Infineon “Smart Learning” comes to Innsbruck

Innsbruck/Villach, February 19, 2024 - The Competence Center HTL Anichstraße in Innsbruck will be an Infineon "Smart Learning" cooperation school starting on summer semester 2023/24. The school team has direct access to state-of-the-art technologies for energy storage systems, mobile robotics and renewable energies. This strengthens the practice-oriented education and ensures highly qualified technical specialists in the region.

The Infineon "Smart Learning" program is now running in four federal states, at eight HTL schools and brings together over 500 students in the "Smart Learning" classes. After Carinthia (since 2019), Upper Austria and Styria (since 2022), the HTL Anichstraße in the fields of electronics, electrical engineering and biomedical engineering is the first Tyrolean school to join the program. "Smart Learning" combines digital technologies with teamwork and practice-oriented tasks. The young tech talents experiment with the latest Infineon modules and systems, benefit from the know-how of experts from industry and can actively network with them and the other "Smart Learning" classes. 

Sabine Herlitschka, CEO of Infineon Austria: "Microelectronics is exciting, fun and offers concrete solutions for the major issues of our time. Renewable energies, intelligent energy storage systems, smart robotics or energy-efficient electromobility - these are highly relevant topics for the climate and energy transition. Now more than ever, we need talented engineers who have access to cutting-edge, practical technology during their education and can grow with it. This turns students into real shapers of the future. Together with the schools, we are creating an attractive educational offer in the region, actively tackling the shortage of skilled workers and strengthening the educational and business location."

For  Elisabeth Mayr, City Councillor for Education of the City of Innsbruck and member of the board of trustees at HTL Anichstraße, successful cooperation between school and business strengthens the location as a whole. Mayr: "A good technical education and access to practically relevant topics increase the innovative strength and future viability of a region. Collaborations such as this contribute to an attractive education and a strong business location in Innsbruck."

Helmut Hammerl, from the Tyrolean Education Directorate responsible for IT and digitalization, adds: "Continuous further development of training is particularly important when it comes to digitalization and the use of new technologies. The Education Directorate for Tyrol is therefore delighted about this high-quality and innovative collaboration."

HTL Anichstraße - ready for "Smart Learning"

For the HTL, the Infineon Smart Learning cooperation will also bring a practice-oriented upgrade for teaching shortly after the spatial expansion in fall 2023.  Helmut Stecher, Director of HTL Anichstraße: "We are very pleased about the strategic cooperation with Infineon, especially because we have also recently become a pilot school for artificial intelligence. With Infineon, we have a world-leading microelectronics company as a partner that offers many exciting topics and tasks for our students. This creates attractive job profiles and motivates them for technology."

Infineon in Innsbruck

Since fall 2023, Infineon has also created a fixed docking point for partners from science and industry with the System Competence Center directly in Innsbruck. Young talents will find a networking platform for technical projects and scientific work here.  Ronald Staerz, Infineon site manager Tyrol: "In Innsbruck, we are working on completely new reference systems that are used in e-mobility, life sciences, wearables, as mobile robots in industry, logistics or medical technology. We are delighted to have a strong 'smart learning' school in HTL Anichstraße to inspire technical talent for microelectronics and for us here in Innsbruck as early as possible."

Access to the latest technologies
Through the "Smart Learning" cooperation, schools can use Infineon demo kits, sensors and the latest hardware and software systems and actively network with Infineon experts. The "Smart Learning" cooperation in Innsbruck focuses on microelectronics developments for photovoltaics, energy storage systems, mobile robotics and biomedicine. Future plans include company visits, guest lectures, participation in Infineon School events, project theses and internships.   

About the Competence Center HTL Anichstraße

HTBLVA Innsbruck Anichstraße is one of the largest vocational secondary schools in western Austria. The school was attended by around 1,500 students in the 2020/21 school year and employs around 200 teachers.

Infineon Technologies Austria AG is a subsidiary of Infineon Technologies AG, a global semiconductor leader in power systems and IoT. Semiconductors are essential for mastering the energy-related challenges of our time and helping to shape the digital transformation. Infineon's microelectronics drive decarbonization and digitalization and enable groundbreaking solutions for green and efficient energy, clean and safe mobility as well as a smart and secure IoT.

Infineon Austria pools competencies for research and development, production as well as global business responsibility. The head office is in Villach, with further branches in Graz, Klagenfurt, Linz, Innsbruck and Vienna. With 5,886 employees (including around 2,500 in research and development) from 79 nations, the company generated revenue of EUR 5.6 billion in the 2023 fiscal year (ending 30 September). With research expenditure of 672 million euros, Infineon Austria is one of the strongest research companies in Austria.