(Interview from 2017)

Thomas Scheufler

Five continents – six regional ambassadors: Rahel Desalegne seeks to establish academic connections between the University of Wisconsin and TUD and would like to see more concrete plans and activities for the regional ambassadors.

First name: Rahel
Surname: Desalegne
Graduating year: 1992
Degree program: Transportation engineering
Current role: Traffic engineer for intelligent transportation systems and visiting professor at the University of Wisconsin
Regional ambassador: Since 2015

Are you planning a stay in the US? Then contact Rahel Desalegne or other regional ambassadors in the United States.

KONTAKT online spoke to her about first choices, second glances, and being part of the club

What did you study at TUD? Why did you decide to study at TU Dresden?
I studied traffic engineering at the former "Friedrich List" Hochschule für Verkehrswesen (University of Transportation) from 1986 to 1992. I had received a scholarship to study engineering in the GDR and was assigned my slot at university. Dresden and the University of Transportation were not my first choice at the time. However, the more time I spent there, the better I liked it. I lived in a university dorm on Gutzkowstraße and also spent a lot of time at TU Dresden as a student, as some facilities were shared by the two universities and I also had friends who studied at TUD.

Would you tell us an anecdote from your student days? What are your happiest memories? Where did you like to go in Dresden? What was your favorite place at university?
I was in my third and fourth years when the GDR collapsed in 1989/90. It was fascinating to be so close to the events and witness just how fast the political landscape in the GDR was changing. To have been in that place at that time – that is something I will always remember. During my studies, I enjoyed studying at the library and exercising at the TUD gym. I often visited the Zwinger, admired the Sistine Madonna, took steamboat trips along the Elbe in summer, and went to the Christmas markets in winter.

What are your links to TUD today? How do you use your TUD ties in your professional and personal network?
Today, I am in contact with my former university mainly through the Alumni Relations Office's regional ambassador program. I hope to get more involved in the next few years, both professionally and personally.

Why did you become a TUD regional ambassador? Why is the role important to you?
I liked the idea of volunteering as a regional ambassador for TUD and promoting both the university and the city of Dresden to my network in the US and in my home country of Ethiopia.

How can you help researchers, students, and alumni of TUD who are interested in studying in your country? What have you already achieved in practical terms?
I am part of a group of engineers who teach in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin. In my teaching post, I am able to help establish links between the University of Wisconsin, which is one of the leading academic research institutions in the US, and TU Dresden.

Have you had the opportunity to promote TUD within your networks?
Yes.

What else have you done along these lines?
I take every opportunity to tell my university colleagues about TU Dresden. I look forward to developing more networks and ties.

What are your ideas and plans for the future as a regional ambassador? What suggestions, tips, and requests would you like to pass on to the Alumni Relations Office?
I think more concrete plans and activities for the regional ambassadors would be helpful. I took part in the 2015 alumni week, at which regional ambassadors from 18 different countries received training as TUD multipliers and organized an international internship forum. That was great. However, there is no strategic action plan with medium- and long-term objectives for us TUD regional ambassadors, which is why these events are no longer at the front of my mind.

Contact:
Rahel Desalegne
Country: USA
City: Madison

Email

Map: TUD regional ambassadors worldwide

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