Be brave and reinvent yourself! How a positive attitude can help counter the challenges of professional life in engineering
With Sabine Muschik
Wednesday, 4th December 2024 @ 4pm CET (UTC+1).
Link to Live Talk: chalmers.zoom.us/j/64493871413
In most countries, women still represent less than 20% of the engineering workforce in industry and academia. Organized by the DEI committee, the DS is launching a series of online talks to encourage women to explore opportunities for careers in engineering, fostering diversity, innovation, and equality in the field. Women from academia and industry will describe their experiences and efforts to encourage more women to pursue an engineering degree and subsequently enter engineering leadership. These talks are motivated to inspire change and provide insight into creating inclusive environments.
These talks are open to everyone, and you're encouraged to invite colleagues and interested students. All sessions will take place online on the first Wednesday of each of the next six months, at the same time. Recordings will be available on the Design Society website.
Episode 2 Speaker: Dr.-Ing. Sabine Muschik, Head of Agile Management Ecosystems at TRUMPF Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH + Co. KG
Title: Be brave and reinvent yourself! How a positive attitude can help counter the challenges of professional life in engineering
Careers and life do usually not go as straight as one might have imagined as a child. Especially as a woman in a male-dominated technical environment, one of the toughest challenges is probably to find the sweet spot where your own abilities and your professional life align, in a way which differentiates from others and paves the way in being confident and successful. Over time it is crucial to find the right balance between professional role, mental and physical health and the boundary conditions of private life. In this talk, Sabine looks back on her own career and reflects on how changes on either of these, such as a job change or having a baby, are opportunities for a fresh start or change of direction. She discusses how her ability and willing to reflect about her own strengths and opportunities in changed circumstances gave her the courage to continuously reinvent herself; and argues that this flexibility can be one of the main strengths of women in a technical environment to stay effective and confident.
Link to Live Talk: https://chalmers.zoom.us/j/64493871413
Bio
Based on a technical focus in high school, Sabine decided to study mechanical engineering at the KIT in Karlsruhe, where she developed a passion for product development. As she wanted to find solutions to practical needs she choose to do her Ph.D. at the KIT in cooperation with the car manufacturer Porsche. She is still passionate about nurturing a common understanding between industry and research, and recently become co-chair of the Design Practise SIG of the Design Society. Since 2011, she is working in the Research and Development Department of TRUMPF Werkzeugmaschinen, a German machine tool manufacturer. She started by introducing product architecture approaches and platform strategies and proceeded to transforming the development department by introducing agile collaboration and leadership. Currently she is responsible for approximately one third of the development staff at the TRUMPF headquarter. She mainly focuses on future-oriented competences around AI and data, architecture, simulation and predictive services.