What did you study?
I have always been interested in IT and technology. Admittedly, I was still a long way off programming even a single line of code, but I already had an idea early on of the direction I wanted to take my career in. That's why I decided to do a degree in electrical engineering.
Although software development was also part of my electrical engineering course, we were only taught the basics. Therefore, my programming knowledge wasn't comparable with a degree in computer science. So I did a lot of programming in my free time and gained new skills. Also, I made sure that I got involved mostly in software-oriented projects at uni.
How did you come to SMS digital?
Industry 4.0 was part of my course and soon got me interested in the subject of digitalization. I knew straight away that this was the field I wanted to work in later. When I was looking for a suitable subject for my master's thesis toward the end of my studies, SMS digital caught my attention. I was particularly impressed by the combination of highly complex equipment and the challenge of using digital products to optimize it and so simplify the work and maintenance involved.
As preparation for my master's thesis, I started an internship at SMS digital in the Product Quality department. During this time, I was able to gain a first good insight into the day-to-day work. I got to know a lot of interesting products and, among other things, I was given the opportunity to participate in a really exciting project. Once I had successfully completed my master's thesis, I was offered a job directly as a software developer. With that, I moved seamlessly into working life.
What are you responsible for at SMS digital?
I work in the development team for our Digital Twin project and, in addition to programming the software, I am also involved in the optimization and implementation of the 3D models in our application.
What do you particularly like about your job?
In my job at SMS digital, I especially like the wide-ranging subjects and the openness to new technologies and ideas. The collegiality between co-workers and the communication at eye level provide for a pleasant work environment.
Having international partners and customers also gives us the opportunity to go on business trips for projects. For example, just four months after I received my offer of permanent employment, I was able to travel to Russia for an exciting project and discuss the next steps with the customer on site in the steelworks and in the evenings over some good food. The project in question involves the implementation of a digital twin. We discussed the current status with him and obtained feedback from one of the supervisors of the digital twin on the required functions. Back in Germany, we got straight down to dealing with the outstanding points so that our customer could obtain all the desired functions of the digital twin in good time.