Ten Years of Opportunities for Young People in India
This marks a special anniversary for international development cooperation in action: The ZwickRoell Academy, run by the Ulm-based testing machine manufacturer ZwickRoell and Don Bosco Mondo e.V., recently celebrated the graduation of its tenth class of trainees. Since its establishment, 90 young women and men have received high-quality vocational training at the Don Bosco Tech Campus in Chennai, India. They all come from disadvantaged backgrounds, and the program has given them promising prospects for the future.
A training center with a future
The home of the Don Bosco Tech Campus is located where education is needed most: in the heart of one of the poorest districts in the South Indian city of Chennai. In 2016, a training academy was created together with ZwickRoell SE on the premises of this vocational training center run by the Salesians of Don Bosco. The global leader in the manufacturing of testing systems rented a building on the campus, renovated it, and equipped it with the most modern materials testing machines, now known as the ZwickRoell Academy.
Career opportunities for young people from the poorest backgrounds
Since 2016, the Swabian family-owned company and the Bonn-based association have partnered at the ZwickRoell Academy to train 90 young people from the poorest backgrounds as "ZwickRoell Machine Operators," with a focus on metals and plastics testing. The trainees are true pioneers in their families. Many of them are the first to pursue vocational training of any kind. “What sets this partnership apart is its long-term outlook. Many international vocational training projects last three or five years. The ZwickRoell Academy, on the other hand, is designed as a permanent program, supported by a strong commitment in both Germany and India. The ongoing exchange among all parties involved ensures that the program is continuously developed and improved,” explains Silvia Cromm, Head of Programs & Projects at Don Bosco Mondo.
The sustainably designed tracking system is one such improvement. It shows how the participants' career paths develop. The results show that the combination of theory, practical experience, scholarships, visits to companies and clients, specialized field trips, trade show visits, and team-building activities successfully complements the training. Graduates also receive targeted assistance with their job search.
Training program goes far beyond knowledge transfer
"When I look at the developments of the past ten years, what impresses me most is the success story of the young people who have completed the ZwickRoell Academy program. Many of them are the first in their families to have completed a high-quality vocational training program. "From the very beginning, our goal was to make precisely these kinds of opportunities possible," says Dr. Jan Stefan Roell, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ZwickRoell SE. “The success of the ZwickRoell Academy is built on an extraordinary partnership,” Roell continued. “Together with Don Bosco Mondo and our colleagues in India, we have succeeded in developing a training program that goes far beyond knowledge transfer. It gives young people real opportunities to lead lives of their own choosing.”
Nomination for the federal government's CSR Award
This sustainable, forward-looking approach to collaboration has already received recognition: In 2017, the project received the German Entrepreneurship Award for Development. In 2025, the ZwickRoell Academy was also one of three nominees for the German Federal Government's CSR Award in the "Effective Continuing Education" category.