The IT spaceship - Guest article by Andrew Müller

From Lagos to Heilbronn

Time and again, Olawale Ipadeola had to switch on the generator when the power went off in Lagos. The internet connection, which was essential for fulfilling his dream, also faltered. But he was determined to get to the new spaceship from Nigeria. The 30-year-old electrical engineer took a few weeks off work last summer to take the entrance exam.

The exam lasts four weeks and is called Piscine - French for swimming pool. Olawale swam in the pool of computer program codes every day: From 9 am to 11 pm, he sat in front of the computer and solved programming tasks. The five other members of his village, as the test groups are called, were scattered around the globe and did the same. Only those who stay motivated, have team spirit and share their knowledge are accepted. Ipadeola met with the others every morning on Zoom. Worked hard. Completed the exams at the end of each week. Kept his plan a secret from his parents at first.

The Spaceship is located at Weipertstraße 8-10 in Heilbronn. Bicycles, kitchens and sanitary facilities are sold in the halls around it. Behind the two-storey brick façade, the access barriers to the “spaceship” shine like a modern airport. The bright, large rooms are home to 150 workstations with huge iMac computers. Young people sit at them, taming long rows of numbers, letters and characters that proliferate on their screens. Small rockets appear everywhere on walls or Meralchandise hoodies. And one number: 42. In the cult novel “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams, this is the answer to everything.

42 Heilbronn is a programming school. The mothership was founded in Paris in 2013. École 42, or School 42 - a private institution for the free training of software engineers of the future. A network of new locations is spreading out from France: California, Ukraine, Morocco. And since last year, Germany too. As at all franchise school locations, there is a lack of books, classes and teachers in Heilbronn. The students teach themselves. In principle, anyone can apply. A-levels: no matter. Previous experience: no matter. No matter where you come from. You just have to be of legal age. There is a shortage of skilled workers in the IT sector. Germany needs young, motivated programmers.

Olawale Ipadeola has invested a lot to make his dream come true. “If you really want something, you keep going until you're sure you're not going to get it,” he says. So failure was an option, but he wanted to make sure that it wasn't down to him, but to the circumstances. In the end, it worked out: he has actually been living in Heilbronn since August.

His regular place is on the top floor, in the quietest of the three clusters - that's what the workspaces are called here. The glowing hands on Ipadeola's smooth black clock create pixels: 7:21 pm. He sits in front of a giant screen and debugs. Finding and correcting errors in code is tedious work. Behind every letter and every number in the seemingly endless sequences, there may be an error that is disrupting the program. Sometimes Olawale Ipadeola stays late into the night. The school is always open. There is even a room where you can lie down in between.

A display on Ipadeola's screen reads: “Black Hole absorption: 163 days left”. Next to it is a smiling green smiley face. Outside the Spaceship, black hole means exmatriculation. Olawale Ipadeola, however, has nothing to worry about - his score has never been below 50, only from 35 onwards does the smiley start to look frightened. At 0, you're out.

The entire course is designed like a computer game. The students master practical programming projects, advancing level by level. There's no professor to help with problems, you just talk to your peers - on site and online. There is a “world channel” on the Slack platform that can be used to contact the entire network. Once you have successfully completed enough projects, the basic training comes to an end. This is followed by an internship. Olawale Ipadeola hopes to be ready by the summer. Like 40 percent of the students, he has received a scholarship that covers his living costs for a year. This is the only way he got a visa in the first place. The money comes from the wealthy Dieter Schwarz Foundation and other donors such as Porsche and Audi, which finance 42 Heilbronn.

Managing Director Thomas Bornheim, 46, sees the world of iPhones, Tesla and programmers as perhaps Germany's last chance not to miss out. After 14 years at Google, Bornheim says he missed the former dynamism there. He wants to find it again in Heilbronn - and help push it forward himself. He emphasizes the cooperation with regional industry and the proximity to the newly emerging Artificial Intelligence Innovation Park. The Baden-Württemberg regional council has so far refused to accredit his school, but this does not discourage Thomas Bornheim. He is certain that the graduates will be sought-after people on the job market: “If you are in a growth company that has many more problems than people, no one will ask for your certificate.”

One advantage of the coronavirus pandemic for Olawale Ipadeola was that he was able to take part in the piscine from his home country. He would not have been able to afford to travel to Heilbronn on suspicion. Although his salary as an electronics supervisor for a fertilizer producer was very good - by Nigerian standards. That's why his father was against it when he was later initiated: his son had a good job that he enjoyed. But his mother understood that he had to follow his dream of programming. One day, an advertisement from 42 Heilbronn popped up on his laptop. He had previously googled educational opportunities.

It has not yet been decided whether the selection process will continue to take place online. Giving less privileged applicants a chance is more of a side effect of the school's philosophy, says Managing Director Bornheim. But “diversity” is important. Details inside the Spaceship confirm this: “I Identify as a Man/Woman” is written on the toilet doors. Conversations are held in English in all kinds of accents. Some students are 18, others in their 50s. Women are clearly in the minority, which is usually the case in the IT sector.

Some come straight from school, others have studied, are already working as doctors or can't cope with the theoretical computer science course. When they chat over coffee in one of the communal kitchens, you immediately believe that they like coming here - sometimes just for a game of table tennis or a coffee. If someone who is known to have a tendency to drift off is absent for a while, the others call out to them:

“Come here!” Tutoring also helps you to learn.

Olawale Ipadeola feels he is in good hands in this community. When he takes breaks, he talks to new friends. When he looks back and describes the moment he accepted, his face lights up. The stories of Nigerian friends living in Berlin had also fueled his longing for Germany. “I'd rather be a small part of a big system that works than a big player in a system that doesn't work,” he says.

He is learning German, but also misses his homeland, the food for example: Eba, Afang soup and Efo riro. Olawale Ipadeola does not know whether he will stay in Germany. The school's sponsors hope to be able to pick up talented graduates. There are no obligations: “After my training, I have the freedom to go anywhere,” says Ipadeola. He can use the 42 network for the rest of his life. For now, he is programming himself from one level to the next - without having to worry about electricity or the internet.