Towards the end of the summer semester we had the pleasure to welcome six former MBA students from Germany, Brazil, China and India back on campus for the ‘Alumni Meet Current Students’ event. We always look forward to these events, as they are filled with insights, connections and a lot of fun. It was an absolute highlight to meet with our MBA alumni Dolphy Nayak (India), Guilherme Gomes (Brazil), Yi-Lin Liang (China), Ameya Erande (India), Ceyla Özdemir (Germany/Turkey) and Laura Mittendorfer (Germany).
In the first round of the meeting, our alumni reported about their industry experience, visited memories of their time of studying in Pforzheim and how the MBA program helped setting a launchpad to pursue their dream careers.

Ameya Erande (Business Development Manager @ TE Connectivity, MBA-Class 2019)
who works in the energy sector said the MBA experience helped him in a smooth transition from engineering to a business-oriented career path. His key takeaways from the program were the tremendous learning that he got from the group work, the conflict resolution skills that he learned in the process and the opportunity to learn German on campus which helped him a lot to get integrated in German culture, both professionally and personally.

Laura Mittendorfer (Performance Strategist, Mercedes-Benz AG, MBA-Class 2018)
just returned from Malaysia, recalled her intercultural learning and the fun memories that she had while studying in Pforzheim. Important connections both on and off campus helped her in forming a vast professional network. One thing that stuck with her deeply from Professor Janowski’s Innovation Management class was that ‘99% of ideas are not commercialized with the fear of being rejected.’ “Don’t fall into this trap, believe in yourself and do not be afraid to take that leap of faith,” was her message to the current MBA students.

Ceyla Özdemir (Project Lead at SHAPEiN Consulting, MBA-Class 2016)
has Turkish, German and American roots. A memorable experience for her was the time she spent during her semester abroad at Brigham Young University in Utah, which changed her mind set and perspective towards life. Talking about persistence and rising from failures, she recalled a particular incident where Professor Strotmann’s words of reassurance ‘From shattered glass, you can make a mosaic’, had motivated her to make the best out of an unplanned change in her curriculum planning. “Even if you are a rookie at something, take the job, put in the effort to learn the skills and get the job done. That’s how you grow, by challenging yourself” she recommended the students.

Dolphy Nayak (Consultant CoC Core Application, Daimler Truck Financial Services GmbH, MBA-Class 2020)
has a lot to do in her consultant job with data migration analysis and product testing to support software enabling the Automotive leasing and financing functions. Her biggest learning was the diversity of assignments in the program. “Momentum is important, so keep moving. But don’t be hard on yourself, have faith in your efforts and you’ll find the light at the end of the tunnel,” was her insight for us.

Yi-Lin Liang (Integration Management VDZ Business Architecture, Mercedes-Benz AG, MBA-Class 2022)
is passionate about the integration of software engineering and business perspectives. Learning trending concepts like Sustainable Globalization which were entirely new to her and the unforgettable memories during the excursions were her most important takeaways from the MBA program. She also stressed the importance of learning the German language. “As MBA graduates,” she said, “our most important value addition is to critically analyse a given situation by understanding the purpose and impacts of actions.”

Guilherme Gomes (Group Risk Manager at Hugo Boss, MBA-Class 2022)
came to study at Pforzheim University with a background of risk/finance in Sao Paulo. In his current role, he applies the knowledge he gained through lectures on ESG, Sustainability, CSRD and Investment Banking during the MBA program. He also mentioned that he learnt a lot from professors, both about business and about life in general and formed strong relations with them.  “Realise the value that you as a manager bring to the table and keep taking calculated risks,” was his piece of advice for us.

After a round of Q&As, the evening moved on to the informal part, where over pizza and drinks we had the chance to discuss with the alumni our ideas, experiences, future industry trends and gain insights on present job opportunities and how we could be better prepared for the roles that lie ahead. The evening concluded with a lot of interesting insights, connections, smiles and selfies.
A big THANK YOU goes to Ameya, Laura, Ceyla, Laura, Dolphy, Yi-Lin and Guilherme for sharing their experiences with us and for their guidance and motivation.

text: Aditya Yardi
photos: Aditya Yardi, MBA