Question: What motivated you to apply for a professorship at THU?
Annika Götz: I’d already been teaching at THU for many years, even during my time in industry. Once a week, after I finished work, I gave an evening lecture at THU. A lecture which I was already looking forward to at lunchtime. I noticed I had a lot of fun passing on knowledge and motivating people to learn.
Question: What gave you the idea to take on a teaching post?
Annika Götz: That was a complete coincidence. I knew someone at THU whom I’d met during my doctoral studies at Stuttgart University, and who gave me the idea. Opportunity knocked, and I just had to answer the door.
Question: When you applied, what aspects of working as a professor did you find most attractive?
Annika Götz: To start with, I was primarily motivated to pass on my knowledge. It was only when I became a professor at THU that I understood the degree of autonomy I could have with my work. At a university, it’s possible to tackle many subjects just because I’m motivated to do so, and to drive forward topics which I’m really passionate about. In comparison, in industry, much is defined by external factors: by supervisors, projects, time plans, orders, and customers. Of course, at a university I also have obligations, such as teaching or guaranteeing examinations take place. My subjects need to fit to THU and cover certain areas. But how I teach the content is mostly left up to me.
Question: Why did you want to be a professor at a University of Applied Sciences in particular?
Annika Götz: The big advantage of a University of Applied Sciences is that there are many contacts with industry. I experienced a lot during my time in industry. For example, what can go wrong and how to put things right again. Students love to listen when I reveal the inside story. Some nod along knowledgeably, because they’ve already come across similar situations during their practical semester at a company. We also have students doing the Ulm Model, which is a degree program with an integrated apprenticeship. I believe this is extremely enriching.
Question: How exactly do you stay up-to-date to prepare your students for their future careers?
Annika Götz: I visit the students at their companies during their practical semester. When I walk through the premises, I love to chat with the employees and learn where things are going well and not so well. Sometimes I use this as a basis for my lectures as well. In addition, each semester, my old company provides the subject for my Design Methods lecture. This is always one of the company’s current hot topics. The students’ suggestions for solutions don’t end up in a drawer – the company takes them away and continues working on them. I’m repeatedly surprised by just how creative students are and what ideas they come up with. The advantage of people at start of their careers is that they still have a broad perspective and don’t think, “I won’t bother with that, that never worked.”
Question: How do you approach teaching, what’s important to you?
Annika Götz: I certainly don’t want to just rattle off my subject matter in a front-of-class lecture format. I had enough of that during my time as a student. My personal attitude is important to me: if I have fun communicating my content because I’m enthusiastic about it, there’s a good chance I’ll be able to take the students along with me. I enjoy talking directly with students and I ask a lot of questions. The students should discover the topic for themselves using exercises, searching for the answers and drawing their knowledge from good sources. I want to enable them to help themselves. Of course, I do also sometimes give lectures in the lecture theater. But I’ve noticed it is the exercises that give the lightbulb moments. Those are the best moments, when I see things have “clicked” for most of the students.
Question: Do you have a favorite project which you’d like to pursue at THU?
Annika Götz: My pet project is product repairability, to improve sustainability and conserve resources. It’s still early days. I am supervising two Bachelor’s theses on this topic. Then I’ll see how it develops and whether I can build up something here.
Question: There are so many different opportunities to get involved in a university. Is there a certain area which you find particularly attractive?
Annika Götz: Currently, I’m finding it really exciting promoting careers in mechanical engineering. We go to schools and tell pupils about the excellent education available at THU. We want to communicate that it’s really a great job – diverse, interesting, well paid and in demand. I also enjoy being on our stand at careers fairs, informing people about our degree programs. Then there’s the “Girls Academy” – where girls from two high schools come to us. They use our CAD programs to develop keyrings. At the end of the day, they can hold their own 3-D printed keyrings in their hands.
Question: How are you finding the Department of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering?
Annika Götz: The colleagues are great. We can meet in the morning and after lunch in the meeting room, drink coffee and chat about our work or our personal lives and hobbies.
Question: You already knew the Ulm region well, because you worked here. How would you describe the region and its people to those who don’t know it?
Annika Götz: I really like Ulm and the surrounding region. They love a good party and enjoy being silly occasionally – the “Nabada” is just one example. If I need some peace, I like to sit by the River Danube. I watch the birds and the people walking, inline-skating, and cycling by.
Question: And your insiders’ tip?
Annika Götz: The astronomical clock on the Town Hall. When you think that it’s almost 500 years old and displays 15 pieces of information about the calendar, it’s an incredible achievement. Just imagine what the gearbox is like. A fantastic design!
About Annika Götz
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Annika Götz, born in 1977, studied Mechanical Engineering at The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Then, at Stuttgart University, she did her Ph.D. in Technical Design and was the first woman in the department to do a doctoral degree. In 2009, she received the Gustav Magenwirth Stiftung prize for outstanding performance, for her dissertation “Adaptive design process for design engineers”. After her Ph.D., until 2020, she worked at Diehl Aviation in Laupheim designing rest compartments. In 2020 she joined the Department of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering as a professor, teaching, for example, Design. The topic of her inaugural lecture: "So where are the ergonomics, then?“
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