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Pharma Tech Outlook | Wednesday, May 01, 2024
Munich, Germany, –‘It's really cool: I can see how the cell divides,’ says the fifteen-year-old schoolgirl enthusiastically. She is looking into a fluorescence microscope in the development laboratory at ibidi GmbH in Graefelfing. Her eye can see the smallest components of a cell, stained and magnified. - Together with a group of twelve schoolgirls from various districts, she experienced ‘ibidi Girls Day 2024’ on April 25th. Under the motto ‘Technology and science free of clichés’, the girls visited some of the biotechnology manufacturer's departments. They wanted to get to know professions with a low proportion of women and thus expand their own options for training and studying.
Girls Day 2024 at ibidi GmbH, German biotech manufacturer Dedicated biophysics researchers showed them live how devices and laboratory equipment keep cells alive while they are analysed under the microscope. 'It's so tiny. And there's so much going on!’ the youngsters marvelled at the few visible millimetres of the detailed images. Using large pipettes, the girls prepared cell cultures for their multiplication in the incubator, separated the nutrient solution from the cells and washed out the cells. Just a normal day in the lab! To gain a better understanding of how components are manufactured, the pupils soldered electronic components such as LEDs, resistors and capacitors onto a PCB (printed circuit board) layout. Their precise work paid off and with their flashing smiley figure in a wooden box, everything worked. Of course, they could take the finished ‘product’ home with them, as well as the cuddly ibidi cell mascot and another one of their creations. In product development, they designed their own key fob for 3D printing on the computer under the guidance of a bio/nanoelectronics engineer. They learnt how smart ideas are ultimately turned into innovative microscope plates in Graefelfing using 3D printed prototypes. The world-leading company supplies these to state-of-the-art scientific and industrial laboratories. Customs and shipping also require a great deal of detailed knowledge, as the pupils realised in the order processing department, from where the parcels are shipped around the globe.
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Over pizza, the dialogue with ibidi employees from various specialist areas and positions was highly informative. During the discussions, it became clear that the trump card of a highly modern company lies in the interaction of many specialised areas of knowledge. It's great when all departments work in one place, as is the case at ibidi GmbH. Research, development, production, sales, logistics, marketing, human resources, information technology and finance work closely together to achieve the best results.
The day before, Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz opened Girls Day 2024 at the Federal Chancellery and discussed the opportunities of artificial intelligence (AI) for technical professions with schoolgirls. In Graefelfing, ibidi GmbH opened its doors wide and discussed the future of cell research with the girls. Their advances are laying the foundation for better treatment methods and medical agents against cancer, cardiovascular diseases and other cell-based illnesses. Perhaps some of the girls today have decided to follow their path in one of the important professions and fields of study. Maybe they are the ones who will make a decisive difference to our lives?
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