[Intro-Musik spielt]

Ansage:           OFP-Podcast: In a Nutshell.  

Christina Schulz:         Herzlich Willkommen zum Podcast der Orientierungsplattform Forschung und Praxis, kurz: „OFP“. Mein Name ist Christina Schulz und ich bin Koordinatorin der OFP für den Bereich Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften. Im Podcast spreche ich für dich mit Expertinnen und Experten aus der Praxis. In unseren Interviews erfährst du Tipps und Wissenswertes für deinen Erfolg im Studium.

                                   Here with me today is Dr. Imge Namal, Team Lead Process Engineer at Applied Materials. 

~          Gesprächsbeginn         ~

Christina Schulz:         Hello Imge, nice to meet you!

Dr. Imge Namal:         Hi Christina, nice to meet you. Thanks for having me here!

Christina Schulz:         Okay so, let's get started! Office or home office?

Dr. Imge Namal:          Normally I am for having the flexibility of both the office and home office in a week, but after this long period of working from home...well I miss my colleagues and and also my customers, so I will definitely say office.

Christina Schulz:         Coffee or tea?

Dr. Imge Namal:          Coffee, definitely! Because I like coffee and also I think it has a social aspect, it's like the coffee break, coffee talk, coffee corner, so yay for coffee!

Christina Schulz:         Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Dr. Imge Namal:          I'm a night owl and actually in the traditional work setting, being a morning bird is actually more advantageous. But I work in an international company, so we have people from different time zones, from different countries. I actually sort of benefited from being a night owl, when I was doing my 7 to 8 pm online meetings. 

Christina Schulz:         Ah, that's great! Teamwork or working alone?

Dr. Imge Namal:          Definitely teamwork. So there is a saying: at the end you are only as successful as your team, so yeah, teamwork!

Christina Schulz:         Phone call or E-Mail?

Dr. Imge Namal:          Well actually, under normal circumstances, I would choose face to face conversation. But as we already mentioned, it's not possible due to different circumstances for a long time now and I would actually choose phone call in between these two, because you can actually miss or misread some information in E-Mails. On the phone, even with the tone of voice from your counterpart, you can have a feeling, or you can have some information in between the sentences and I would not like to miss that through E-Mail.

Christina Schulz:         Can you describe your career path and did you always want to work in the semiconductor industry?

Dr. Imge Namal:          Well my career path...my background is chemistry and I did my Bachelors in chemistry and then did my Master in electrochemistry. This was back in Turkey, then I received a Marie Curie scholarship from the European Union and moved from Turkey to Germany and did my PhD in the University of Würzburg, in physical chemistry. There I was building transistors and building solar cells from carbon nanotubes. And in my PhD I actually had the opportunity to have research stays, which were in the Imperial College London and in Belectric. There I focused more on the device properties of the solar cells or the field-effect transistors. And up until that point in my studies, I was doing both the material science, let's say the preparation of the thin-film material and optimisation of the surface interactions and also doing the device engineering, which involves the measurement of the film or measurement of the device properties. And I actually realised, that the device properties or the device engineering part is what I am more interested in and that I would like to focus more on the device engineering than the fundamental science that I actually had the background for. 

So I started my job search mainly focusing on the semiconducting industry, because I also thought it’s a very exciting industry and as I also experienced it for myself, it's a fast moving industry. And the innovations in this industry have a great deal of impact on everyone's daily lives, let's say from computers to e-cars or cell phones. And I am actually very happy that I now work for one of the biggest tool suppliers for this industry and I work, as you said, as a team lead for the process support engineers for electrochemical deposition and chemical-mechanical polishing tools. 

Christina Schulz:         What is the most important thing you learned during your studies?

Dr. Imge Namal:          The most important thing...well, actually we all mostly consider the university as a place where you get your background for what you are going to do in the future as an occupation. And depending on whether you decide to go for the dominant road, let's say from Bachelors to the end of PhD, the amount of detail or the depth of knowledge actually increases. Without a doubt, my background in physical chemistry or electro-chemistry, basically in chemistry, helps me a lot every day. Because of that I understand and control the phenomena, what's actually happening on my wafers day-to-day, and what I work on. But also my PhD gave me some skills that are actually beyond that. I learned how to systematically analyse data, the different aspects of a problem and where to search for some information, where to look at. Also how to design the experiments with this collected information and then collect the data, the summarising of the data and communicating that in a meaningful way that is understandable and digestible for the people that I am communicating with. And actually also finding the right audience to collaborate and get the best results. So these are actually the key aspects that I also use in my day-to-day job or throughout my life. And my studies taught me to be open-minded towards both data, not to be sided by the data that you had or the person that communicated the data and also being open-minded towards the people that you are interacting with. As I said it's lucky for me that I had this in my studies and I am able to use this information to succeed in my day-to-day job. 

Thinking about that, probably because of this reason, we have in the company a lot of colleagues from different backgrounds, different educational backgrounds let’s say, either from chemistry, physics or maybe electrical engineering. And as I said, we have different theoretical backgrounds, but because we probably gained the information that I mentioned earlier being so important, we are able to work together in harmony. And I think one should not forget that during or after university, it is not only the theory of the topic you learn, it's more about the information that you get and how you use that information and how you communicate that. So that's the most important thing I think.

Christina Schulz:         What does a typical workday look like for you?

Dr. Imge Namal:          A typical workday as a team lead process support engineer has two aspects: as the name of it says, the process engineering and the team leading.

 So with these two aspects, as a process support engineer in the first place, I am focused on the process performance of our tools. Let’s say it's the installation phase or further in production in a customer fab, I start from the time where our customer has an inquiry, has a need to buy one of our tools and is maybe not sure which type and which configuration. And we start with the conversation and asking our customer and determining what kind of tool would be perfect for them and for our customer and their purpose and for their needs of production. And then after having this decision and fast forwarding to the time that the tool is set in the customer fab, I come in again and I travel to the site of the customer, the fab of the customer, and design some tests, make some adjustments and make sure that the process specifications that we agreed on in the beginning are actually met. And that the customer is actually able to produce the product with the highest possible quality and highest possible efficiency with the technical specifications in mind and in the most effective way. 

On the other side, as a team lead, I am actually more on the planning part of the whole process. I plan the upcoming projects for us, I plan our time and the availability of my team and communicate that plan to our team and also to our management. And also to our customer, so that we have.an understanding of what amount of time we have on hand and how long our project is going to go on and maybe what are the milestones and when the milestones are going to be reached. And I actually make sure that the information is flowing successfully through all the way to my team, to the management and to the customer and I lead my team in a sense through communicating and coordinating. And with these two aspects at the end my day is full of data collection, data analysis, communication through E-Mails, calls or meetings and I am in interaction with my colleagues and customers and management. And it is actually a technical job on one side and it is full of interactions with different people in very different settings and I actually love that for my job, that it's so multi-facetted, that I am able to switch gears throughout the day and that is the thing actually that I love about my job. 

Christina Schulz:         What is your favourite part of your job?

Dr. Imge Namal:          Well I already mentioned a bit about it, the favourite part of my job is actually, as I said, that it has the two aspects and is multi-facetted. I have a good balance I think in those facets and in my job I can do both engineering and leading, coordinating and collaborating. This allows me to have a wide angle on either the technical subjects, the technical knowledge, because we are also, as Applied Materials, a company that is producing tools for almost every step of producing the microelectronic products. It's even metal deposition, polishing, edge or ion implantation to count some of the stations and we are actually proud to say that virtually almost every chip and every advanced display in the world were once produced using one of the Applied Materials tools.

Christina Schulz:         Oh wow, impressive!

Dr. Imge Namal:          I think so too and if you think about that, you have the ability to gain the knowledge about so many different aspects of this production and you also gain the wider angle for where it starts to when it's shipped out as a product. And this is why I love the job in the company that I am already in. It enables me to have this wide angle on technical knowledge and for the more human interactive part of my job, I also have a wide variety of customers. I am in contact with them sometimes on a daily basis, depending on the project and they may be from the biggest semiconductor manufacturing companies or from one of the most successful research institutions in Europe and they have different points of view in different projects. And adding the interactions with all my colleagues from Applied Materials, either from Sales or Marketing or Strategy or Mechanical Engineering, I can also develop myself through these interactions in my job. That is also a favourite part of my job for me.

Christina Schulz:         So with your interesting background and all your experiences, what advice would you give students today?

Dr. Imge Namal:         Well yeah, let me think. So in my studies, I mentioned it before, so I studies in Turkey for my Bachelor and during my Bachelor I had the opportunity to have an ERASMUS-exchange in my Bachelor studies and I actually traveled from Turkey to Germany, tio Bremen, for having a semester in a foreign country back then for me. And then after my Masters I won or I gained a Marie Curie scholarship for my PhD and I was again able to travel abroad, to Germany again, and study in a country which was actually back then foreign to me. And in all these experiences, I was faced with different cultures and different languages and different people from different backgrounds. Let's say it was a research stay or the various conferences that I was in, they all allowed me to meet a lot of different people, from Europe, North America or Asia and they all had different points of view that they brought in either daily live or at the study groups or in the work that I am in. And being faced with so many differences in how these people are learning or thinking or experimenting or communicating with you, you actually start to widen your view. It’s like you have a glimpse of the core of it while at the same time widening your own view about the world. What they all have in common also brought me empathy and understanding towards people in a more universal context. By being able to look from other people's perspective, no matter what their background is, is actually the most valuable tool in life I think and also for the workplace. So I would advise the students today, who may have just started their Bachelor or are maybe in the middle of it or doing their Masters or PhD, in any studies there are opportunities, and I would recommend them to leave their comfort zone. Maybe consider traveling or studying abroad and having interactions with different, maybe foreign, people for a period of time and try to widen their horizon in that sense.

Christina Schulz:         Imge, it was nice talking to you, thanks for your time!

Dr. Imge Namal:         Thank you very much Christina, it was really nice talking to you too!

~          Gesprächsende          ~

[Outro-Musik spielt]

Einspieler:                  Weitere Informationen und Veranstaltungen findet ihr unter: tud.de/deinstudienerfolg/ofp

[Intro-Musik spielt]

Ansage:           OFP-Podcast: In a Nutshell.  

Christina Schulz:         Herzlich Willkommen zum Podcast der Orientierungsplattform Forschung und Praxis, kurz: „OFP“. Mein Name ist Christina Schulz und ich bin Koordinatorin der OFP für den Bereich Mathematik und Naturwissenschaften. Im Podcast spreche ich für dich mit Expertinnen und Experten aus der Praxis. In unseren Interviews erfährst du Tipps und Wissenswertes für deinen Erfolg im Studium.

Heute spreche ich mit Dr. Gesche Schött. Sie ist Abteilungsleiterin bei der Eurofins GfA Lab Service GmbH.

~          Gesprächsbeginn         ~

Christina Schulz:         Hallo Frau Dr Schött! Ich freue mich sehr, dass Sie uns heute Einblicke in Ihren Berufsalltag geben möchten.

Dr. Gesche Schött:      Hallo, ja sehr gerne!

Christina Schulz:         Dann starten wir mit unserer Schnellfragerunde. Kaffee oder lieber Tee?

Dr. Gesche Schött:      Da ich überhaupt keinen Kaffee trinke, ganz klar Tee!

Christina Schulz:         Home Office oder eher Büromensch?

Dr. Gesche Schött:      Hm, die Mischung macht’s. Also ich bin sehr gerne im Büro mit den Menschen aktiv im Austausch, aber man kann auch konzentriert im Home Office sehr gut an Aufgaben arbeiten. 

Christina Schulz:         Urlaub am Meer oder lieber in den Bergen? 

Dr. Gesche Schött:      Meer! Das gute Wetter möchte ich gerne genießen. 

Christina Schulz:         Teamarbeit oder lieber Einzelarbeit?

Dr. Gesche Schött:      Teamarbeit.

Christina Schulz:         Und: Telefonat oder E-Mail?

Dr. Gesche Schött:      Telefonat.

Christina Schulz:         Wunderbar, vielen Dank! Sie haben an der TU Dresden Lebensmittelchemie studiert. Warum haben Sie sich damals für das Studium entschieden?

Dr. Gesche Schött:      Ja, nach dem Abitur steht man ja vor der Vielzahl an Möglichkeiten, die man machen kann als junger Mensch und eigentlich wollte ich auch was ganz anderes studieren. Da hat das dann mit dem Studienplatz nicht so geklappt und ich bin dann erstmal zu Plan B übergegangen und ins Ausland. Ich war da ein halbes Jahr in der Ukraine und habe mir da dann auch Gedanken gemacht, wie geht es mit mir weiter? Und mir so die klassischen Fragen gestellt: Was kann ich eigentlich? Was macht mir Spaß? Und bin dann auf die Chemie gekommen, aber Chemie ist natürlich breit. Also es war für mich als junger Mensch auch total schwer zu fassen, was macht denn eigentlich ein Chemiker dann am Ende des Studiums und welcher Bereich ist da für mich der Richtige? Und ja, durch meine weiteren Recherchen bin ich dann auf die Lebensmittelchemie gestoßen und das hat mir super gut zugesagt, weil man eben doch irgendwie schon eine Spezialisierung vorweg hat. Es ist irgendwie eine greifbare Wissenschaft und die Probleme sind auch irgendwo real, also die betreffen uns alle, wir alle essen, wir alle trinken. Ja, das fand ich total spannend, diesen Zusammenhang und deswegen habe ich mich dann für die Lebensmittelchemie entschieden und bin auch mittlerweile ganz froh, dass das mit dem anderen Studiengang nicht geklappt hat, es hat sich alles ganz gut so gefügt. 

Und dass ich dann in Dresden gelandet bin, das war tatsächlich eine spontane Entscheidung, ich kannte Dresden vorher nicht. Aber es war auch eine sehr gute, wie sich auch das am Ende herausgestellt hat. Ich fand es ganz super, es ist zwar für Lebensmittelchemie ein vergleichsweise großer Studiengang, aber es ist ja immer noch sehr überschaubar von den Kommilitonen her. Es ist eben klein genug, dass man nicht nur eine Nummer ist, sondern eine Person. Und man hat auch einen super guten Zusammenhalt im Studiengang gehabt. Also sowohl unter meinen Mitstudierenden, aber auch mit den Professoren und den Dozenten. Ein großer Vorteil war auch, dass es eben ein Diplomstudiengang war und man nicht zwangsläufig das Staatsexamen machen musste im Anschluss zum Studium. Ich habe auch das Staatsexamen nicht gemacht, habe mich dagegen entschieden. Ja und letztendlich ist auch Dresden eine ganz ganz tolle Stadt, wo ich immer noch gerne wieder hinfahre!

Christina Schulz:         Welche Station in Ihrem Lebenslauf hat Ihnen vor der jetzigen Stelle am meisten Erfahrung gebracht?

Dr. Gesche Schött:      Ich glaube grundsätzlich bringt jede Station, die man so in seinem Leben absolviert, irgendwas mit sich, man kann aus jedem was ziehen. Am meisten für meine jetzige Stelle sicherlich auch der Berufseinstieg dann bei Eurofins WEJ Contaminants. Dort bin ich gestartet nach der Promotion als Stabsstelle Forschung und Entwicklung, habe später dann auch ein Labor-Team mit übernommen und das war aber für mich so ein super gleitender Übergang aus der reinen Forschungsarbeit an der Universität in die Wirtschaft. Ich hab da super viele spannende Projekte betreut und auch mit gestaltet, klassisch im Bereich Methodenentwicklung aber auch viel im Bereich der Automatisierung. Also auch neue Themen, die vielleicht  im reinen Studiengang Lebensmittelchemie gar nicht so Thema waren, auch in wechselnden Teams zusammengearbeitet. Und ich hatte zwar einen Einfluss auf die Produktion, klar man setzt natürlich Kundenanforderung um, man optimiert Prozesse, aber man ist eben nicht total direkt in der Produktion. Und ich fand es immer sehr spannend, auch diese Produktion zu sehen und das sind eben andere Aufgaben und andere Herausforderungen als in der Entwicklung. Ich habe dann im Rahmen dieser Position einen Exchange gemacht und zwar gibt es ein Nachwuchsführungskräfte-Programm bei der Eurofins, ich war da Mitglied in einem Jahrgang. Und da ist vorgesehen, dass man für einen Zeitraum X in eine andere Eurofins Unit wechselt und dort andere Aufgaben übernimmt. Und ich bin dann zur GfA Lab Service gewechselt und habe dort dann eben interimsweise eine Abteilungsleitung für den Bereich Dioxine und PCB in Umweltproben übernommen. Ja und das hat mir supergut gefallen und daraus hat sich dann auch unmittelbar der nächste Karriereschritt ergeben, dass ich dann eben auch dauerhafte zu GfA gewechselt bin und jetzt die Abteilungsleitung für den Bereich POPs und das Sonderlabor übernommen habe, dauerhaft.

Christina Schulz:         Und welche Tätigkeiten umfasst Ihr derzeitiges Berufsbild?

Dr. Gesche Schött:      Genau, also ich bin die Abteilungsleitung Bereich persistente organische Verbindungen, also alles ist da drunter gefasst, was eben nicht Dioxine und PCBs bei uns sind, die laufen in extra Abteilungen. Also PAHs, PFAs, Flammschutzmittel und ich habe auch noch das Sonderlabor unter mir. Das sind dann relativ selten gefragte Analyten, die aber eben auch zu unserem Angebot gehören. Und das heißt am Ende bin ich eben fachlich und disziplinarisch für drei Teams verantwortlich. Das ist einmal der Laborbereich, wo die Proben nasschemisch aufgearbeitet werden, aufgereinigt werden und die zweite Gruppe ist die Messtechnik, wo dann die Messung erfolgt, mit GC oder HPLC. Und das Sonderlabor ist dann eben auch noch mal angegliedert, da ist so beides ein bisschen zusammen, weil das eben auch ein kleineres Team ist. Ja, und diese drei Teams leite ich eben, bin also fachlich verantwortlich auch für das Handeln meines Teams, steh am Ende gerade für die Ergebnisse die wir berichten, befasse mich mit Themen wie Neueinstellungen, Personalentwicklung, Personalgespräche, alles was eben dazu gehört. Ich habe auch immer noch viel mit Projekten zu tun, muss mich auch mit der Weiterentwicklung bestehender Methoden befassen oder Implementierung auch neuer Methoden. Da gibt es natürlich diverse Kundenwünsche oder auch Rechtsanforderungen, die wir erfüllen müssen. Gerade im Sonderlabor haben wir sehr häufig Spezialprojekte, die wir betreuen. Ich optimiere aber natürlich auch Prozesse, unsere Abläufe, da muss ich ein Auge drauf haben und auch den Qualitätsstandard wollen wir natürlich stetig verbessern. Das sind alles so übergeordnete Begriffe, die mir so dann begegnen.

Christina Schulz:         Mhm, das klingt sehr spannend und abwechslungsreich!

Dr. Gesche Schött:      Ja, das ist es auch wirklich!

Christina Schulz:         Wie sieht ein typischer Arbeitstag bei Ihnen aus, gibt es den? 

Dr. Gesche Schött:      Also den ganz typischen Arbeitsalltag gibt es eigentlich nicht, aber klar gibt es Themen, die mich immer wieder beschäftigen und die auch täglich wiederkommen. Da ist natürlich ganz als erstes unser Production Monitoring, das heißt wir schauen jeden Tag gemeinsam im Team unsere Kennzahlen an. Also was für Proben sind im Haus, wie bewegen sich die Proben, wo gibt es vielleicht Engpässe, wo müssen wir nachsteuern? Ja, da sind wir eben im Austausch, auch mit meinen Gruppenleitern und mit den anderen Abteilungen, um da eben den bestmöglichen Fluss hinzubekommen und Probleme dann frühzeitig zu erkennen und auch reagieren zu können. Da treffen wir uns wie gesagt jeden Tag, jeden Vormittag, einmal. Dann habe ich die Kostenstellen-Verantwortung, das heißt also am Ende wollen wir natürlich auch wirtschaftlich arbeiten und müssen da die Kosten im Blick haben. Da muss man sich auch immer mal wieder regelmäßig damit auseinandersetzen. 

Dann gibt es ganz viele verschiedene Themen, also mich erreichen sehr viele diverse Anfragen aus verschiedensten Kanälen, Telefon, Mail, mittlerweile auch Teams, wo es eben um ganz unterschiedliche Sachen geht. Also zum einen aus meinem Team heraus, dass vielleicht Fragen kommen, wie man mit schwierigeren analytischen Proben umgeht, wo ich dann eben fachlich mit Rat und Tat zur Seite stehe. Aber auch von den Kundenbetreuern weitere Fragen, die vom Kunden fachlicher Seite kamen, und die dann weitergespielt werden, geht XY in Probe AB. Also diverse Sachen können einem da begegnen, das kann man gar nicht so pauschal vorhersagen. Ich bin aber auch jeden Tag irgendwie in dieser teambasierten Projektarbeit mit tätig. Wir wollen uns natürlich immer kontinuierlich verbessern und das betrifft dann alle Bereiche. Also sowohl natürlich die Analytik, also klassisch Methodenentwicklung, aber auch unsere Qualität wollen wir verbessern, unsere Prozesse wollen wir optimieren, da fließen auch IT-Themen mit ein. Und da bin ich immer involviert, es kann sein dass ich Projekte anstoße, dass ich einfach sage: „Ich brauche XY!“ Es kann aber auch sein, dass ich Projekte mitgestalte, also dass ich in einem interdisziplinären Team tätig bin und wir gemeinsam an Projekten arbeiten. Oder es kann auch sein, dass ich innerhalb Teams selber, neben der Routine, an gewissen Themen arbeite, Ressourcen dafür freisetze, die nächsten Schritte bespreche. Also auch dann eben nicht nur das Analytische betreffend, sondern auch andere Bereiche. Dann bin ich eigentlich auch täglich mit Personalthemen konfrontiert, also da geht es allgemein um Teamentwicklung, Mitarbeitergespräche, Recruiting, das kommt eben auch alles auf meinen Tisch. Wir haben auch wiederkehrende Aufgaben, Audit-Vorbereitung und die fachliche Begleitung von Audits wären da so ein Beispiel. 

Und am Ende gibt es natürlich auch immer das Unvorhergesehene, da muss man unter Umständen auch mal schnell reagieren, wenn es ganz blöd läuft vielleicht auch Reklamationen fachlich bearbeiten. Das sind so die großen Themen, die mich jeden Tag so begleiten. Und man kann eigentlich davon ausgehen, was man sich morgens vorgenommen hat, das wird sich im Laufe des Tages nochmal ändern. Es bleibt spannend und wird einem definitiv nicht langweilig!

Christina Schulz:         Und was machen sie in ihrem Job am liebsten?

Dr. Gesche Schött:      Also ich mag diese Abwechslung und auch diese Herausforderung, also dieses wenn plötzlich was aufploppt, dass man da reagieren muss, ich finde das total spannend. Ich brauch das auch, dass für mich der Tag rum geht sozusagen. Ich mag eben nicht so gerne die Routineaufgaben, die sich immer wiederholen, das ist sicherlich auch eine Typfrage, das muss jeder für sich selber beantworten. Und was ich auch sehr gut finde ist, dass ich eben auch einen sehr großen Freiraum habe, Dinge zu gestalten. Klar, also das Ziel ist irgendwo vorgegeben, aber die Fahrtrichtung kann ich ganz frei vorgeben. Also so bildlich gesprochen, wir wollen nach Italien, aber ich kann selbst entscheiden, ob ich Fahrrad fahre, im Flugzeug fliege oder vielleicht das Boot nehme. Also das finde ich total gut, dass mir da auch der nötige Freiraum gegeben wird, die Ziele zu erreichen. Und ja, ich arbeite halt auch viel mit Menschen zusammen, ich sitze nicht in meinem Kämmerchen und mache reine Naturwissenschaft, sondern bin am Menschen, arbeite mit anderen Menschen, mit meinem Team. Das finde ich gut, das finde ich spannend.

Christina Schulz:         Was möchten Sie heutigen Studierenden mit auf den Weg geben?

Dr. Gesche Schött:      Also die Studienzeit fand ich eine super tolle Zeit. Die sollte man unbedingt genießen, das kommt dann so schnell nicht wieder, das darf man sich dann auch gönnen. Aber man muss natürlich auch sagen, manchmal muss man auch investieren, um die Früchte zu ernten. Man wird nicht von der Studentenparty im Chefsessel aufwachen. Da muss man glaube ich den spannenden Mittelweg finden.

Ja, ich finde die Arbeit im weltweiten Handelslabor super spannend, sehr vielfältig, da kann man viel Erfahrung sammeln, viele Sachen einsetzen. Und man kann auch was werden ohne Staatsexamen als Lebensmittelchemiker, das ist überhaupt gar kein Problem. Am Ende würde ich vielleicht auch nochmal mitgeben für die Frauen unter uns: Familie, Beruf und Erfolg, das geht alles zusammen. Sicherlich braucht man da auch den geeigneten Arbeitgeber, der eine gewisse Flexibilität einräumt, aber mit einem modernen Unternehmen ist das alles überhaupt kein Problem mehr. 

Christina Schulz:         Wunderbar! Frau Dr. Schött, ich danke Ihnen ganz herzlich für das Gespräch!

Dr. Gesche Schött:      Vielen Dank auch, dass ich Teil dieses Podcasts sein durfte!

~          Gesprächsende          ~

[Outro-Musik spielt]

Einspieler:                  Weitere Informationen und Veranstaltungen findet ihr unter: tud.de/deinstudienerfolg/ofp

Ariana Kravchuk (AK):
Hello dear listeners, welcome to job shadowing podcast. Podcast, that allows you to become familiar with a working world of Dresden-based companies and the first local employer we would like to get to know closer is Barkhausen Institut. Barkhausen Institut focuses on the main research fields of the internet of things. Our guest today are two young female scientists – electronic engineer Sandra George and electrical communication engineer Merve Tascioglu Yalcinkaya.

A. K.:
Hello, I'm very happy to talk to you in our podcast.

Merve Tascioglu Yalcinkaya (MTY):
I am too.

Sandra George (SG):
I am too.

AK:
I would like to start with an introduction. Please tell me a little about yourself. What did you study at the university?

M.T.Y.:
Thank you. I´m Merve Tascioglu Yalcinkaya. After I completed my bachelor degree as an electrical and electronics engineering in Turkey, I took an opportunity to pursue electrical communication engineering master study in Germany. I completed my master thesis in the field of phased antenna array at Barkhausen Institut, where I have been working as a research engineer for 6 months. Why I chose this field? As we know, communication technology is continuously developing day by day, and they have fundamental impact on our daily lives. Besides using internet and mobile phone for interpersonal communications such as banking, transportation systems, TV and radio broadcasting rely on advanced communication technology. Not only for today, but also for the future communication technology will form the foundation for intelligence society, where the people and equipment are connected anywhere and anytime. Because of this reason, I wanted to work in this field and to do my best in terms of contributing beneficial developments for the humanity. So, this is briefly, why I chose this field.

AK:
And what about you, Sandra?

SG:
My name is Sandra and I come from India. I´m married and have a 7-month-old baby. I did my schooling in India and after my schooling I joined for electronics and communication engineering in my home state. And after completing my bachelor I joined Bosch India as a software engineer for 3 years and after that I came to Germany to pursue my master in embedded systems engineering with a focus on analogue and mixed-signal circuit design. For me it was the obvious choice to take an engineering field, because I was always good at science and mathematics at school and I wanted to do engineering and physics was my favorite subject and I liked electronics, so I took electronics. It was obvious cause, that I took electronics and joined Bosch. I wanted to do more study, more in electronics field, and then I came to Germany.

AK:
You both started your career in your home countries. Why did you decide to pursue your career in Germany?

SG:
This is my personal experience. I´ve worked in Bosch for 3 years and I´ve worked closely with German colleagues, it was an office in India and in Germany. We had to communicate in an everyday basis and I could see that strength in technical aspects, and we all know about the technological excellence, that Germany has. And they have world-class university, much better career opportunities, research opportunities. So, I was really fascinated, and I wanted to do more and that's why I came to Germany.

M.T.Y.:
In Turkey I completed some internship in the different sectors related to automation, power engineering and electrical communication engineering. My master observes all possible areas, that I can start my career pad after I get a bachelor's degree. But after my graduation in Turkey, I chose to pursue my postgraduate education in a more competitive, more elite and more international environment. Therefore, Germany was a favourable destination, which is in the center of the engineering universe. Therefore, I chose to come to Germany. Thanks to this choice, I got the chance for enhancing my personal and academic skills.

AK:
And how did you come across a job opportunity in Barkhausen Institut?

SG:
While I was almost completing my master, I did an internship at Fraunhofer IIS Dresden. I did a 3-month internship. And then, I did my master also here. For personal reasons I wanted to stay in Dresden. When I completed my master, I was actively looking for a job. Specifically, I was very interested in research institutes and while I was looking up, I found this opportunity to work at Barkhausen Institut. I applied, and I was called to interview and yeah, I got the job. I´m really happy and honored to work here.

AK:
Merve, what was your way to Barkhausen Institut?

M.T.Y.:
Actually, I was seeking a possible working student position, where I can complete my master thesis. After that, I came across a working student position at BI at job portal glassdoor. So, I just applied. There was some opportunity to write the master thesis. I got acceptance. It is also honor for me to work at BI.

AK:
That´s nice. Can you briefly describe your institute´s research mission?

SG:
The Barkhausen Institute was found in 2017 in Dresden, so we are comparatively new institute. We research fields of communication, electronics engineering and computer science. Our main aim is to increase the dependability of internet of things, which includes availability, integrity and confidentiality of IoT systems. By doing so, we create a foundation for trustworthy of IoT, which is going to be the basis of the future digital democracy. Besides such scientific research it is our main aim to have science communication important role in our everyday work life, so we can show, what we do at our institut, what we research on to the public. We make the public aware of IoT and its benefits. We work also on hardware, software and transmission technologies. So, this is our mission at Barkhausen Institut.

AK:
Thank you for the information. Do you remember your first day in Barkhausen Institut. Merve, what were your first impressions?

M.T.Y.:
It was super exciting for me, since I was about to start an adventure in different working environment and the city. When I started this job in June 2020, there was still uncertainty about corona, but I told I was in the right place, since I saw a very warm welcome from my all colleagues. It's like that.

AK:
And you, Sandra?

SG:
I started my work in BI in 2019, July. It was very exciting for me. What I remember, everyone was so friendly. My team leader took me to every colleague and introduced me. He introduced also what they are also doing, what project stay I´m working on. A chair, administration colleagues – everyone was so supportive. I had a sense of belonging from first day. I knew some of them before I joined. Because during the interview (I had three interviews) I got to meet some of them, and they all were very supportive and understanding. It was really nice. I still remember the day very fondly.

AK:
And what is the structure of Barkhausen Institut? How many employees does the institut have?

SG:
At the Barkhausen Institut there are mainly five groups. So, one is wireless connectivity group, RF design enablement group, then scalable computing hardware, composable operating systems, secure and privacy-respecting data processing.

Apart from that there are of course administrative group, IT. When I joined in 2019, we were about twenty people, and now we are forty people or more and we´re always expanding. There are many, apart from these forty, students, who also work part-time job and or do their master thesis at our institut.

AK:
So, there are several working groups with their research projects. Can you tell us please about your current projects?

SG:
I work in RF design enablement group as a researcher. One of the key research topics of our group is joint communication and sensing. My main research is on developing shortcuts, doing chip level implementation, front end of transmitter and receiver chain for a joint communication and sensing. Also in the group we work on demos in order to integrate, to show, to prove the concept. We do this demo that public understand what we are working on also in other universities, other research institutes, when we present them other expos.

M.T.Y.:
I have recently applied for PhD project, which is about high-performance phased antenna array developments. Accordantly, I´m now designing different array and optimize them to make it used-ready in join communication science application as Sandra said, we´re working on the same application. Besides this I had created public available python based-antenna array stimulator, on which I´m working on for further developments.  

AK:
Now we know more about your projects. And what does your average day of work look like?

SG:
It´s always working. Some of the days we have meetings: it can be planning meeting or technical discussions, we have also R&D presentations at our institut, where we get to understand what other teams are working on, where they explain their projects, and we explain what we do to other groups. In a week we have two roll call sessions: everybody in the institut takes part in. Usually people talk about some uplifting topics, it´s not technical. In last two month we´re discussing UN´s sustainable development goals. Everyone took a topic and presented to whole BI.

M.T.Y.:
To make the world better. To take a responsibility, what we can do for better world for our children.

SG:
Positivity is what we want to do in this corona times. This is one way to do it.

M.T.Y.:
I like to start working earlier. My day starts around 7 a.m. In summertime at 6 a.m. I´m a person, who wakes up early. I check my mails first and then I do my current tasks. If I need to discuss some topic about some point, I just ping my colleagues or my supervisor. Sometimes I make some fabrication and measurements. As Sandra explained, we have roll call meetings, where we discuss any topics about sociality, community and about the world. This is the average day for me.

AK:
Both of you gained some experience in the industry. What are the differences to the work as a scientist.

SG:
It´s from my personal experience, it can be different for different people. I worked in Bosch as software engineer. After point of time in a company you can feel that the work I´m doing is monotonous. I´m doing the same work again and again. Here every day you have a new problem, a new challenge. It´s always something new here. Kind of ownership you have in the research institutes, you can´t get in a company. That´s what I feel. A design you have been working on, it works in the real world. When you know it´s working. The sense of satisfaction you get, it´s much more when you compare it with company environment.

M.T.Y.:
I can say, that there are really notable differences between them. In industry is more focusing on financial results and final product without a deeply concerning theory behind it or reason behind it. On the other hand, in the research we´re additionally focusing on the reasons and different outcomes. For example, if we get some results, which are good or not, we´re always looking for “why”. We´re always looking some innovative things to make better for production, also to make some compact about to size, about to costs, effectiveness. It's like that. I also agree with Sandra.

SG:
I want to say, sometimes you may have spent a lot of time on something, and maybe it won´t work. It is something what you have to except. But you learn from it. That´s an important point too.

M.T.Y.:
I definitely agree.

AK: And what do you enjoy about job as a researcher in Barkhausen Institut the most?

M.T.Y.:
I enjoy working in the international environment, since we have a lot of colleagues from different countries. It´s always enjoyable to discover new culture, new foods … I think… And also, as Sandra said before, we have roll call meeting including all BI members. We are discussing a lot of work like sustainable development goals of UN for the better world. We have some good events in summertime and also in wintertime to get our culture and discuss anything. In the BI our colleagues are open minded, so you can discuss anything, any topic.

SG:
Apart from interesting work, the colleagues are very supportive, friendly – you can talk to them as to friends. We have flexible working hours, we have a freedom, you take independent decisions about your work. That are all things I really like.

M.T.Y.:
You can arrange your time schedule easily. Of course, without meeting. The meeting is certain sometimes. But you can work at the night, if you want.

AK:
And the last question I would like to ask is: What advice would you give to the students who are still considering whether a career in science is right for them?

M.T.Y.:
The most important point is to get some experience before the graduation, either by internship or working the student position. Thereby the person can figure out which career pad is better for her or him. Besides this, I strongly suggest to student to follow carefully university lectures about the theory, because we really use it in practical engineering world. It´s not just slides we have to follow.

SG:
I would add that if you´re curious, and you want to know how the things work, I think you should really work for it, give 100% and I´m sure you will make it in science. I mean you have all different ways to get your education, find a job. It´s all in abundance here. There is nothing that stops you. You should just go for it.

AK:
Thank you for coming and participating in the podcast!

SG:
Pleasure is all ours! M.T.Y.: Thank you! 

AK:
The music was taken from website hörspielbox.de

Ariana Kravchuk (A.K.): Dear all, welcome to the second episode of the Job Shadowing Podcast with Barkhausen Institut. This time in German. Our guests today are Mr. Tobias Kronauer - software developer and Mr. Joshwa Pohlmann - system engineer. I am very happy to have you guys here today. Let's start with small introduction. Please tell us about your academic background. What made you choose her profession? Mr. Kronauer, please start.

Tobias Kronauer (T.K.): Exactly, so I'm Tobias Kronauer and I've been working at the Barkhausen Institut as a soft developer for two years now. I'm responsible for algorithm implementation, development, for demonstrators that we're developing, and I'm also part of the wireless connectivity group, where we're developing a simulator for future mobile communications technologies. My academic career, would be the question, I had studied mechanical engineering in Karlsruhe, six or seven years I have needed and then but already in the master relatively strong in soft development directions or information processing, which I still a bit or stronger then the current area then still has driven and I have also noticed, that I like software development, working with computers in general, and above all that it is important to me to learn new things, that means for me really, why I say now, that is the most important part of scientific work or if you work in such an institution, that there is interest in new things.

A.K.: And you, Mr. Pohlmann?

Joshwa Pohlmann (J.P.): My name is Joshwa Pohlmann and I have after the Abitur, I start from the beginning. Why high school graduation, as asked. Well, I had most Bock and always had mega fun to program. Already in school I started to build something, to tinker something, to program something. Then at question - yes I do you in any case, but what? In my youthful naiveté, I thought to myself: Man, you already know how to program, it's easy to learn, I thought that in college you only learn how to write better programs or something, I don't know. But when it came to electrical engineering, I thought: that's so far away from what I had imagined, I can't teach myself that. And for me, everything was always invisible and a bit like magic. It works - you can reach out, you can't touch it, but it still works. It's there after all. And I always found that fascinating, I wanted to master it, I wanted to work on it, and that's why I started studying electrical engineering. Later, I specialized in mobile communication systems and general information technology, and in the end I ended up working a lot with software again. But now I also have all the background knowledge, i.e. how the hardware works, how radio works, data processing and transmission - I consider that very valuable. 

A.K.: Thank you. And how did you hear about the Barkhausen Institut as an employer?

T.K.: The TU Dresden is already relatively well known throughout Germany and belongs to TU9. I found Dresden interesting as a city and several things came together and for me it was important that I also have a bit of creative freedom in my first job after graduation, that also, in my opinion, makes up, you are new to the group, you think about so names, processes and so on. For me, BI is mainly because I was new, I found it good. BI is not only software development and research, but also (where we will probably also talk later) tries to take the public a bit into the research process and does a lot around it and this around it, that is already I think for the BI a unique selling point. And you can get involved as much as you want. And I think that's great. You can still help shape it and what you can still help shape, I think is good. 

J.P.: Well, that was directly after my diploma: my professor had asked me whether I would like to work in this new, completely newly founded research institut. In my diploma, I had dealt with simulation, simulation of vehicle-vehicle communication, and that basically fit into the direction. Yes, the general conditions were right and I really had an idea of where I wanted to go professionally and then the decisive factor was that the topic was IoT and I had been working privately on this topic for years in research and always found it fascinating.

I started privately at home and thought to myself: yes, this is exactly the right topic for me, this definitely has a future, this will be the next big thing at least in my industry or one of the next big topics, and that's why I accepted directly. I'm also now working directly with Connected Robotics Lab on the demonstrators, i.e. on very practical topics.

A.K.: Barkhausen Institut is a young innovation center. How would you define the main goals of the institut?

J.P.: In the three years that this institut has been in existence, it was not quite clear at the beginning what the main goals were. A research institut has this discovery phase just like a startup or a company. It has turned out what we consider to be really important, that is, really valuable and socially but also in the success of these future technologies, that they are also accepted and used, can also permeate all areas of life as we ... foresee that, what is happening. For that to happen, we simply need trust in this technology. Those are our main issues. The main goals of BI is to provide and explore technologies, but also to communicate and talk about those technologies and make them known ... that people can trust those technologies. So the main goal is to create and explore trustworthy and reliable technologies for the Internet of Things.

T.K.: I see it in a similar way. I can only agree with that. Another big factor for me is science communication, because it's often the case that researchers sit in their quiet little cubbyhole and come up with equations here and there, but the way to do that is to make it really easy to communicate to the general public so that people on the street can understand it. That one does not sit in the ivory tower, but really communicates that also and explains why one does it. I think it also helps to think about why you are actually doing it. And then sometimes questions come up that you just don't think about, and you're somehow caught up in your topic complex and think: so okay, I didn't think at all. So a little bit of this feedback from the population just generally in that the research also becomes more transparent but just also, what Mr. Pohlmann has already meant, is the reliability, trust in the technology. So first of all to think about what is needed for this, what is important to the people so that they have the feeling of trust and to let this flow into the research process. Two-way conversation on the same level. You get out of the ivory tower a little bit and you're entertaining, you're trying, and it gives you a better gauge of what's important to people. 

J.P.: An addition that is perhaps also really important to explain why we think so why does everyone hate on his is that trust reliability is important for these technologies. The thinking behind that is that we also want to get that there is a little bit of awareness of how important that is. So one thing is of course to find out what is important to people, but also think that our task, since we deal with it intensively, what we know, others should also know. And we know only times, which potential in it are technologies and also in all the data, which we generate and use, but also the risk or the hurdles, which we must get, so that this then also leads to the society, which we want to have, in which we want to survive. You can only have this foresight if you deal with it intensively and know the potential and the limitations and also the modes of action. That's why we also have science communication, that we say: we want to make what we know somehow understandable, the need of the people there still matures. Ok, we want technology that we can trust; we want that our informal self-determination is respected, we see that the possibility that our freedom of expression is limited and we take care that the technologies that are developed do not do that and therefore we say: ok we want to let this need mature, and strengthen, and testify and at the same time also offer a solution.

A.K.: In this context, it would be interesting to know how your professional goals can be realized within the framework of the Institut?

T.K.: So for me, knowing the goal is also a goal. That can also be a goal. And that's why I think it's more important at the Barkhausen Institut that we really place a lot of value on cooperation. And not just knowing that BI does something and that's it. But really the cooperation that is actively entered into, you really try to build up cooperation in Dresden but outside of Dresden and then cooperate - I find very exciting. It's very dynamic and I think it's interesting to see where it's going. The goal is already clear, but that doesn't mean destotrotzt, is relatively dynamic how you get there. That's how I see it. 

J.P.: For me, the goals also change. I started at the Barkhausen Institut as a young professional, and now I've been there for three and a half years. That's when the focus changes again. I mentioned at the beginning that I originally found this connection to IoT very appealing and said: I would simply like to have something to do with this professionally, with this topic. I would like to know what is happening there at the research level, at the development level, and I would simply like to deal with it, the topic appeals to me. Due to the young age of the Backhaus Institut, not much was fixed yet, it's all very young and dynamic, it's really been like a startup and also still very fresh.  Many processes simply don't exist. There's an idea or a problem or you want to achieve something and then there's often the question: okay, no one has done that before and you don't know how it works, we'll just have to try it out. This experimentation is exactly my case, because I can really get a feel for a lot, in many areas. Be that then ... How do we actually do it with communication, with social media, there are other formats, what is our priority - lots of questions. And now recently I had, what recently - a good year ago, I then discovered systems engineering for me. That's exactly my case. I simply didn't know this discipline before. It was never present, it never came up, it wasn't part of my studies, but it's exactly what I want and am looking for professionally, and this opportunity to experiment, to try it out, and to read into it. I don't think you have this flexibility everywhere, and I can also try it out in this very flexible, dynamic and still young and non-rigid environment. And that's exactly what I'm doing now. If the question is, my professional goals: I can actually fill this role here now at the Barkhausen Institut as a system engineer, and see how they can work here with us, create added value

A.K.: When you think of the Barkhausen Institut, what three words or terms come to mind?

T.K.: The first is, as I already meant, cooperative. We want to cooperate, we want to profit from other people, let's say, or profit from the exchange of knowledge, and even with institutions but also with the population. Then the openness, as now also often mentioned, that is this dynamic, where's it going, you can shape it together and it will not go ahead, but that is a community that stands behind. And also transparency, because lies in science communication, which is really very much pushed internally and should be pushed even more. Exactly.

J.P.: I chose three words: transparency, startup, and freedom. With what I said, transparent, for the same reason that Tobi said, we want to have a public dialog and I think that's really good, we hide what we do, but quite the opposite: it's really about finding out in the dialog, is this the right thing to do at all? Otherwise, you're usually in your bubble as a researcher, just like a politician or industrial engineer, whatever.  You're always in your bubble, and breaking through this base and somehow validating and verifying yourself through cooperation or networking. That's what I would say - transparent. Startup, what I meant before: within 3 years they haven't established many processes after all, there is still a lot open and a lot is still dynamic, and needs to be experimented a lot. This atmosphere that everyone needs is just a certain young age of something, it's called, institut or company. The third, freedom, because we have through funding, since we are funded, we have relatively much freedom how to try things. So also to try out ideas and to pursue them without having to think in narrow scales, as it would be, for example, in the free economy. I think it also has great potential for us to come up with ideas that would otherwise not be developed and to try out things that would otherwise be too risky for economic reasons, and especially in the context of security and privacy, these are often such unpopular topics that fall down today and we can really work with them and then play them out mentally. 

A.K.: Now comes the central question for job shadowing: What does your typical working day look like?

T.K.: Yes, I'm sorry, but I can't answer that question because it just depends on the day. What I always do: I turn on the computer, check my mails, answer them. That's how every day starts and I look briefly what's coming from the team chat and then I answer back and then it depends on what the day brings. You think the software developer is programming all day. The only thing that's true about it, you really sit a lot from the computer, that has to be said, but otherwise it's really very much especially at the Backhaus Institut many projects, so a lot of communication, organization with other people, like distributing tasks, with institutions: we are doing, for example, right now exhibit, for which I am currently responsible, for the Hygiene Museum. There's a lot of phoning around and setting appointments. Then there's a 3 hour block where you're really programming down, then what's involved is really meetings, you can say on average about two hours of meetings, I'd say, a day. But that varies a lot: the more you manage projects, the more meetings you have. Then there's a lot of conceptual thinking about what the software architecture should look like. Then also a lot of ... ok, what should the architecture look like ... do we need other computers now, how do we want to test everything, how do we want to make sure that everything works. So that is very diverse, always depends on the project. So now, for example, I am a software developer, but last three weeks I really programmed together for 3 days. The rest was ordering something, then a lot of phone calls with people, it's very different.

J.P.: Yes, I can agree with that. At least, roughly, I think about 90% are really on the computer and from the monitor and then about 5 to 10% are handicrafts. That is the privilege that we really build something in the lab and then we also solder, laser cut, mill and make, screw together or unpack and drag around. That can also happen, of course. But yes but really a lot happens in front of the computer. What I have to say then is that you really underestimate how much time it takes, cooperation really. Cooperation also works in a team: we currently have 6 people, and the very fact that cooperation works in this team requires that everyone has the same knowledge, at least of the interfaces to each other: what is the current status, who does what, who has what role, and how does it all work together in the end. And these are then, for example, the meetings that are held. But you can see for yourself whether you are creating efficiency or not. The second thing is simply documentation, so apart from software or hardware, no matter what we do, we have to document it somehow. So if we are sick at some point or if others have to work, then we have to know how it works, what did you do there, how can I continue to work on it. So these are things that really eat up a lot of time. And of course there is also work on the content, sometimes even when you just sit down with your colleagues and brainstorm and think about how best to do it, what do we want to achieve with it. Especially in the field of science communication - what is our goal, who do we want to reach, how well do we have to implement it, how exactly, what can we leave out, what can we simplify, what has to be accurate, and those are really very interesting parts when you sit down together and really think about where the journey should go, how to design a project together, formulate or discuss the vision - those are really the things. But yes, the details, the implementation, the actual implementation are then also again, so I would say with me so 50% implement, 20% planning, brainstorming, more of these 50% implement so 10% maybe then do something practical without a monitor, without a computer. Yes, the whole overhead. That must happen here in form, then there must be something, then we are also, one must confess that, we have very elaborate procurement processes, in general, we are as an institut, there's then already a lot of overhead, what the paperwork indicate. But it is still within limits, in contrast to other organizations, even in the private sector. I would almost say it's still okay.

T.K.: I agree with that.

A.K.: Sounds good. What do you like most about working at the Backhausen Institut? 

T. K.: Quite the openness, that is, the openness, I mean, I have already mentioned this several times, you are part of a team, you develop into the processes and you think about how we can do this better, in which direction do we actually want to develop. That went well, that went badly. These are not fixed structures, but components of a startup feeling, I would say. Yes, you can always come up with your ideas, and you can also throw your ideas out the window. It is not a rigid construct, you have the feeling: you have built up the BI for two years.

J.P.: Exactly, I agree with that. Exactly this versatility, interdisciplinarity and when we are then in the projects and have to think outside the box: other groups, other areas of responsibility, other subject areas, other groups of people. When we reach people with our demos who don't think like we do and aren't as involved in everyday life as we are. That's exactly it, this versatile and not this highly specialized and very rigid. I think that's what I like so much in my everyday work.

A.K.: Is there anything you would improve about your job?

T.K.: Yes, what can be improved, be it put that way. It is, in my opinion, publication bias, it also means that you just, so in terms of publication, there is a certain publication pressure that you publish things, but also just things that work. In my opinion, it's part of it to publish things that don't work, because it's important to know what doesn't work. And that one hears from several sides that it is something, which one should improve however that always many people psychologically in such a way adjusted that they say: ok, if there something stands, that does not function and it is to me now also not by, that is yes also already somewhat self-criticizing, whether one should not begin simply with itself, before one complains. But that has nothing to do with Barkhausen Institut in general.

J.P.: But with the research process nowadays. I don't publish that much. I may have already mentioned: the only thing that would perhaps be more pleasant, if out of the bureaucracy, out of these specifications, how something has to be done, that is sometimes a bit, you have to put more energy and time into it and then it somehow goes the other way around and upside down. That's a bit of what I think could have been nicer, for faster, for cheaper. But I think that's complaining at a high level. We already have a lot of opportunities, freedoms and privileges, and a lot of things are already possible. The list is very short, so of things I would improve.

A.K.: What personal qualities do you think are particularly important for your position, Mr. Kronauer?

T.K.: Definitely self-initiative, in the sense of really getting involved, because we are dynamic, which is why when it comes to the Barkhausen Institut, self-initiative in the sense of questioning things, suggesting things that might be better this way or that way and then looking in that direction, but also self-initiative in the sense of staying on the ball when there is a problem and not leaving anything undone. That is due to the development process of the Barkhausen Institut, but also generally from the job I would also say so in the scientific enterprise or also in the software development definitely the self-initiative to consciously want to acquire new things, although it is not demanded how one can make things better, whether things that are done so should also be done so.

J.P.: Yes, I have described own initiative with me with interest in the subject and the work. That is, I think, the most important thing. If I'm not interested in the topic, we're too often really talking and discussing and I have to be able to contribute, each of us somehow brings in an interesting point of view, maybe not always and not at all times and not to the same extent, but it's important to always be part of this team, to be able and willing to contribute. That is now with the subject matter, when you brainstorm and think about what we build next, or what we deal with, where is the focus, what could go wrong, but also when in the work itself, if I have no desire to build something or to re-fit or also to work in, just because we just do not develop a product and that could go away for decades, improve and at some point ... No, we very often do new things and deal with new technologies, new techniques, new content and you just have to be really keen on the subject, have the desire to learn something in the morning, to get to grips with something you've never heard before. If your motivation is not high and you say to yourself: oh no, not something new again, then this is not the right environment. 

A.K.: So, now we come to the final question: do you have an insider tip that you can give to students who want to become part of your team?

J.P.: Definitely, it's always going to be really gang, so at least our group, we're both from Connected Robotics Lab, which means we're building, actually realizing things, and we're less in research, also have a lot to do with it, but that's not our main job. And there, it's really always appreciated if you have somehow gained practical experience privately or on the side or before, for whatever reason. Be it in the internship, be it that you have a private project, that you were perhaps in a student group that builds something. Here at the TU Dresden, for example, there is TURAG or Elbflorace, where people show that I'm still willing to do something beyond that, beyond the boring, the boring theory, I would say. 

T.K.: I would grasp a little generally, and not be too verkopft, do what you feel like. So it comes maybe: yes okay, you have to develop in such and such direction to find yourself the job later, career... I am of the opinion, what you do, you do for a long time in your life and you have to want that. Really doing what you want, not pretending at it and when you say you don't feel like it anymore, you have to have. You'll do eight hours, seven hours, which I know depends on the contract, a day for a long time and then you have to want to do that. And then I'm also much more willing to invest more and these hours that I spend now, let's say for example seven hours a day. I feel completely different when I feel like it than when I just set aside these seven hours. You should do what you feel like doing and not what feels good.

J.P.: I think you can really say that. Someone from our team is simply up for what they do. So there's no one where you notice: he's just coming to work and then going home again, but that's ... you'd already stand out if there was someone in the team who didn't tick like that.

A.K.: Perfect. Thank you very much for the interview.

J.P. & T.K.: With pleasure.

A.K.: And, of course, for listening. 

The music was taken from the website Hoerspielbox.de.

Ariana Kravchuk (A.K.): Hello dear job shadowing interested people! In this podcast episode we talk about the everyday work of a software developer. Today our guest is Mr. Mirko Röhlig, Backend Developer at e-commerce company Relaxdays. Hello Mr. Röhlig, thank you for joining us today.

Mirko Röhlig (M.R:): Hello, nice to be here today.

A.K.: Let's start with the first question. You studied media informatics at the HTW Dresden. Why did you decide to study this subject?

M.R.: When I was young, I already liked to play on consoles and computers, and I thought: game development is exactly what I want. That didn't work out at the time, I did another apprenticeship and then after my apprenticeship I said: no, I still want to go in that direction somehow; after my apprenticeship I added the Fachabi and then went here to the HTW and then studied computer science or media informatics.

A.K: What do you think? Is it possible to find a really good job with only a bachelor's degree in computer science?

M.R.: You can definitely find a job with a bachelor's degree, and a master's degree serves as a specialization. You only really learn or understand many things when you work in the job or when you get to know different concepts, so to speak.

A.K.: You have been working at Relaxdays since June 2021. What was your path to Relaxdays and what is your current position in the company?

M.R.: We are still a relatively young team in Dresden. It's only been around for about a year. Most of the people have been with us for a little over half a year. Exactly, I joined, so I was actually hired as a software developer and now have Lied Back and Software Developer in the extra team, so to speak. We've grown a lot and now we've made two teams out of the people and I'm now the main backend developer for one team.

A.K.: I would like to ask: what are the values of Relaxdays?

M.R.: In the IT sector definitely sustainability, that means we try to deliver the good software quality so that we can run the software for a long time and extend it relatively easy. Furthermore we try to work with current technologies, that means we always try to stay up to date, the claim is that you can't always immediately use the latest framework or the latest trend that you have seen somewhere, of course, but we try to go directly to the next version when a new version of something comes out, to be able to use the latest features and to profit from them.

A.K.: So Relaxdays have several offices. What is the main focus of Dresdner Office?

M.R.: We have three teams in Dresden, one of which deals with our online store, which we operate ourselves, and the other two teams focus on the procurement process, i.e. from purchasing to contract negotiations with the manufacturer to the entire shipping process after production, i.e. when the goods arrive here in the port and are transported to our warehouse. We want to support the procurement process with software. Currently, a lot is done via e-mail and probably also a lot of communication, which can be reduced with the individual parts. But of course it is also planned to get new teams or even more people to work on various other topics.

A.K.: How many people work in the Dresden office?

M.R.: In total, the company employs over 500 people.

A.K.: Relaxdays develops software for internal processes. What programming languages do you work with at Relaxdays?

M.R.: For the most part we work with the current dotnet framework.  We develop with the C Sharp language and we have a few teams that also develop with PHP, and everything that we do in the area of data science runs with Python.

A.K.: And now an important question: what does your work week at Relaxdays look like?

M.R.: Working week, so since we develop agile, there are a few regular appointments, so we develop Scrum and the current sprints are two weeks, a daily every day, where the work is presented, what you are working on, where you need support, what you have done before. That's a regular appointment, new requirements come in, there are regular appointments for that, where we look at new requirements, evaluate them, in order to implement them later and at the end of the sprint there's a review, people who requested it, who wanted to have the feature or so, come and look at it, say: yes, that fits, or still have to make a few adjustments, then we'll do the next round. Otherwise it's like this: we are relatively free in terms of working hours, I start between 8:30 and 8:00 most of the time. Half past 10:00 is our daily, then is task processing or task processing, independently, in case of queries you can exchange with colleagues. There are still a few knowledge exchange meetings that we created for our teams in Dresden. That's once a week. Exactly.

A.K.: Relaxdays is an attractive employer, especially for young people. What entry-level opportunities can Relaxdays offer students and young professionals?

M.R.: As a working student, you can join us in a wide variety of areas. We now have a team for course internships we also offer opportunities, as well as thesis. Of course, I can also start as a young professional. I've done training, it's the same that you can start.

A.K.: You are an experienced software developer. What three qualities do you think a backend developer should have?

M.R.: The three qualities you should have as a software developer are definitely motivation, inquisitiveness and, to a certain extent, self-criticism or questioning yourself. Motivation is clear: I want to develop good software. Inquisitiveness: I try to take up current technologies or current concepts, try to look at them and see if I can apply them somewhere. A certain amount of self-criticism in the sense of perhaps always questioning oneself, is it as I have now developed it, is it as good as it is, is there perhaps a better solution, and in doing so one can also exchange ideas with colleagues.

A.K.: We have mentioned the word "trends" quite often today. What are the current trends in the IT industry?

M.R.: Current trends ... yes for some years now very much Microsoft service technology, then very much at the event-driven software development and/or messaging concepts, in order to reduce Refix so to say, in order not to always have to inquire whether any adjustments happened, but then I get simply communicated that things have changed, then is naturally in the frontend area there are completely many new trends: there comes a new framework in addition, or some company publishes its framework, which it used so far. So in the frontend area there are probably even more than in the backend area.

A.K.: How do you keep up to date in the IT area?

M.R.: Well, we do a lot of continuing education. For us, for areas where we say we want to take a closer look, there are online courses, for example, that you can take, which is typically a couple of videos, you develop a project on the side with the course and see if you can use that. If it turns out that you couldn't use that, for example, or what maybe doesn't bring what you expected, it's not a bad thing now either, because it's also still a realization. Otherwise, the exchange with colleagues: one of them has heard about it or read about it somewhere. Then you look at it a little bit. Reading blog posts, then of course there are trade fairs, for example, and developer conferences that you can go to. There are developer conferences for all kinds of areas, whether it's Dotnet, Java, or Python.

On a larger scale, there are always people who present current things or current concepts. There you might get a little bit of input and you can take something with you, and you say: that's interesting, I have to take a closer look at that and I can either take another course on it or I can read more articles on it and that way I actually stay up to date. It is important that one has the claim not to stand still and to educate oneself further.

A.K.: Thank you very much for taking the time for such a nice conversation today.

M.R.: Yes, thank you. No problem. So, if you feel like doing an internship or writing your thesis with us, feel free to contact us and we'll see how we can work it out.

The music was taken from the website Hörspielbox.de.