, apprentices at Sensirion once again organized an apprentice excursion. In the morning, everyone gathered at the Steiner bakery in Uster. After breakfast, they headed to the world-famous Coca-Cola corporation, where the apprentices spent the morning observing how products are manufactured and then learned more about the history and key figures of the company in a quiz. 
In the afternoon, the apprentices were locked in an “escape room”. In this game, each room has a story that the players must solve; for example, as a detective. The objective is to use the clues to break out of the room within 60 minutes. Luckily, they all managed to escape the room in time.
They finished off the successful excursion with a leisurely Asian dinner.

Once again this year, Sensirion’s apprentices organized an excursion. This time they visited Lucerne, where they spent the morning in Max Chocolatier’s chocolate studio and had the opportunity to learn more about the production of chocolate. After they created their own chocolate bars, the rest of the afternoon was spent in the laser tag arena where they played a few action-packed rounds of laser tag. They finished off the successful excursion with a leisurely dinner.

In early July 2015, the apprentices met early in the morning for Sensirion's annual trainee outing. The trip was organized by the apprentices themselves.
The Sensirion apprentices began the day by joining up with their vocational trainers for a long car trip to Leibstadt, where they took a tour of the nuclear power plant. The plant is enormous, and it was fascinating to see how our power is generated. The next stop was a go-kart track in Wohlen. Before racing, the apprentices made a pit stop at the nearby restaurant to gobble up thick, juicy hamburgers with fries. Fueled up and ready to go, the trainees put on their racing suits and pulled up to the starting line. A go-kart circuit employee quickly explained the rules and gave a few tips for clocking quick lap times. After that, the only thing left was to put on the helmets, climb into the karts and put the pedal to the metal. By the end, every apprentice had had a great time.
Everybody was tired, and more than a couple said that they were looking forward to a cool shower. All in all, it was a successful and super-fun outing for everyone!