Question: What is your subject about?
Lisa Ollinger: Roughly, “breathing life” into machines. For production processes to run automatically, machines need to be able to configure themselves, and detect and solve errors automatically. Software-based automation. To be able to optimize production processes, to switch to new production programs, and to be capable of manufacturing many different variants, the software needs to be extremely agile and able to adjust rapidly and, as far as is possible, automatically. These are the topics we work on. If someone asks me what kind of research I do, I always say, “Keyword: Industry 4.0, that’s where you’ll find me!”
Question: What’s good about being a professor?
Lisa Ollinger: I love being a professor because the job is so varied! For me, the high level of autonomy involved in this job is something that really fits my personality and makes me happy. The great thing about a university is that you can learn a lot. That’s one of the main reasons why I find this job so fantastic. I’m someone who is interested in all kinds of things, and I think the opportunities for personal development are wonderful. I’d like to get more involved in research, because that’s something else I’m passionate about. As professors at a university of applied sciences, we have considerably more teaching hours than professors at universities. But we also have many other advantages.
Question: Which parts of your job as a professor wouldn’t you want to be without?
Lisa Ollinger: Before working in industry, I did my Ph.D. at a research institute. While I was there, I was already teaching and supervising many student theses. To start with, the switch to industry was pretty tough. At Proctor & Gamble, I supervised several student theses from the company side. I found my job in industry was lacking a few things I needed. In a company, you are assigned to a project and, although you have a certain degree of freedom within the project, it is completely different to academia – that’s a totally different way of working.
Question: What tips do you have for those – especially women – who are interested in such a job?
Lisa Ollinger: I think, as a woman, you tend to overthink things. That’s how it was for me 20 years ago, and I don’t think much has changed – unfortunately. I believe it’s more natural to say, “I’m a young man, I’ve finished school and now I’m going to study mechanical engineering.” He doesn’t get ten people asking him if he’s really sure that’s what he wants, or if he thinks he’s capable of managing it. I think these are social structures which are anchored very deeply. I thought the reputation of engineers was great: developing things, coming up with creative solutions and implementing them. That was a vision I wanted to pursue. In that sense, I didn’t have an example to follow; no one in my family had had a technical career. My physics teacher even advised me against studying engineering. But I was stubborn enough back then to do it anyway.
Question: How did you become a professor?
Lisa Ollinger: During my career in industry, I drifted further and further away from the technical side of things and took on an increasing role in project management. I noticed that I missed it – getting to grips with things, tinkering, learning about new technologies and so on. Back then, I spoke to a former colleague who had already become a professor. He was very encouraging. That was important for me – to get another nudge from outside to boost my self-confidence. At one point, my doctorate supervisor also told me that I’d enjoy contact with students. When I got the call from THU, he was also very happy and congratulated me. Back in my PhD days, becoming a professor wasn’t really something I was considering.
Question: You’ve been a member of the THU Board of Trustees since August 1, 2021. How did you land there?
Lisa Ollinger: They asked me. I’d been at the University of Applied Sciences for two years and hadn’t had much contact with the THU’s political structures. Two colleagues approached me and, I have to say, it was a big compliment that I was suggested for the role. I also saw it as a great opportunity to learn more and discover what happens behind the scenes in university politics. And to have a certain amount of influence myself, of course. I also believe it’s necessary to get involved in this university organization. I think it is important we contribute to making the University of Applied Sciences a truly lively place to be. So I thought, I’ll just give it a go, and accepted the position. I jumped in with both feet and have never regretted it. The Board of Trustees is made up of internal and external members. I find the perspectives of the corporate representatives particularly interesting and it’s great for networking. They contribute different and valuable points of view. I regard this as one way to further educate myself, and to be actively involved in the University of Applied Sciences community.
Question: How can other members of the University of Applied Sciences community be encouraged to get involved with the self-administration of THU?
Lisa Ollinger: You just need to openly take opportunities with both hands and stretch out your feelers a bit. Here at THU, we have the freedom to say where we’d like to get involved – whether it’s as the Head of an Institute, or as a Dean. Personally, I’ve always found it very positive when I’ve said proactively what I’d like to do – such as my position now as program adviser for the degree program Systems Engineering (Industrial Engineering). Generally, you never come up against rejection here, if you approach things proactively and talk to people. I find it a very positive environment to be in. To put it briefly: go for it! Just go and talk to people. I believe you’ll be welcomed everywhere with open arms. It doesn’t matter whether you want to get involved in the Senate, or the Board of Trustees or somewhere else; there are a wealth of opportunities on offer. Universities provide a wonderful environment in this respect – a cornucopia of options and so much access to knowledge! And there’s a lot you can do with it – whether in teaching, in research or as a start-up. The range of possibilities is gigantic: so, talk to people, ask questions and just get on with doing things!
Question: Have you ever come up against challenges or conflicts during your time in the university self-administration?
Lisa Ollinger: Of course there have been a few conflicts, but none where you’d “bury your head in the sand”. Like everywhere, communication and exchanging opinions is absolutely essential. I also find it important that we’re now working on the university strategy, to formulate matters – which have been agreed by consensus – in writing. Of course, not everyone can be one hundred per cent behind every issue, but I think that each person at the University of Applied Sciences can identify with particular points, so we can say, “That’s where we want to go” and then ask ourselves how we can get there by working together. I think it’s good how our President's Office drives the strategic process forward in this way.
Question: …And have there been any real lightbulb moments?
Lisa Ollinger: Definitely. You get your information direct from the source, along with all the different points of view. Thanks to the different perspectives in the Board of Trustees, sometimes problems are discussed which I often don’t even know about from my daily work. I believe it’s really important that we don’t stay in our own bubbles, but instead understand ourselves to be truly part of the community. In many ways, being a professor is a solitary job – but it doesn’t have to be! I’m not someone who sits in a quiet little room and then goes to the lecture theater to impart my knowledge. This is somewhere else where we have room for flexibility. You also need to work actively on exchanging information, because we’re not always bumping into each other.
Question: Last but not least: why should students study your subject?
Lisa Ollinger: There is almost no part of life which is not affected by it! It’s very diverse and there’s a lot of room to explore your creativity. There are so many interfaces between the various fields, whether medical engineering, robotics or environmental engineering. Also with my colleagues in the P Department, who are, for example, researching renewable energies – there are many different aspects where automation is required, such as distributing energy in our smart grids. It is a very important topic for shaping our future, too – to tackle our current problems – and, of course, to continue developing, both technically and technologically.
About Lisa Ollinger:
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Lisa Ollinger, born in 1983, studied Electrical Engineering at TU Kaiserslautern and also did her doctorate in Mechanical Engineering and Process Engineering there. During her doctoral studies she worked at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), researching innovative factory systems, and then in industry with Procter & Gamble. Lisa Ollinger became Professor for Production Automation at Ulm University of Applied Sciences in 2019. She teaches and researches on topics such as control engineering, robotics, Industry 4.0, agent systems and communications technologies. In addition to her teaching and research activities, she is also the program advisor for the Master’s degree program “Systems Engineering & Management – Industrial Engineering”. She has been a member of the THU Board of Trustees since 2021.
About the Board of Trustees:
The Board of Trustees plays a central role in defining the long-term goals and visions of a university. In accordance with the Baden-Württemberg State Higher Education Act (Landeshochschulgesetz - LHG), its most important tasks include supervising the President’s Office and, together with the Senate, electing the full-time members of the President’s Office. In addition, the Board of Trustees contributes to the shaping and development of the University of Applied Sciences, by taking decisions on structural and development plans, as well as planning construction development. It also gives its opinion upon the THU’s fundamental regulations and is involved in changing them. Furthermore, the Board of Trustees is authorized to approve the University of Applied Sciences budget, and define the annual financial statement. The THU’s Board of Trustees is elected for a period of three years.
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