Shaping the energy transition for local people

Andrea Jütten is keen to promote talent within the company at an early stage. The HR developer at Stadtwerke Düren GmbH and its subsidiary Leitungspartner GmbH believes that networking with students and graduates is key to promoting young talent. As the person responsible for recruiting, she became aware of the FH Aachen scholarship programme around ten years ago, which she sees as "an excellent regional platform for networking with talented young professionals". Stadtwerke Düren and Leitungspartner have therefore sponsored students from FH Aachen every year since 2013.

One of these students is Simon Pfeiffer. He comes from near Hellenthal in the Eifel region and studied electrical engineering at FH Aachen's Jülich campus after completing his Abitur (university entrance qualification). Last summer, he completed his Bachelor's degree and in the winter semester 2021/2022, he began his Master's degree in Energy Economics and Computer Science, also at the Jülich UAS campus. "This path was already apparent to me quite early on. When we dealt with the topics of climate change and energy generation at school, I realised that I wanted to work on solving these problems and contribute to the success of the energy transition," says Simon Pfeiffer. Among other things, he took part in the GoIng & GoJob school competition organised by the zdi centre ANTalive e.V.. In the process, he got to know Stadtwerke Düren, management partners and their work. "This contact had a major influence on my choice of subject," says Simon Pfeiffer.

Simon Pfeiffer received his first FH scholarship in the 2018/19 funding period. He successfully applied again the following year - this time the sponsoring company was Leitungspartner GmbH. Cord Meyer, Executive Director of Leitungspartner GmbH, is convinced of the value of the scholarship programme: "Our company mission is to shape the energy transition for local people. To achieve this, we also rely on committed and well-qualified students and graduates from FH Aachen who enjoy working with us on challenging and interesting tasks in the context of the energy transition." Simon Pfeiffer was delighted with his sponsor: "I was really happy when I found out who was sponsoring me. Now the company that encouraged me in my choice of degree programme would also support me during my studies."

Towards the end of his studies, Simon Pfeiffer contacted HR manager Andrea Jütten and asked about a position for a Bachelor's thesis. "We were very pleased to be able to offer our scholarship holder this position and get to know him even better in this way," says Andrea Jütten. "I was given a lot of practical knowledge of the energy industry, which is rarely covered in this depth during my studies," says Simon Pfeiffer. The joint work was rewarded with a Bachelor's degree and an overall grade of 1.0. "After this success, it was clear to me that this wasn't the end of the line and that I wanted to do a Master's degree. Here, too, I received support from Leitungspartner GmbH, where I was offered a job as a working student straight away," says Simon Pfeiffer. His dream for the future: "After my Master's degree, I would like to work as an engineer in the energy sector and make my small contribution to the success of the energy transition." And that, not least, thanks to the support of his sponsors.