What has become of our alumnae and alumni who have graduated from the University of Stuttgart? What advice can they give current students?
Learn more about our alumnae and alumni in the new podcast of the University of Stuttgart "Made in Science" or various articles and interviews from the archive.
Dr. Wolfgang Holtkamp, Senior Advisor International Affairs, meets with scientists, alumni, empolyees and students of the University of Stuttgart. His conversations are not solely focused on the current work of the podcast-guest, but also address their personality, inspiration and career.
All guest have in common that they have worked or studied or are still working/studying at the University of Stuttgart. That's why they are "Made in Science". How did they become what they are now? What would they do differently in retrospect? Rather Spätzle oder Maultaschen? These and other intriguing questions are asked by Holtkamp.
All podcast episodes are in english.
You can listen to all episodes by clicking on the following link.
Learn more about some of our alumnae and alumni, who are successful in science, industry and society.
The following articles were first published in the university magazine "forschung leben".
Lukas Findeisen has been interested in how new technologies might contribute to a fairer and healthier society since the first semester of his medical engineering studies. “I believe that engineers have a huge responsibility to the public,” says the 30-year-old, who has been working as a program manager for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Life Science Technologies (LST) at the Carl Zeiss Foundation in Stuttgart since late 2021, where he helped to develop the foundation's new ten-year strategy. “Working at the intersection between politics, science, and business is incredibly exciting,” says Findeisen.
The article was first published in forschung leben 01/2023.
The questions that Cansu Köse asks herself every day all begin with "what if...". For example, she might ask herself what would happen if a software or hardware error were to unblock an operating system in an interlocking tower that was undergoing maintenance or where else such an error could occur and what could be done to prevent it. "We theorize about a very large number of use cases," Köse explains, "because many sources of danger are not immediately obvious." The young structural engineer, who grew up in Istanbul and studied in Stuttgart, specializes in interfaces between control and operator interfaces and other electronic systems. She has been working in the Safety Department of the Thales Deutschland technology group in Ditzingen for the past four years.
The article was first published in forschung leben 10/2022.
Does sustainability always mean self restraint? Are revolutions the engine of culture? And in general: Is there a thing as safe knowledge? Those are underlying, ethical questions, which "der blaue reiter" poses. "We want to bring those into society and show what philosophy can do.", says Reusch. It is about the fundamental thinking to not take anything for granted, but to question everything. Answers on the other hand are not provided by the articles. "We want to show what's possible. The answers need to be thought by the people themselves.", says Reusch.
The article was first published in forschung leben 03/2022.
Climate change, digitalization, the consequences of pandemics – the major challenges of the industrial sector do not stop at medium-sized enterprises. Dr. Annette Arnold, Managing Director of Alfred Arnold Verladesysteme GmbH & Co. KG and an alumna of the University of Stuttgart, discusses how she tackles them whilst simultaneously making the business more family-friendly.
The article was first published in forschung leben 09/2021.
Protecting the environment, promoting sustainabilty: Separating glass, plastic or paper is normal in Germany. But in Mexico this isn't the case. That's why Kristy Peña-Muñoz, alumna of WASTE and ENWAT, works on developing ideas for waste separation as a founder of her own company.
The article was first published in forschung leben 03/2021.
Engineers from Porsche Engineering Group GmbH in Weissach are working on how vehicles are able to drive electrically, and in a networked and autonomous manner. Dr. Peter Schäfer, CEO of Porsche Engineering Group GmbH and alumnus of the University of Stuttgart, talks about the high expectations of future mobility.
The article was first published in forschung leben 2/2020.
Actually, as Tarek Zaki remembers, he wanted to stay for a few years at most. However, the 32-year-old electrical engineer has now been here for over ten years. “Here” in this context refers primarily to Stuttgart and its university. He has been living and working as a project manager at Bosch Sensortec, an electronics company in nearby Reutlingen, since 2016.
The article was first published in forschung leben 1/2020.
Hanaa Dahy followed the usual career path of an architect until an event in her home country opened her eyes, from which point on she has been interested in sustainable building. She developed a straw composite material which has received several awards.
As junior professor and head of the Department of Biomaterials and Material Cycles in Architecture (BioMat) at the University of Stuttgart, she provides students of architecture with the wherewithal to develop sustainable and intelligent building components.
The article was first published in forschung leben 12/2019.
At the end of the 1970s, Johanna von Koczian, a pop singer, sang “Das bisschen Haushalt macht sich von allein” (That wee bit of housework will take care of itself). These days, floors really do clean themselves - with the help of robotic vacuum cleaners. One of the first suppliers of automatic household aids was Kärcher, a company that became aware of the opportunities inherent in digitalization quite early, whereby – as Hartmut Jenner, alumnus of the University of Stuttgart and CEO of Alfred Kärcher SE & Co. KG is convinced – the opportunities outweigh the risks.
The article was first published in forschung leben 12/2019.
Since 2017, Dr. Quoc Huy Do has been working at the University of Stuttgart's Institute of Information Security (SEC) on making life difficult for hackers . Together with his colleagues at the SEC the Vietnamese native has been searching for security loopholes in basic Internet standards and protocols.
The article was first published in forschung leben 11/2018.
Digitalization is set to open up entirely novel avenues in medical engineering. That’s the view of Alexander Kunze, a graduate of the University of Stuttgart, who now works as a product manager for Fresenius Medical Care, a medical engineering and healthcare company. His interests include such things as how dialysis machines can be upgraded for the future Industry 4.0.
The article was first published in forschung leben 11/2018.
Completing a bilingual course of studies in Social Sciences at the University of Stuttgart and in Bordeaux has earned Hanna Petri a place with the European Commission in Brussels. The wide-ranging study program and cultural interchange laid the foundations for her career in the field of collaborative development.
The article was first published in forschung leben 10/2018.
Five years ago, Daria Kovaleva made the trip from Russia to Baden-Württemberg to experience the particularly successful collaboration between architects and civil engineers in Stuttgart. Her first major project immediately became a showcase for this collaboration. Together with her colleagues at the Institute of Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK), she planned the Rosenstein Pavilion, which was intended to demonstrate how interdisciplinary research can sweep away the design limits of previous architectural and construction styles.
The article was first published in forschung leben 10/2018.
Dr. Nikolas Stihl is the grandson of company founder Andreas Stihl. Since 2012 he has been chairman of the advisory board of Stihl Holding and chairman of the supervisory board of Stihl AG.
For more than 90 years, the family-owned company, being the market leader with its products, has asserted itself seemingly effortlessly against their competitors. During all these years, the company has quietly and calmly mastered many challenges posed by the modern working world, the increasing digitalization and the adoption of Industry 4.0 applications in production processes.
The article was first published in forschung leben 09/2017.
The materials scientist Markus Buehler is the Dean of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty at the world famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he is the current holder of the prestigious McAfee Professorship. In this interview, the alumnus of the University of Stuttgart talks about his research and points out the importance of science overcoming the boundaries of status, institutions or cultures.
The article first appeared in forschung leben 08/2017.
Business consultant Jochen Engert was working on his Ph.D. thesis in 2011, when he learned that the market for long-distance bus travel was about to be deregulated. The then 29-year-old University of Stuttgart graduate jumped at the chance and founded a startup company together with two of his friends. Today, his long-distance bus company FlixMobility GmbH, better known to many as FlixBus, is the market leader because of digital strategies, affordable tickets, and a lot of feeling for the lifestyle of its young target group.
The article was first published in forschung leben 07/2016.
Since 2015, Carina Pötzsch, graduate of the University of Stuttgart's study program Environmental Protection Engineering, has been the director of the department Water Management at the "Europa Park", Germany's largest amusement parc. In addition, she is involved with the energy and waste management.
The position was newly created and is only the second that deals specifically with the topic of environmental protection.This is a sign of the owners, the Mack family, to act responsibly with regards to the environment.
The article first appeared in forschung leben 06/2016.
His career path took him from Iran to the USA and the Netherlands. Majid Hassanizadeh, Hydrogeology Professor of the University of Utrecht, has developed basic methods that can be used by experts to describe the flow behavior of fluids, gases and particles in porous materials like the soil. He has earned numerous honors, including an Honorary Doctor‘s title from the University of Stuttgart. Currently he is involved in NUPUS, a graduate college for international training in this field.
The article first appeared in forschung leben 06/2016.
Heike Gfrereis graduated in German Language Studies from the University of Stuttgart and is still lecturing there today. As Director of the Literature Museum in Marbach, she brings the fresh viewpoints of students to noble collections and confronts scientists in return with the primal force of sources.
The article was first published in forschung leben 04/2015.
An increasingly interconnected world creates many mutual dependencies. Therefore, thinking in systems is a promising approach. Frank Allgöwer develops methods that can help with the analysis and control of such systems. The professor of Technical Cybernetics and director of the Institute for Systems Theory and Automatic Control (IST) at the University of Stuttgart is one of the most renowned minds of the university and, as Vice President of the German Research Foundation (DFG), also has a strong standing in science policy.
The article was first published in forschung leben 02/2014 [de].
Diversity drives innovation. Biologists have known that for a long time. It is party due to Meike Tilebein that this insight also prevails in business economics. The professor and director of the Institute for Diversity Studies in Engineering (IDS) at the University of Stuttgart, founded in 2009, researches the opportunities and risks of heterogeneity. For example, she develops strategies on how to prevent companies from having to break off cooperations because of the corporate cultures being too diverse.
The article was first published in forschung leben 01/2013 [de].
Identity. When talking to Prof. Camilo Michalka, civil engineer at the Universidade Federal in Rio de Janeiro, this term is mentioned a lot. "It is the key to quality of life."
The 63-year-old Brazilian with Austrian roots spent a year as a guest researcher at the Institute for Spatial Planning and Development Planning (IREUS) at the University of Stuttgart, researching how cities can be designed to foster identity.
The article was first published in forschung leben 01/2013 [de].
Get to know selected honorary members of the alumni network of the University of Stuttgart.
The articles were first published in the university magazine "forschung leben" or in the former alumni magazine "alumniNews".
CERN in Switzerland not only has the world's largest particle accelerator (Large Hadron Collider, LHC), but is an extreme “melting pot“ of cultures as a major research institution comprising 21 member states and around 12,000 guest researchers from 100 nations.
Its former General Director, Professor Rolf-Dieter Heuer, studied physics in the 1970s at the University of Stuttgart. He talked with FORSCHUNG LEBEN about why science needs globalization and what it gives back to society.
The article was first published in the university magazine forschung leben 05/2015.
Volkmar Denner, Ph.D. studied physics at the University of Stuttgart in the 1980s and wrote his doctoral dissertation on the theory of solid-state physics. Today, he is Chairman of the Board and Technology Director of Robert Bosch GmbH and ‘wants to give something back to society’.
The article was first published in the university magazine forschung leben 03/2014.
Once a year members of the university meet with guests from society, science, business and politics in order to celebrate the academic year in a ceremony. In November 2013, Professor Wolfram Ressel, rector of the University of Stuttgart, handed over the Honorary Doctor of the University of Stuttgart to Kazuyo Sejima during the annual celebration. The Japanese star architect has built world-famous museums and was the first woman to head the Venice Biennale of Architecture.
The article was first published in the university magazine forschung leben 02/2014 [de].
Jörg M. Harms is the former Chairman of the Board of Management of Hewlett Packard GmbH Germany.
Even today, the 74-year-old graduate of the University of Stuttgart is driven by the critical analysis of management principles. At times of digitalization-driven economy and society this discussion is more relevant than ever.
The article was first published in the university magazine forschung leben 02/2014 [de].
Thomas Weber is a former member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and alumnus of the University of Stuttgart.
Low in pollutants, accident-free and connected online - that's how Prof. Dr. Thomas Weber envisions the mobility of the future. Thomas Weber studied mechanical engineering at the University of Stuttgart and was responsible for research and development as a member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG.
The article was first published in the university magazine forschung leben 01/2013 [de].
Siegfried Dais is a council shareholder of Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, alumnus of the University of Stuttgart and honorary member of its alumni network.
Siegfried Dais has been working in the Bosch Group since 1979. After various leading positions, he became the Managing Director of Robert Bosch GmbH in 1998. Since January 2004, he has been Deputy Chairman of the Management Board, and since January 2007, he has been a partner of Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG.
The article was first published in the alumni magazine alumniNews 2008/2009 [de].
Dr. Claus Dieter Hoffman is the former Chairman of the Association of Friends of the University of Stuttgart e. V. and honorary member of the alumni network.
He was the managing partner of H + H Senior Advisors GmbH and he was active in the strategic consulting of family businesses. In addition, Claus D. Hoffmann was a volunteer in several committees, including Chairman of the Foundation Board of the Charlottenklinik for Ophthalmology Stuttgart and Chairman of the Association of Friends of the University of Stuttgart.
In 2008, alumniNews interviewed Claus D. Hoffmann, who has been an honorary member of the alumni network since 2004, to find out more about his personal commitment and the funding profile of the Association of Friends of the University of Stuttgart.
The article was first published in the alumni magazine alumniNews 2008/2009 [de].
Dr.-Ing. E. h. Paul Seiler is the former General Manager of Haas-Laser GmbH + Co. KG and Honorary Doctor of the University of Stuttgart.
In this article, Paul Seiler, pioneer of laser technology, has a conversation with Prof. em. Dr.-Ing. Helmut Hügel, founding director of the Institute of Blasting Tools. Hill, with whom Paul Seiler has been working for many years, held the laudatory speech when Seiler received his honorary doctorate at the 2008 Annual Celebration.
The article was first published in the alumni magazine alumniNews 2008/2009 [de]
Herbert Kircher is the former General Manager of IBM Germany Development GmbH and alumnus of the University of Stuttgart.
After completing his studies as a graduate engineer in communications engineering at the University of Stuttgart, Herbert Kircher joined IBM Germany. Since 1993 he has been managing director of IBM Deutschland Entwicklung GmbH, based in Böblingen.
alumniNews interviewed Herbert Kircher about real innovations, new technology trends and cooperation models of research and industry.
The article was first published in the alumni magazine alumniNews 2006/2007 [de].
Reinhold Würth is the chairman of the Supervisory Board and former CEO of the Würth Group, Honorary Senator of the University of Stuttgart and honorary member of the alumni network "alumnius".
alumniNews talked to the alumnius honorary member and honorary senator of the University of Stuttgart, Prof. Reinhold Würth, about perspectives in the interplay of business and science. He also gave personal career advice for job starters.
The article was first published in the alumni magazine alumniNews 2006/2007 [de].
The alumnae and alumni of the University of Stuttgart are based all over the world! Read more about the activities of our international research alumnae and alumni.
Shailja Jain uses quantum technologies for observing molecules. As a Humboldt postdoctoral Fellow she will be staying two years at the Institute für Theoretical Chemistry. In the team of Professor Johannes Kästner, she wants to advance the development of a new generation of catalysts for sustainable chemical processes.
The article was published in the university news.
Dr. Prashanth Srinivasan has been a Humboldt Research Fellow at the University of Stuttgart since March 2021. The postdoc carries out research as part of the team led by Prof. Blazej Grabowski in the Department of Materials Design at the Institute for Materials Science. He will be able to spend two years at the University of Stuttgart dedicating himself to his research. With the help of computer-assisted technology, Prashanth Srinivasan will investigate materials down to the atomic level in order to design new kinds of alloys with memory.
The article was published in the university news.
Prof. Alexander Vakakis is a professor at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign, and runs the Linear and Nonlinear Dynamics and Vibrations Laboratory at the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering together with two of his colleagues. In 2019, the Greek-born scientist was honored with the Humboldt Research Award worth 60,000 euros for his achievements in research during his career, which gave him the opportunity to spend up to a year working together with German researchers at a university of his choice.
The article was published in the university news.
The sky's the limit for the research being carried out by the mechanical engineer Dr. Louis Gagnon. Gagnon wants to build an electric aircraft which takes off vertically like a helicopter but which is more agile and compact – and which uses as little energy as possible. This should make an alternative, so-called cyclorotor possible. This is where the name of the aircraft comes from – the cyclocopter.
The article was published in the university news.
Mingyang Guo already knows the institute under the direction of Tilman Pfau well. After all, the doctor of physics has been doing research there since August 2018. With the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, he can now extend his research activities at the University of Stuttgart by two years. During the Humboldt Fellowship, Mingyang Guo wants to find out whether he can produce super-solid matter in a stable, two-dimensional form.
The article was published in the university news.
Dr. Mostafa Shadloo deals with the separation of dispersions by electric fields. In July, Mostafa Safdari Shadloo, associate professor at the National Institute of Applied Science (INSA) in Rouen, France, packed his bags to get to the University of Stuttgart. For three months he is a Humboldt Research Fellow at the Institute of Chemical Process Engineering (ICVT) under Prof. Dr. med. Ulrich Nieken and his team.
The article was published in the university news.
Isabelle Guinaudeau from France appreciates the green scenery in Stuttgart very much. The fact, that the kids like the capital city of Baden-Wurttemberg makes the whole thing perfect. The political scientist from the Center National de la Recherche Scientifique came to the Institute for Social Sciences at the University of Stuttgart as a Humboldt Research Fellow for experienced scientists.
The article was published in the university news.
Humboldt Research Fellow Dr. Zhenlong Wu from Beihang University (BUAA) in Beijing is a calm person who enjoys to laugh. However, his field of research is turbulent: At the Institute of Aerodynamics and Gas Dynamics he researches the aerodynamic and aeroelastic behavior of aircraft wings under the influence of squally air flows.
The article was published in the university news.
Humboldt Research Fellow Prof. Jaya Narayana Sahu from India is a guest of the Institute of Technical Chemistry. Together with Prof. Elias Klemm, he is working on the Microwave-Pyrolysis method in order to generate carbon materials from CO2 or other substances.
The article was published in the university news.
The Humboldt Research Fellow Dr. Daniel Graziotin from the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano is a guest of the Institute of Software Technology at the University of Stuttgart. There, he pursues fundamental research on the possibilites of optimal working conditions for developers.
The article was published in the university news.
Dr. Wilfred Fritz from the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in South Africa has engaged with the energy supply of his homeland for years. For the next two years he will be working as a Humboldt Research Fellow at the Institute of Power Transmission and High Voltage Technology at the University of Stuttgart.
The article was published in the university news.
The Humboldt Research Fellow Dr. Céline Coutrix is a guest of the Institute for Visualization and Interactive Systems (VIS) of the University of Stuttgart. With the help of simulation and cisualization, she wants to research and predict where interactive changes in shaping are sensible.
The article was published in the university news.
Anne-Marie Châtelet is a professor for Architectural and Cultural History in Strasbourg and DVA guest researcher at the University of Stuttgart. In the interview she talks about her research, her engagement with school buildings and plans for her time in Stuttgart.
The article was published in the university news.
The Humboldt Research Fellow Dr. Juliana Perez is working at the Institute of Literary Studies of the University of Stuttgart. In her research paper titled "Literature as Perception: Studies of the Literary Self-Reflection in the 19th and 20th Century", she deals with 12 german-speaking authors of this time period.
The article was published in the university news.
Victoria Grushkovskaya has received a Humboldt Research Fellowship and is a guest of Prof. Frank Allgöwer at the Institute for Systems Theory and Automatic Control. The mathematician has dealt with nonlinear control systems for years.
The article was published in the university news.
Myles Jackson is winner of a Humboldt Research Award and is a guest of Prof. Klaus Hentschel at the Historical Research Institute at the University of Stuttgart. He is interested in the relationships between instrument makers and scientists.
The article was published in the university news.
Jens Oliver Zinn is winner of a Humboldt Research Award and is a guest of Prof. Ortwin Renn at the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Stuttgart. He coordinates and conducts research projects on social and technical risk studies.
The article was published in the university news.
Pedro Ponte is winner of a Humboldt Research Award and is a guest of Prof. Christian Miehe at the Institute of Applied Mechanics at the University of Stuttgart. There he researches the behavior of composite intelligent materials.
The article was published in the university news.
Yi-Hsin Chen has received a Humboldt Research Fellowship for Postdoctoral Researchers of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. She researches the creation of controlled quantum systems at the Fifth Institute of Physics at the University of Stuttgart.
The article was published in the university news.
Hideaki Ishii has received a Humboldt Research Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Now he is a guest of Prof. Frank Allgöwer and works at the Institute for Systems Theory and Automatic Control at the University of Stuttgart.
The article was published in the university news.
Amit Finkler has received a Humboldt Research Fellowship for postdoctoral researchers of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Now he is a guest of Prof. Jörg Wrachtrup at the 3. Physikalisches Institut at the University of Stuttgart. He focuses on experimental solid/condensed matter physics.
The article was published in the university news.
Erik W. Herrmann is a guest researcher at the Institute for Computational Design (ICD) at the University of Stuttgart. He joins the institute as a German Chancellor’s Fellow of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
The article was published in the university news.
Hidenori Takagi (portrait film [de]) has been appointed Alexander von Humboldt Professor. He is a director of the Max-Planck Institute for Solid State Research (MPI) in Stuttgart and the founding director of the Institute for Functional Materials and Quantum Technologies (FMQ) of the Physics Department at the University of Stuttgart.
The article was published in the university news.
Manuel Roussel obtained his master’s degree and his doctorate at the University of Rouen in France. A Humboldt Research Fellowship for postdoctoral researchers allows him to carry out long-term research in Germany at the Chair of Materials Physics at the University of Stuttgart.
The article was published in the university news.
A Humboldt Research Fellowship for postdoctoral researchers allows Javad Kadkhodapour to carry out long-term research in Germany at the Institute for Materials Testing, Materials Science and Strength of Materials at the University of Stuttgart (IMWF).
The article was published in the university news.
Dr. László V. Szabó is a lecturer at the Institute of German and Translation Studies at the University of Pannonia in Veszprém, Hungary. He is a guest of Prof. Andrea Albrecht at the Institute of Modern German Literature at the University of Stuttgart and conducts research at Deutsches Literatur Archiv Marbach (DLA).
The article was published in the university news.
Dihan Zhang obtained his doctorate at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC), one of the best research institutes in China. A Humboldt Research Fellowship for postdoctoral researchers allows him to carry out long-term research in Germany at the Institute of Organic Chemistry at the University of Stuttgart. There he works in Prof. Bernd Plietker's team.
The article was published in the university news.
Liliane Weissberg is a German-American literary scholar. Weissberg's interests focus on late eighteenth-century to early twentieth-century German-Jewish literature and culture. She is a guest of Prof. Sandra Richter at the Institute of Modern German Literature at the University of Stuttgart.
The article was published in the university news.
Elena Anagnostopoulou is a professor of linguistics at the University of Crete, Greece. The Humboldtian works at the Institute of Linguistics at the University of Stuttgart. The focus of her research is the theory of grammar.
The article was published in the university news.
Maxim Nesterov has received a Humboldt Research Fellowship for postdoctoral researchers of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. He is working at the 4th Physics Institute at the University of Stuttgart. The center of his research are complex plasmonic structures.
The article was published in the university news.
In addition to the alumni network, other faculties present their personal alumnae and alumni as well. Learn more about the life paths and careers of these alumae and alumni through the following link list.
Representative Director of Alumni Relations
