​Exciting engineering projects, cool new technologies, and “train the trainers” insightful workshops replaced the common after-hours fun in the last couple of weeks for some outgoing Garrett employees. The WeCare4 volunteers in Bucharest, Romania have been preparing to mentor “The Next Generation of Innovators.”

Born from the company’s commitment to a culture of innovation and in-line with Garrett’s WeCare4 sustainability program, “The Next Generation of Innovators” is a STEM education project that aims to provide an alternative education and mentoring framework to Technical and Economic university students, and to encourage them to pursue a career in STEM fields.

Why STEM Education

Garrett partnered with Leaders Foundation to develop and deploy the ambitious project. Originally developed as a classroom activity, the Garrett and Leaders teams have quickly worked to transform the training into a virtual platform so that young people can continue to benefit from the best extracurricular programs and connect to the latest trends from their fields.

“Education is fundamental to innovation and to the progress of society. Inside Garrett Motion, education is one of the pillars of our organizational culture. Garrett constantly invests both in the development of our employees and in the training of young talents,” said Constanta Nazarcu, Managing Director of Garrett Motion International Services, which operates the software development center and the Garrett corporate services office in Bucharest.

“The advancement of technology is changing the way we live, work and think at a faster pace than ever before, making STEM education an increasingly critical area,” added Constanta, herself a volunteer in the project.

“These workshops gave me a guideline for the future”

Andreas, Politehnica University student

The program is split in two sessions and will enroll up to 200 students by June 2021.The first 70 students selected for the program have started the classes on Oct. 20, and between Oct. 28 and Nov. 12 they will be meeting their STEM mentors.

“I find it fascinating how the world around me moves and finds solutions to problems. I would not have thought that we could continue to interact and have such workshops even in the current context. Everything is due to the team from Leaders and Garrett,” says Sebastian, one of the young innovators included in the program, student at ASE (Bucharest University of Economic Studies) in Bucharest.

Motivated by their innate desire to help, Garrett volunteers have decided to give back to the community and help young talent take the first steps towards a bright career in STEM.

Leonard Pascu is one of them. He is currently coordinating the WeCare4 volunteers that help implement “The Next Generation of Innovators” project.

“Like myself, my colleagues consider education extremely important. This is one of the reasons why when Garrett launched its sustainability platform, WeCare4 – with STEM Education as a pillar- we naturally wanted to get involved,” says Leonard Pascu.

Together, Garrett’s volunteers and Leaders Foundation’s trainers are making a positive impact and provide young innovators guidance to build their future.

“I like what’s going on here, I feel like I’m constantly developing. Each workshop makes me ask myself even more questions, to think even more about how I should do things and where I really want to go. These workshops gave me a guideline for the future,” says Andreas, student at Politehnica University and one of the 70 young innovators participating in the program.

On the project page you can find out who are our Bucharest volunteers in this educational program.

Stay tuned to Garrett’s Graduate and Students Opportunities

Want to learn even more about Garrett’s sustainability programs and activities? Find out more by visiting our sustainability page.