We created, we collaborated, we celebrated! At the SAP Young Thinkers Learning Festival on July 27 & 28, students from all over the world came together to discover digital literacy, learn about coding and foster creativity. More than 200 students registered to find their personal superpower and apply it in workshops with SAP applications, Snap! and other highlights. You missed the learning party? Put your imaginary superhero cape on and follow these insights!
To start off into the journey of uncovering your own superpower we had 4 speakers who shared their superpower stories with us. So, let´s discover your power, dear reader!
- Karla Görlitz is our soccer star playing on the 1st German National League (1. Bundesliga) and was part of the Junior German National Team, all while studying law. She told us how her superpower in soccer helps her to turn down all surrounding noise, when she and her teammates are on the pitch. “When I stand on the pitch everything else fades. Everything is only about the game”. Think about this, when does everything else become quiet? What do you do in these moments?
- Kartik Chandra implemented the paint editor to Snap! when he was still a teenager and just recently graduated with honors from Stanford University. Kartik explained how the anonymity of the internet enabled him to succeed while being young as he was not confronted with biases regarding age limitations. “On the internet nobody knows you’re a dog […] it allows you being taken seriously, regardless of your age”. Remember that you can make an impact no matter your age. Let no one stop you, especially not your inner self, with the argument that you are not old or experienced enough.
- Klara Kraemer developed her own smart home voice assistant during the German competition for young scientist "Jungend Forscht" and currently studies Computer Science in Aberdeen, Scotland. She showed us her superpower in breaking stereotypes in her development as a young woman. “I have decided that this gender gap won´t discourage me, but rather inspire me to do something against it”. With this attitude she e.g. thought herself the programming language Python within a week, just to get started on a new project. Is there something that you don´t approve of in your environment? Turning this energy of passive disapproval into action of change can make you feel very powerful.
- Karina Montilla Edmonds was the only female in her class to finish with a PhD in aeronautics and now, encourages historically underrepresented groups in tech as part of her role as Head of SAP Academies & University Alliances. Her story is driven by her superpower of “learning to learn” with which she could rise to every challenge she faced. She said “My challenge to you is to learn how to learn”. So, let us find power in acquiring the skill of learning enabling us to always develop new superpowers depending on the goal and issue at hand.
Day 1 – Hands-On Workshops: Experimenting with Your Superpower
After getting inspired by our Ignite Talks, attendees could choose between a variety of hands-on workshops to experiment with their superpower in SAP applications and gain insights in different topics to boost their digital literacy. Thanks to our wonderful workshop leads we could offer a variety of topics:
- In “Create your own Discord bot using a Python cloud application”, Marvin Christe brought life to a python code by creating a superhero chatbot in Python via the SAP Business Technology Platform.
- Jadga Huegle and Kathy Giori crafted tangible products in Snap! with “Take Snap! into the real world with Turtle Stitch and MicroBlocks”. They created cool clothing via a programmable embroidery machine in Turtle Stitch and brought physical computing to microcontrollers via MicroBlocks.
- Our SAP Sports workshop “Dive into sport data science with the SAP-NHL Coaching Insights App and SAP Sports One” from Achim Ittner, Christopher Brunell and Yann Bouschet gave an overview over different SAP applications in sports followed by an engaging competition in data science.
- In “Explore the world of artificial intelligence with SAP”, Christoph Hoertnagel and Shivangi Jain provided a great summary of the broad and complex topic of artificial intelligence. This workshop also confirmed that robots won´t take over the world.
- With the support of Ana Ammann in “Discover your speaking superpower”, young thinkers could work with a toolbox on how to feel more comfortable speaking and make their words heard.
- In “Develop your liveable future with science fiction thinking” Ariane Skutela invited young learners to brainstorm about the future and actions that can influence the future in a positive or negative way.
Which workshop would you have picked? Our young thinkers spread quickly among the workshops and afterwards, they shared their highlights in our Show & Tell.
Day 2 – Snap! Power: A Full Day of Coding and Creativity in Snap!
To set the scene for a full day of Snap! power, we asked the Snap! developers Jens Moenig, Jadga Huegle, and Bernat Romagosa to share how they found to/ founded the visual, live, and block-based programming language Snap!. Jens shared his path from a law student to Snap! master. Bernat Romagosa talked about how engagement in events and networking with other programmers led him to his current role as Snap! and MicroBlocks developer. Jadga Huegle explained how you can get from hating to code to gaining a real passion for it. In case you have met either of the three before, you can imagine how funny and honest their stories were!
Next, our attendees could either start with their first Snap! projects or enhance their skills in six different workshops:
- Dan Garcia took programming beginners by his hand and showed them how tangible code can be when playing with big pixels in Snap!.
- Bernat Romagosa showed the participants around a Snap! adaption called Beetle Blocks, which enables the users to design cool 3D objects.
- With Jens Moenig one could use supposedly boring arrays to create some great musical art.
- Devin Jean and Bernard Yett took block-based coding to another level with NetsBlox by developing phone applications in very brief time.
- Anna Partsch and Lukas Ackermann showed that helping the environment can be cool with their clean the ocean strategy game.
- With Claire Zschiesche, our participants became great artists within Snap! and created their own art gallery.
At the end of the event, everyone came together for a final Show & Tell. We saw wonderful projects and it is always a big surprise how much our young thinkers can create in such a short time.
Have you already started with Snap!? Feel free to share your story in the comments. If you have not started yet, you can find resources on getting started here on our SAP Young Thinkers Topic Page.
With this, our superhero stories come to an end. I hope you got inspired to uncover your superpower, too! If so, feel free to leave a quick reaction with a like or comment. I´d be interested to hear from your power or ideas!
To see some behind the scenes and to not miss our after movie, follow the SAP Next-Gen social media channels Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook | YouTube. Also, don´t miss to follow our SAP Young Thinkers Tag here in the SAP Community.
A shout out to our team organizing the event, form the SAP Young Thinkers, UC Berkeley and friends!
On picture: Anna-Nele Trost, Verena Laumayer, Maren Meyer, Karolin Kollmar, Joshua Gebhardt, Marvin Christe, Leon Steiner
Around the world: Lukas Ackermann, Ana Ammann, Wassilios Asaridis, Christiane Bauer, Yann Bouschet, Christopher Brunell, Kartik Chandra, Leo Dorer, Karina Montilla Edmonds, Dan Garcia, Michele Gauler, Kathy Giori, Karla Görlitz, Christoph Hörtnagl, Jadga Huegle, Achim Ittner, Shivangi Jain, Devin Jean, Klara Krämer, Jens Mönig, Anna Partsch, Bernat Romagosa, Ariane Skutela, Anna-Nele Trost, Alina Wachter, Bernhardt Yett, Jule Zollondz, Claire Zschiesche
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