Laboratory experiments play a significant role in engineering education. The main concern of the described hands-on miniLABs initiative (as a work in progress) is lowering the hurdles in order to provide engineering students with an informal and straightforward access to experiments carried out in labs of the IUL at TU Dortmund University. miniLABs will offer students different, short and voluntary hands-on lab sessions, consisting of two different modes and different aspects related to manufacturing technology in the field of forming processes. In small teams, students can get in touch with practical engineering activities in the fields of present scientific research, either to study a certain phenomenon or to look at a wider engineering context. Based on the framework of experiential learning, miniLABs tries to foster the shift from teaching to deep learning. Finally, this initiative aims to inspire young students for real and hands-on engineering experiments and to contribute to the science education of these young and future engineers.