Hi, I am Ingmar,
I have studied Mechanical Engineering with Business Administration at my home university RWTH Aachen. With UNITECH I have completed my academic exchange with Chalmers University and my internship at Kostal Group where I was working in the departments of Production, Sales and Controlling.
What are some of the most significant shifts you've observed in your industry, and how have you/your organization adapted to them?
Electromobility, it is currently not tackled very successfully by domestic companies in and their
suppliers in my opinion, as they all need to cut costs because of being short-sighted in recent
years and arrogant (e.g. how Tesla was treated in the early days by German OEMs) and now
being overwhelmed by the competition from USA and China.
Can you share an example of a time when you faced a setback or failure in your career, and the steps you followed to recover from it?
I had to program the software for a force-feedback stick at the institute of automotive
engineering and the deadline for the study, in which it would be used was approaching. So I
had to work on the weekend, too, and also until late at night to finish the software model so
that it would function in the dynamic simulator with the study participants.
How has our program contributed to your professional growth and development since graduating?
It has contributed a lot to my growth, since it enabled me to not only study in Sweden at a
very good University with very good and close contact supervision and mentoring which
brought me forward a lot regarding my personality and soft skills. But also the possibility to
intern in China, which let me also see it from a professional perspective in another country
outside of Germany, and not only academically. I have seen how it could be done there, too,
with other values being prioritized such as speed and flexibility compared to Germany. I was
also able to improve my Chinese language skills a lot and I met my wife during that time.
Although I am half German and half Chinese, my Chinese was mediocre at best until some
years ago. The internship in China has changed this significantly and building up on the
language skills made me learn a lot about the culture and history, too.
What impact has the network and connections you made during our program had on your career?
The impact of the network and connections are quite big, I regularly look on the UNITECH
website for events like company visits or on the job board which is super helpful currently
while looking for a job. But of course also the past experiences with the other UNITECH
participants and teachers as well as the studies and internship have been valuable and
influenced my development, technically and personally, so I am extremly thankful for this
unique chance that was given to me in the past and will always cherish this and be dedicated
to the UNITECH network in any ways possible.
How have you continued to stay connected with UNITECH (e.g. others fellows, UAA, UNITECH, office) since graduating?
During the UNITECH program I have made friends with another participant who I like a lot.
Since he was also older than me and at that time already in his Masters, he was also in some
way a teacher to me, too (in my eyes). There are memories that are very precious to me, due
to that friendship. Some time ago my wife and me have visited him in the Netherlands, where
he is working now, so UNITECH is also a chance for life-long friendship as long as one stays
open.
What advice would you give to current students who are considering a career in your field?
There are many companies and not only one or two industries based on the studies. So my
advice would be to also apply to companies that might seem a bit outside of the studies at
first, because one never knows what new opportunity could await around the next corner.