European student competition enters ninth successive year: Join Multimedia 2005 – with a new special prize and additional e-learning courses

Interested young people from every country on the continent can now register for the Join Multimedia competition organized by Siemens AG. As in previous years, teams of four to eight members will test their skills in producing a multimedia PC presentation in German or English. For the first time the special Team Europe Prize for the best presentation by a cross-border team is being awarded in two age groups. This year further units have also been added to the e-learning courses for the teachers supporting the Join Multimedia student teams. The deadline for registrations is January 31, 2005. Completed projects must be submitted by June 1, 2005. The winning teams will receive prizes worth a total of over €130,000 and an invitation to take part in an awards ceremony and an exciting cultural program in Germany.

Students 12 to 21 years of age from all types of schools in Europe are eligible to enter. The student teams will each produce a multimedia presentation on one of the following topics:

School and learning: Our school, your school
People and places: Other countries, other customs
Business and career: Dream job wanted!
Technology and innovation: Light moves the world

The presentation must not exceed 100 MBs in storage capacity and 30 pages in length. Participants are free to use any software they want. For purposes of evaluation, the teams are divided into two age groups: age group 1 (12 to 15 years of age) and age group 2 (16 to 21 years of age). The extra effort made by cross-border teams from a maximum of three countries is additionally rewarded with the Team Europe Prize, awarded for the most convincing presentation by an international team in each of the two age groups. A virtual collaboration platform has been set up for the cross-border teams, which will enable the team members to communicate with one another and exchange data and documents.

E-learning courses for support teachers

Siemens provides free e-learning courses on the production of multimedia presentations for the teachers supporting the Join Multimedia teams. These have now been expanded to include various practical courses on processing graphics, sound tracks and video clips. The courses run from mid-February to mid-March and the deadline for registrations is January 31, 2005.

Youth and Knowledge Development Program

Join Multimedia is part of the comprehensive Youth and Knowledge Development Program that Siemens AG created in 1997 to promote the vocational training and continuing education of young people. Through this international program Siemens demonstrates its commitment to social responsibility while at the same time nurturing potential employees, decision-makers and the “movers and shakers” of tomorrow. One of the company’s fundamental concerns is to identify and foster the most highly talented individuals around the world.

Further information on the competition and the development program is available at