Launch of TECHADEMY powered by Anexia Foundation

’20 Years of Anexia’ also marks the starting point for something new. I’m delighted to share that the non-profit Anexia Foundation has been founded. It allows us to bundle our social commitment within the region where Anexia is firmly rooted and to advocate even more effectively for education.

Our Why ’We love to build value through technology’ brings one topic to the forefront: early access to technology for young people, starting as early as age three. Why wait, when the interest is already there at a young age? We are surrounded by technology, which makes it all the more exciting to learn the logic behind it, together with technology experts who are also educators.

Curiosity before talent. With TECHADEMY, the Anexia Foundation’s lead project, we promote playful experimentation in S.T.E.M. (Science. Technology. Engineering. Mathematics) through a progressive workshop program for kindergartens, primary schools, and secondary schools. We want the digital and technical world to be no foreign territory at a young age, but a world that can be shaped with curiosity. One thing is certain: access to technology is an essential prerequisite, much like learning a language. Those who grasp the basics early discover their talents more easily.

For me, it’s about giving something back to the Carinthian education system, in which I grew up myself and was fortunate in many ways. I also see this as a contribution to Europe’s digital sovereignty.

At this point, I would like to thank Burkhard Gabner, TECHADEMY’s program director, because without his commitment, the workshops already taking place would not exist. Thanks also to all the workshop leaders and partners who bring TECHADEMY to life and demonstrate how important it is to support the next generations in discovering technology.

Here is an example: In the preschool, a small mouse takes shape out of styrofoam – seemingly simple, but it gets smart. The children design it themselves, solder the circuit board, and watch their creation drive across the table. For Burkhard Grabner, head of the TECHADEMY program, that’s the heart of it: ’The first moment of ‘I did this myself’ – that stays with you.’

That first spark is at the center of the TECHADEMY.

The TECHADEMY is the flagship project of the Anexia Foundation. It supports children and teens from ages 3 to 19, from their first soldering in preschool to their own research projects in high school. The workshops are led by technicians with pedagogical training.

Workshops for preschools and schools in Klagenfurt can currently be booked directly at techademy.at. The goal goes further: What is being built in Klagenfurt will in the future also be open to educational institutions in Klagenfurt Country, Villach, St. Veit/Glan, and Völkermarkt.

The Anexia Foundation was founded in 2026. It brings together what Anexia has supported for young people for years, such as the Technicus Award of the alumni association as well as the ANX.labs at HTL Mössingerstraße, and the HTL cooperation class at BG|BRG Mössingerstraße.

The roots go back 20 years: Alexander Windbichler was 19 when his HTL graduation project became Anexia. The Foundation’s conviction grows out of that.

The TECHADEMY follows a S.T.E.M. approach. It stands for four fields that work together:

• Science: Knowledge about the world and its systems.
• Technology: Development and use of digital tools.
• Engineering: Practical application of science and mathematics to solve real-world challenges.
• Mathematics: The science of numbers, shapes, and logic.

It’s not about four separate fields, but about connected thinking: analyzing problems, defining a goal, trying things out, improving, working as a team. Those who practice this early approach new things with curiosity and confidence later on.

The TECHADEMY deliberately puts its focus on engineering.

The TECHADEMY is designed as a pathway: Each stage has its own workshops, which build on one another in an age-appropriate way or can be booked individually. The range runs from soldering, electronics, and robotics to programming, microcontrollers, and 3D printing, all the way to game development, film, and social media content. In the upper grades, projects developed together with the University of Klagenfurt and the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences offer a look at real research.

Currently, 30 workshops are available, free of charge for educational institutions. You can see which workshops are offered for which age group and which dates are available here: Workshops

What connects all stages is something workshop leader and HTL Mössingerstraße teacher Bernhard Wurnitsch knows well: 'The TECHADEMY is about be-greifen – grasping something with your hands and your mind. The child defines the goal – through their own interest.' Anyone who builds something with their own hands also understands how it works. A mouse drives because a motor powers it, and the children know that because they installed it themselves.

Andrea Scheinig of HTL Mössingerstraße, who is responsible for the educational side, has seen this often: 'Children are capable of amazing things when you don’t step in ahead of them and let them work at their own pace. Then they grow wings and fly away.'

Robert Münzer of BIKO mach MINT describes the principle behind it: 'Get into doing, don’t dictate everything.' He also notices the difference in behavior: 'The children are much more attentive and motivated – because they can make things happen themselves.'

Many parents wonder what their child will need to be able to do that a machine can’t. The answer lies in how they handle technology. Wurnitsch sums it up: 'You can only do something sensible with AI once you understand how to verify the result.'

Thomas Modliba, a teacher at HTL Mössingerstraße, names a solid foundation in digital literacy as the basis. For him, that includes understanding that artificial intelligence is not a friend, but a machine that must be used responsibly. This is exactly where the AI workshops in the upper grades come in. And all the stages before them lay the groundwork: Young people who have built, programmed, and sometimes failed on their own are more likely to question results instead of simply accepting them.

Preschools and schools get an offering that complements everyday life without creating extra work. Educators and engineers work together, and materials and equipment are already available in the labs. Travel is organized so that institutions incur no costs, which means those outside the city center can take part as well.

Learn more at techademy.at