Dirk Suchodoll, Dipl.-Ing., Mechanical Engineering

I made a conscious decision to go to a university of applied sciences after graduating from high school because I think the education there is more practice-oriented. Another argument I see is the small number of students - compared to RWTH, for example - and therefore the smaller groups in lectures and especially in the internships.

The mechanical engineering/construction technology course at FH Aachen prepared me very well for working in industry. In addition to the "Design" specialization, there were other mechanical engineering and commercial subjects to choose from, which are used in my current job. In hindsight, I should have paid a little more attention to some of these subjects.

After further training in the field of quality management, a management traineeship and a position as head of quality management at a medium-sized company, I started working at Rheinbraun AG (now RWE Power AG) in the field of steel construction. After several years of practical experience in construction and production, I completed further training as a welding engineer at SLV Duisburg. Today I am responsible for welding technology in the technology center of RWE Power AG in the opencast mining division. In addition to joint welding for structural steel components, overlay welding is also widely used. On the one hand to restore worn original geometries with materials of the same type and on the other hand to hardfacing with more wear-resistant materials.

After completing my studies, I kept in touch with many "alumni", which has resulted in a good network that I am happy to use. There is also close contact with Aachen University of Applied Sciences, in particular with the Welding Laboratory of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics, with whom I have already completed several diploma, bachelor's and master's theses. As part of this collaboration, I also regularly give lectures there on topics from my professional practice in the "Joining processes" course.