When you dream of becoming a robot engineer

In week 21, Daniel Knudsen was doing a work placement in Gibotech’s Service Department. Daniel is 15 years old and attends Tingagerskolen in Ringe. And he dreams of becoming a robotics engineer.

Labor shortage

Like many other companies in the robotics industry, Gibotech is feeling the shortage of skilled workers. That is why the company is happy to welcome anyone who might be interested in working with robots.

We’re really eager to help open young people’s eyes to all the opportunities available to those who want to work with robots. Like many other robotics companies, we’re facing a shortage of qualified workers at many levels, so if taking on interns can inspire them to pursue an education—for example, in robotics—we’d be very interested in continuing the conversation with them once they’ve finished their studies.

Henrik Anker, CEO of Gibotech A/S

Become a Programmer in a Day

One of the tasks Daniel Knudsen was assigned was to program a collaborative Omron robot. Omron robots are known for their simple programming, partly because it is based on drag-and-drop. It took Daniel just one day to get the robot to pick up metal blocks from a table and place them side by side in a box next to it.

Daniel Knudsen also visited the new super hospital in Gødstrup, where he helped test the AGVs that Gibotech supplied to the hospital. He also participated in a service visit, during which they took a closer look at a CNC machine.

However, it’s robots that Daniel is passionate about.

"It's been great to try so many different things, and I still want to be a robot engineer. I think building robots is really fun, and I'm sure you'll always have something to do if you work with robots," says Daniel Knudsen.

Much more than just the academic side

Part of doing a work placement involves not only the technical aspects but also getting a taste of what it’s like to be in a real workplace. After all, it can be quite a culture shock for a middle school student to suddenly find themselves in a real-life workplace. But for Daniel, his internship at Gibotech in Odense has been a positive experience.

- Of course, I’ve learned a lot about robots, but I’ve also learned what it’s like to work in a company. I guess I thought it would all be very serious all the time and that you’d just sit there staring at a computer, but you can definitely have fun too. At least that’s how it is here at Gibotech, and I’ve really enjoyed being here,” Daniel concludes.