Alumni Events

By Career Lunch Talks, we have come up with an event to which the HZDR Alumni Network and the Postdoc Center HZDR-TUD jointly invite. The aim of the Career Lunch Talks is to provide our guests with insights into various career paths, to initiate contacts with personalities outside the HZDR and thus to further expand and build professional networks in a wide range of fields. At each event, we invite personalities with different professional and technical backgrounds to talk about themselves, their careers and their networks as well as to discuss current career topics with us.

Career Dinner Talk on the topic of women's careers and role models on 14/03/2024 with Katrin Dunker, Gunda Röstel, Prof. Dr. Elizabeth von Hauff, Manuela Harken, Sonja Hahn-Tomer and Prof. Dr. Katrin Salchert

Foto: Career Dinner Talk Veranstaltungsplakat ©Copyright: Melanie Giebel

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, five women who have climbed the career ladder in impressive ways will be our next guests at the Career Dinner Talk on March 14, 2024. Listen to Gunda Röstel (Managing Director of Dresdner Stadtentwässerung), Prof. Dr. Elizabeth von Hauff (Prof. at TU Dresden and Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Organic Electronics, Electron Beamand Plasma Technology), Manuela Harken (Head of Subsidy at the Sächsische Aufbaubank), Sonja Hahn-Tomer (Executive & Liaison officer at United Nations University) and Prof. Dr. Katrin Salchert (Rector of HTW Dresden University of Applied Sciences) who share their stories about different career paths and steps. Get in contact with them and discuss about current career topics with us.

Date: 14/3/2024, 4:30pm - 7pm

Location: Canteen HZDR Rossendorf, building 114, Bautzner Landstraße 400, 01328 Dresden

Please register here: https://events.hifis.net/e/career-dinner-talk-women  


Foto: Career Lunch Talk #9 ©Copyright: Melanie Giebel

Previous alumni events:

Career Lunch Talk #9 on 25/1/2024 12pm - 12:45pm with Dr. Thomas Mütze from BASF

Thomas is alumnus of the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology. Before that, he had an academic career at the TU Bergakademie Freiberg in the field of mineral processing and recycling – beginning as PhD researcher, over several group manager positions, senior lecturer and head of laboratory before he made the transition to industry. Since 2023, Thomas is technology manager battery recycling at BASF where he initiates innovative recycling processes with a focus on black mass production and the treatment of battery waste. The next Career Lunch Talk #9 is on the topic "From senior scientist to technology manager: Different timelines in science and industry.” Thomas will display his transition and share insights about differences in onboarding and decision making in industry compared to science.

Career Dinner Talk on 28/09/2023 // 5:30pm - 08:00pm with Dr. rer. nat. Susette Germer, Dr. Swapna Singha Rabha and Dr. rer. nat. Oguz Yildirim

Foto: Career Dinner Talk internationale Alumni-Woche ©Copyright: Melanie Giebel

As part of the international alumni week, Career Dinner Talk will focus on the topic international career paths. Our guests are:

Dr. rer. nat. Susette Germer
Susette is an alumna of the Institute of Ion-Beam Physics and Materials Research. After several years in research, she made the transition to industry. Driven by a desire to explore uncharted territory, she consistently embraces new challenges. This led to her decision to found EMPASYNIX and later SalesPro4U. With EMPASYNIX, she supports interdisciplinary projects in diverse industries. SalesPro4U is a company that connects experienced professionals in sales, marketing or business development with businesses such as startups, scaleups, or SMEs, enabling them to expand into new markets and regions through the huge expertise and networks of such mentors.

Dr. Swapna Singha Rabha
Swapna is an alumna of the Institute of Fluid Dynamics. In 2013, she was awarded the HZDR Research Award for her work on flow structures in slurry bubble columns. After working at HZDR, she was post-doctoral fellow at the National Energy Technology Laboratory in the United States and then research associate at the Imperial College in London. Today, she works as an assistant professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in India.

Dr. rer. nat. Oguz Yildirim
Oguz is Technical Marketing Manager at Evatec AG in Switzerland. He earned his PhD in Physics at the Technical University Dresden and was already working at HZDR during his studies. As a postdoc, he worked on process development for ultrathin magnetic thin films. Then, he moved to Switzerland, where he worked as a postdoc and group leader at Empa and as a process development engineer at Evatec AG.

Foto: Career Lunch Talk #8 ©Copyright: Melanie Giebel

Career Lunch Talk #8 on 20/9/2023 12pm - 12:45pm with Dr. rer. nat. Susette Germer from EMASYNIX

Susette is an alumna of the Institute of Ion-Beam Physics and Materials Research. As a physicist, she completed her doctorate on Si-based photonics and intelligent biosensors. After several years in applied basic research, she made the transition to industry, taking on various positions such as Market Development and Public Relations Manager. Driven by a desire to explore uncharted territory, she consistently embraces new challenges, even in areas where she has no prior experience. This led to her decision to found EMPASYNIX after approximately 3.5 years in the industry. With EMPASYNIX, she supports interdisciplinary projects in diverse industries, facilitating the market launch of medical devices, mobility solutions, and the establishment of new data exchange and monetization communities. In 2022, she founded SalesPro4U, a Swiss company that connects experienced professionals in sales, marketing or business development with businesses such as startups, scaleups, or SMEs, enabling them to expand into new markets and regions through the huge expertise and networks of such mentors.

As part of the Postdoc Appreciation Week, Career Lunch Talk #8 focused on the topic "Embracing a Mosaic Career as a Doctorate: From Academia and Industry to Entrepreneurship." Susette shared the importance of academics exploring opportunities in the industry and not being afraid to embark on new ventures.

 

 

 

 

Career Dinner Talk on the topic of women's careers and role models on 15/03/2023 with Katrin Dunker, Dr. Babett Gläser, Prof. Dr. Martina Zimmermann, Maria Piechnick and Yvonne Keil

Foto: Career Dinner Talk Frauenkarrieren ©Copyright: HZDR/FSTT

Five impressive women who have climbed the career ladder will be our guests and will give an insight into their professional paths. The Career Talk, which takes place on the occasion of International Women's Day, will be moderated by Katrin Dunker. Katrin was Manager of Organisational Development and Transformation at Globalfoundries for over 12 years before setting up her own business as a change management coach. She discusses with Dr Babett Gläser, Head of the Research Department at the Saxon State Ministry of Science, Tourism and Culture; Prof. Dr Martina Zimmermann, Professor of Materials Mechanics at TU Dresden and Head of Department at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology; Maria Piechnick, Co-Founder of the Dresden-based company wandelbots; and Yvonne Keil, Director and Site Manager Procurement at Globalfoundries.

Career Dinner Talk on 13/10/2022 mit Jan Fiedler, Nathalie Kupka and Muhammad Nabil Satria Faradis

Foto: Career Dinner Talk ©Copyright: HZDR/FSTT

At the first Career Dinner Talk, which we held onsite instead of online in the HZDR library, we spoke with three alumni about entrepreneurship and international careers in business in October 2022 as part of International Alumni Week. Our guests were Jan Fiedler, COO of i3 Membrane GmbH in Radeberg, Nathalie Kupka, senior metallurgist in technical sales support at Metso Outotec in Finland, and Muhammad Nabil Satria Faradis, expert on the Indonesian Secretary of State's expert staff.

Career Lunch Talk #7 on 22/09/2022 // 12:00 - 12.45 Uhr with Dr. Lisa Suntrup from the Helmholtz-Office

Our guest is Dr. Lisa Suntrup. She studied chemistry in Oldenburg and Berlin and investigated (sun)light as a sustainable energy resource at the FU Berlin and the University of British Columbia as part of her doctoral research. She passed her postdoc phase at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. As a specialist in renewable energies she is now Chief Research Manager for Energy at the headquarters of the Helmholtz Association in Berlin.

Career Lunch Talk #6 on 30/06/2022 with Dr. Isabell Hilger from qualitype GmbH, Dresden

Foto: Career Lunch Talk #6 ©Copyright: HZDR/ FSTT

Our guest was Dr Isabell Hilger. She is an alumna of the Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research. As a materials scientist, she did her doctorate on the powder-metallurgical production and irradiation resistance of particle-reinforced FeCr alloys. After further education in quality management, she has been working in this versatile position at qualitype GmbH since 2018.

The topic of the Career Lunch Talk #6 was "No fear of lateral entry - a dance on the academic edge". Isabell spoke very openly and sympathetically about how she grew into her job and what new perspectives Quality Management opened up for her.

Career Lunch Talk #5 with Archa Jain from Infineon on 19/05/2022

Our guest was Archa Jain. Archa is Alumna of the Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research. She wrote her Master's thesis at the Department of Nanoelectronics of the HZDR and at TU Chemnitz on the topic of fabrication and characterisation of DNA-molded nanowires. In November 2021, she joined Infineon Technologies, a creator of semiconductor solutions that enable smart mobility, efficient energy management, and the secure capture and transfer of data. As a scientific researcher (PhD student) she works in the department of reliability and quality management. The topic of the Career Lunch Talk #5 was "Onboarding process at a big company".

Career Lunch Talk #4 on 31 March 2022 with Christian Wilde from Heliatek

Our guest was Christian Wilde. Christian is Alumnus of the Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research. He did his diploma in ion beam analytics at the HZDR Ion Beam Center. Afterwards, he worked on Transparent Conductive Oxides in the same institute. In 2014 he joined Heliatek, a company developing and producing flexible, light-weight photovoltaic modules. Since then, Christian served different technical and operational roles, while the company designed and build its first commercial production line and scaled by a factor of 5. Today he is Program Manager Product Reliability. The topic of the Career Lunch Talk #4 was "Working in a renewables scale-up".

Career Lunch Talk #3 with Michael Anders on June 24, 2021

Foto: Career Lunch Talk #3 ©Copyright: HZDR/sahneweiss

Our third guest was Michael Anders. He is Alumnus of the Institute of Radiation Physics and studied physics at the TU Dresden. He conducted research at the HZDR and the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy as part of his doctorate. After a period as an officer in an environmental authority in the state of Brandenburg, he has been working for six years in the Saxon State Ministry, still professionally active in the field of nuclear and radiation physics. The topic of the Career Lunch Talk #3 was "Working between science and politics".

Career Lunch Talk #2 with Boyana Deneva on May 27, 2021

Our guest was Boyana Deneva. She is Alumna of the Institute of Radiation Physics. As a specialist for waste disposal at BKW AG in Bern, she is currently working on the dismantling of the Mühleberg nuclear power plant in Switzerland. She studied technical physics with a specialisation in "radiation physics" at the TU Vienna, did her doctorate at the HZDR and worked in the development department of the proton therapy manufacturer Schaer Proton AG.

Boyana, who comes from Bulgaria, presented her exciting professional career to around 25 participants.

Career Lunch Talk #1 with Dipjyoti Deb on April 29, 2021

Our guest was Dipjyoti Deb, Venture Partner at BSH Startup Kitchen, a Bosch Group company. More than 30 interested participants listened to the interesting talk of the alumnus of the Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research on the topic of career planning, start-ups and networking with companies.

5th Alumni Talk with around 30 participants and livestream

Poster Alumni Talk 5 ©Copyright: HZDR

The 5th Alumni Talk on Friday, 16 October 2020 at the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology (HIF) met with great interest. More than 30 participants listened with interest to the two speakers Dr Andreas Klossek (EIT Raw Materials) and Dr Dirk Sandmann (Erzlabor Advanced Solution GmbH). All those who could not come to Freiberg - also because of the measures to contain the Corona pandemic - had the opportunity to follow the alumni event via livestream from the HIF lecture hall.

The two former doctoral students from TU Bergakademie Freiberg and the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology reported on their career paths and presented their companies. Afterwards, many questions were asked and the opportunity to network was taken advantage of.

Alumni Talk 4 on June 9, 2020 as an online event for the first time

Alumni Talk online 9. Juni 2020 ©Copyright: Sahneweiss

The 4th Alumni Talk was held as an online event for the first time on June 9, 2020. Over 30 participants dialed in using the meeting tool "big blue button" to hear the presentations by the two alumni. Pavel Apanasevich and Martin Arlit, two former doctoral students and recent alumni of the Institute for Fluid Dynamics, reported on their professional path after completing their doctorate.

Spin-off alumni meeting at ROTECH

Spin-off Alumni-Talk on 22nd Jan at Rotech. ©Copyright: HZDR/ M.Giebel

The third spin-off alumni meeting took us on January 22nd, 2020, to the Rossendorfer Technology Center (ROTECH) on January 22nd, 2020, at GeSIM - Gesellschaft für Silicon-Mikrosysteme mbH. Managing Director Steffen Howitz spoke very openly about the ups and downs in over 25 years of business. GeSIM was founded in 1995 and is one of the first spin-offs of the Rossendorf Research Center.

3rd Alumni Meeting "Business & Beer"

Business & Beer in Werkstätten Hellerau ©Copyright: HZDR

December 10, 2019

On December 10, former and current HZDR employees met in a relaxed atmosphere for the third-ever Business & Beer. In a presentation prepared exclusively for the HZDR alumni, Mr. Straub, Managing Director of Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau, shed light on the history and the present day of the company. Mr. Kandt from the Department for Research and Development presented exciting examples from his everyday work: for instance, how new materials for luxury yachts are developed in cooperation with scientists. After this, the Czech food and beer in the nearby restaurant Prag tasted very good.

Transfer Breakfast: Does open science block the way to exploitation?

Transfer Breakfast ©Copyright: HZDR

November 18, 2019

Are open science and the commercial exploitation of research results mutually exclusive? Members of the HZDR staff gathered to discuss these question at the Transfer Breakfast on November 18, 2019.

Tobias Huste, who works in the field of computational science at the HZDR, was able to draw an important conclusion from the event: "The exchange with colleagues showed that it is worthwhile to at least keep an eye on the exploitation possibilities in the early stages of a project. As we discussed this topic on the example of scientific software development, it became clear that a sustainable software development process can significantly support the later exploitation process. Commercial exploitation does not rule out performing open science and vice versa".

The event was organized by the HZDR Alumni Network. The Transfer Breakfast serves to sensitize the participants to transfer topics, to generate new commercialisation ideas and to bind the HZDR employees to the alumni network at an early stage.

Alumni-Talk III

Alumni Talk III Poster - Picture ©Copyright: HZDR

September 24, 2019

Speakers:

1. Dr. Torsten Müller, Infineon Technologies
Alumnus des Instituts für Ionenstrahlphysik und Materialforschung

2. Dr. Jacob König-Otto, DREEBIT GmbH
Alumnus des Instituts für Ionenstrahlphysik und Materialforschung

Transfer After-Work: Relaxed exchange of thoughts on transfer ideas

August 27, 2019

In a relaxed atmosphere with music and snacks, HZDR employees and scientists met for the first "Transfer After-Work". Away from the desk and the laboratory, about 20 interested people exchanged thoughts on transfer topics. How can the transfer culture be promoted at the HZDR? Do people have new transfer ideas? What kind of further education on transfer would be interesting for PhD students? These questions were discussed by the participants with the innovation managers of the department of Technology Transfer and Innovation. The next event is planned for autumn as a transfer breakfast.

Transfer After Work ©Copyright: M.Giebel
Transfer After-Work2 ©Copyright: M.Giebel

2nd Alumni Meeting "Business & Beer"

Business & Beer 2

July 10, 2019

Guided tour in the brewery "Brauhaus am Waldschlößchen"

followed by dinner in the restaurant Waldschlößchen

Alumni Talk II

Alumni-Talk 2 Poster

January 10, 2019

Speakers:

1. Dr. Tobias Heinrich, Bayer AG
Alumnus of the Institute of Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research

2. Prof. Dr. Thoralf Gebel, Mittweida University of Applied Scinces, Faculty of Industrial Engineering
Alumnus of the Institute of Ion Beam Physics and Materials Research

3. Tobias Seidel, Sunfire GmbH
Alumnus of the Insititute of Fluid Dynamics

1st Alumni Meeting "Business & Beer"

Business & Beer

November 8, 2018

Guided tour in the Gläserne Manufaktur followed by dinner

in the restaurant Torwirtschaft at the Großer Garten

Alumni Talk

Alumni-Talk Poster

June 7, 2018

Speakers:

1. Hans-Ulrich Härting, BASF Schwarzheide GmbH
Alumnus of the Institute of Fluid Dynamics

2. Constanze Richter, Sächsiches Landesamt für Umwelt, Wirtschaft und Geologie
Alumna of the Institute of Resource Ecology

3. Eik Schiller, ROTOP Pharmaka GmbH
Alumnus of the Insititute of Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research