Newsletter KontakTUM International - 02/2009

2 / 09

Alumni News

Photo: facesbyfrank

Technische Universit채t M체nchen

The team of Alumni & Career wishes you a happy holiday and all the best for the festive season and the New Year!

Photo: Kzenon / Fotolia.com

Prof. Dr. Peter Gritzmann, Vice President of TUM.

Dear international students, join us today, be part of the network KontakTUM and benefi t from our services. www.tum.de/alumni/database

This semester, 4.239 international students are studying at TUM. Welcome!

Internationalization at TUM

By Annette Marquard

Burak Karacik (29) studied at TUM for the first time in the summer term of 2007. He actually works as a research assistant at Istanbul Technical University (ITU) in the Oceanography Department at the Faculty of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering while simultaneously continuing his PhD in an ongoing research project between Technische Universität München (TUM), Helmholtz-Gesellschaft and Istanbul Technical University on ecotoxicology in the marine environment, specifically on priority pollutants and their effects on Istanbul Strait’s (= Bosphorus) ecosystem.

Prof. Dr. Oya Okay (ITU) and Prof. Dr. Dr. Karl-Werner Schramm (TUM and Helmholtz-Gesellschaft) are the project coordinators.

Burak working on laboratory anlaysis at TUM.

soon be written. One big goal is a data base including the necessary details and recommendations that should lead to a better management strategy and risk assessment studies in the Istanbul Strait concerning waste water discharges, ship traffic, city traffic etc.

Which tasks did you undertake?

I collected sediment and mussel samples throughout the Strait by scuba diving and free diving. In 2008 I wrote my master’s thesis by employing the first part of our project results.

Which part of your work did you attend at TUM? I analyzed my samples and wrote part of my master’s thesis in Munich in 2007. I have made several visits to Munich since then. My last stay was between July and October 2009. During this stay, I analysed the passive samplers.

What impressions did you get of TUM? TUM is very well-organized and a good university. You realize it instantly when

Collecting samples in the Strait.

Burak, what is the agenda of your research project?

We wanted to determine the effects of pollutants on the marine organisms by applying biomarker techniques to the organisms from the Bosphorus. To determine the effects of local pollution we used different passive samplers. The first step of the project was studying the literature and experimental design. Then we decided on the sampling stations and methods. The samples were analyzed in Germany. The results of these analyses have been evaluated and the final report will

Placing of passive sampling system in the Strait.

you see the campus. Students are very friendly and multicultural so you don’t feel alone.

What differences did you notice between TUM and ITU? Students are more flexible at TUM. They can choose and organize themselves and their interests much more easily. ITU is a more traditional university compared to TUM. Do you recall any “special” experiences at TUM? I had a very special experience with my friends. We went to the Maths Department to use the tubular slide.* We took the carpets for sliding and, when we went up in the elevator, a professor told us that we should soak the carpets if we want to go faster. I really liked it, because if you are tired of studying and need a break, it’s great fun.

* The slide in the shape of a parabola is a piece of art made by the German artists Brunner / Ritz as so-called “Kunst am Bau”.

Underwater view of the Strait with mussel bank.

Photos: Karacik

Scuba diving in the service of science

Chilean alumni with TUM Vice President Liquiu Meng (in the center).

Photo: Wachholtz

An email from Santiago de Chile “I am pleased to report that today’s meeting was very successful. We sat together in a very cosy atmosphere until 9:30 p.m. and discussed several initiatives to build up the KontakTUM network Chile with TUM Vice President Prof. Meng. Many thanks for your support.

With kind regards, Max Wachholtz“

Career Service

The right person in the right place

By Simone Stein

Mind you don’t drop a brick – what is expected in German job applications

Mrs Stein and Mrs Lemke of TUM Career Service give advice on a career forum.

Photo: TUM / Benz

• You will be more successful with your application if you stick to the way Germans write a CV or cover letter.

• You are currently studying at TUM and want to do an internship or start your career in Germany or abroad • You are TUM alumni and need further career service information In its role as a link between university and business and between students, alumni and potential employers, the TUM Career Service is pleased to advise you on matters connected with starting work and career planning.

Find extensive information on career topics on our homepage.

Look for jobs and internships in our TUM Job- and Internship Exchange or in our reference list with company profiles on our homepage. Read our publications on career topics. Apart from our student flyer and our flyer for international students and alumni you can also download the brochure “TUM services for your career”, in which we have bundled all TUM services. If you are still in Munich, please use our regular consulting times or visit our career events. Please note that we offer you helpful information, various services and organize events, but we don’t arrange job placements.

• CV and cover letter are not enough. A German application includes: cover letter, CV, references from former employers, copies of school and university diplomas, proof of training, etc. (every item on the CV should be backed up with a certificate or similar document!)

• Brevity is appreciated. Your cover letter should not exceed one page and your CV two pages, at the most.

• It is not compulsory to attach a photo to your application. Nevertheless, including a perfect photo is still common in Germany.

• The interview: If you are not sure what to wear – better to go for a formal, conservative outfit.

• For all interview dates with potential employers please bear in mind: Germans love punctuality!

We offer you as representative of your company the possibility to get in touch with qualified TUM students and graduates. Please turn to “Services for companies” or contact us directly. We will be happy to help you find the right person for your demand.

Do you know about our “Newsletter for companies” and our „Newsletter für Ihre Karriere“? Have a look on our homepage.

Contact: TUM Career Service +49.89.289.22138 career @ tum.de www.tum.de/career www.tum.de/jobboerse

• You are an employer, looking for the right person How about offering TUM students or graduates the opportunity to stay abroad for a while by advertising internships or job placements in your country on our TUM Job- and Internship Exchange?

The experience of a stay abroad is inestimable, as you know from your own time in Germany at TUM.

Staff of TUM Alumni & Career (5): Photo: facesbyfrank

Dipl.-Kffr. Simone Stein / Career Service Team Following her studies in Business Administration Simone Stein worked in the human resources marketing and personnel development department in several German companies.

Simone Stein has been part of the TUM Career Service Team, which advises students and alumni on matters connected with starting work and careers planning, since October 2008.

Ms Stein is the first point of contact for international students and alumni within the Career Service and will be happy to answer your questions on career topics.

“TUM students and alumni have so much potential and the best chances on the job market. Supporting these students and alumni in finding the right place in the working environment is a very interesting and fulfilling task.”

TUM Abroad

I can definitely say that I am spending the best time of my life

Helena Gartner (second from left) with fellow students in Mexico.

Photo: Gartner

Since August 2009 I have been studying at the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla in Mexico. Even after these first few weeks in Puebla I have been captured by the city’s and the country’s culture and it’s incredibly loveable people. As soon as they have identified you as foreigner, which is quite fast if you do not have black hair or dark eyes, they will do their best to show you everything you want to see and help you where they can. So it is more than easy to get in touch with these warm-hearted folk so that I settled in in Puebla within a short time.

The colonial city of Puebla with its wonderful city center is located about 2 hours to the east of Mexico City and is surrounded by the volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. I live here in a house with another German exchange student and a Mexican student as well as her Mum, which is very enlightening in terms of experiencing Mexican tradition and family life. Furthermore, Puebla has a very well developed bus system with which one it is easy to get around, a good reason for me to go to university by bus every day.

My university, the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, is the biggest university in Puebla and a public one, where you can hardly find international students, the vast majority is Mexican.

Numerous sports teams and activities offer you the opportunity to get in touch with other students. I’ve joined the volleyball team.

I can definitely say that I am spending the best time of my life and that I have discovered Mexico as a second home country!

TUM student Helena Gartner studies Business Administration in Mexico for 6 months supported by an EM ECW scholarship.

Photo: Gartner

By Helena Gartner

With EU funded scholarships to Brasilia, China, India, Mexico or to TUM The International Office of TUM participates in the socalled Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Windows (EM ECW) for Brasil, China, India and Mexico. The Window for Mexico includes also Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua. TUM coordinates the scientific network with Brasil and finances the program this year from its own budget. In the other networks TUM is a partner university.

Students and researchers, studying and researching at TUM, can apply for an exchange from 1 to 6 months to the above-named countries. Members of EM ECW partner universities in the countries can apply for a stay at TUM for 10 – 20 months as students, up to 34 months as PhD students.

For more information, please ask the TUM-coordinators of the networks.

Brasil (EUBRANEX), Coordination: TUM www.eubranex.de Dr. Stephan Hollensteiner, hollensteiner @ zv.tum.de China (TANDEM Allianz) http://www.ecp.fr/emecw_tandem Juan Guo-Prasch, guo-prasch @ zv.tum.de

Brasilian exchange students at TUM.

Photo: TUM/ Benz

India (WILLPower) www.willpower.fr Larissa Danschina, danschina @ zv.tum.de El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua www.ecwmexiko.eu Maria Prahl, Prahl @ zv.tum.de

“This seminar was so interesting not only with regard to the wide range of environmental engineering topics covered by the TUM alumni participants from different countries but also for the intercultural communication, nice memories about our education at TUM

and in Germany and for the new friendships. The message from this seminar: TUM alumni reached out for better climate and for a better environment!”

Diyana Kostovska TUM Alumna Sustainable Resource Management

Photo: Jadhav

Alumni Expert Seminar in Singapore in September 2009

Diyana in front of the Singapore skyline.

Juniors meet Seniors – A KontakTUM model for the future

Photo: A & C

International Networking

By Joerg Roessler Hello dear Alumni, As Mrs. Sporrer’s successor, I have been entrusted with looking after the regional KontakTUM networks and it is a job I love.

I am particularly taken by the photos of your meetings. I always wish I could take part myself, because the atmosphere looks so friendly.

The positive feedback we have received from our mentoring program TUM² has given us the idea of engaging alumni as the fi rst port of call for exchange students from TUM doing a term abroad. Everyone is familiar with the situation: you are new in a strange country, will be spending a certain period of time there and need to fi nd your way around to begin with. What a relief it is when someone local is there to help you to settle into his/her country or his/her home town or city. Visiting students and local alumni have a common

subject of conversation, thanks to their alma mater. With their knowledge of local geography, professional and personal experience, the alumni are very much in demand and the students can tell them about what has been happening recently at the TUM. The fi rst enquiries we sent to you alumni were received favourably; you are ready and willing! We have been able to put mechanical engineering students on exchange visits to Spain and Sweden in touch with suitable alumni. We are now looking for contact persons in Valencia (Spain) and Copenhagen (Denmark) for January.

The fi rst meetings between alumni and undergraduates have already taken place in Chile, Tunisia, Russia, Japan and New Zealand. Apart from excursions to tourist

highlights, like the viewing platforms on Tokyo’s Town Hall, careers topics – such as business start-ups in Tunisia – were also on the agenda. The newly-founded KontakTUM women’s network also wishes to support connections between alumni and students.

There’s a lot going on in the network and I am looking forward to lending a helping hand to back up your efforts!

KontakTUM Tunisia met up for the fi rst time at the beginning of September.

Alumni and students were guests of the German-Tunisian Chamber of Industry and Commerce.

3. What was the motto of the meeting?

A: Juniors meet seniors B: Alumni & Students C: Generation TUM

5. Which KontakTUM event takes place every 2 years, the next one scheduled for 2010?

A: Alumni Seminar of Experts B: Alumni Golf Tournament C: Alumni Forum

Looking forward with anticipation and kind regards from Munich,

Contact: Joerg Roessler Tel +49.89.289.22692 roessler @ tum.de www.tum.de/alumni/international

KontakTUM quiz In September 2009 a KontakTUM Seminar of Experts was held in Singapore. One of the striking characteristics of this seminar was the wealth of intercultural experience.

1. What are the numerous mobile, open-air kitchens that are to be found in Singapore’s Chinatown called?

A: Hacker stalls B: Hawker stalls C: Banker stalls 2

Competition rules All alumni who are registered with KontakTUM can submit one entry. Members of staff and associates of A&C are not eligible to take part. The judges’ decision is fi nal. The names of the prize-winners will be announced on our homepage one week after the prize draw, at the latest, and the prize will be sent by post to the address recorded on our database.

An email from Tokyo Photo: Kajiware

2. What does the abbreviation TUM stand for?

A: Faculty for Mathematics B: TUM mentoring program C: TUM’s neutron source

In November there will be another autumn meeting of KontakTUM USA in San Francisco.

4. What is the name of the pub where the group meets up for a taste of Bavarian cuisine?

A: „Hofbräuhaus“ B: „Wiesnwirt“ C: „Suppenküche“

Five winners of a TUM-T-Shirt will be drawn. Please quote your size when submitting your answers.

Deadline for entries is 29.01.2010. Please send your solutions to roessler @ tum.de What if you don’t know the answers? Then take a look at the TUM website, at our homepage, and read the KontakTUM Magazine...

“After a wet day, the evening of 21 November, which was set for our meeting in Sinjuku Tokyo, stayed dry and we Japanese TUM alumni welcomed the German students to Japan.

Using a map to get our bearings, we looked out over Tokyo from the 45th floor before paying a visit to a Shinto shrine, and we spent an enjoyable evening talking about Japan until the last-but-one train left.

With kind regards from Tokyo, Masaichi Kajiwara”

Events

Alumni Seminar in Medellin / Colombia in March 2010 A KontakTUM Expert Seminar entitled “Improving life quality – Sustainable Building and Holistic Planning in an international context” is scheduled to take place in Medellin / Coloumbia from 9 to 12 March 2010.

The main target group comprises architects, construction engineers and environmental engineers.

This seminar will also serve to expand the Panamerican alumni network. The alumni want to play a multiplier role for a resolute environment policy as well as contributing towards reducing energy consumption and developing alternative sources of energy in their respective countries.

The seminar is to be organized and staged

by Alumni & Career together with the Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Medellin. The Seminar is being sponsored predominantly by the DAAD. Contact: Joerg Roessler +49.89.289.22692 roessler @ tum.de

KontakTUM Workshop for multiplicators from 19 to 21 February 2010 in Munich You want to pass on your experience to future students, doctoral candidates or visiting researchers? You want to be able to answer questions like: “Where can I find information on the study courses?“, “Whom do I turn to for advice on grants?”, “What is meant by the Excellence Initiative?“ Then come along to our workshop! Representatives from Student Counselling, TUM Welcome Office, TUMinternational,

Alumni & Career will be pleased to give you up-to-date information. Together with other alumni, guest scientists and international students you will develop an individual agenda for your work as network multiplikator.

Contact: Dr. Julia Meyer +49.89.289.22139 · julia.meyer@tum.de www.tum.de/alumni/seminare/multiplikatoren

TUM 2 mentoring integrates international students and PhD students 2

Offered by Alumni & Career, TUM is an excellent programme to become prepared for your next steps after the time at TUM. Matched into a tandem with a TUM alumnus or alumna, mentees can plan and define their individual strategy for career and live.

of the mentoring program make it possible to get in touch with the business world regarding your interests, but also help to improve language skills and mutual intercultural understanding – for mentees and mentors.

German mentor Hans Martin with Iranian mentee Leily Zafari.

Now, in the second cycle, started started in November 2009, twenty one mentees

of 105 are international students or PhD students. They are from Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, United States, India, Iran, China, Taiwan, New Zealand, Israel, Tunisia, Mozambique, France, Italy, Greece, Poland, Czech Republic, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania, Hungary.

For our international students and re2 searchers, TUM represents a bridge into the cultural life of Germany and Bavaria.

Individual meetings, focussed on the goal

Contact: Peter Finger +49.89.289.22589 finger @ tum.de www.tum.de/mentoring/tum2

Big jumble previous to the official photo at 2 the TUM kick-off event in November.

Published by The President of Technische Universität München,

Photos unless stated otherwise: TUM Alumni & Career

Layout ediundsepp Gestaltungsgesellschaft München

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Wolfgang A. Herrmann

Edited by Annette Marquard M.A. (person in charge)

Printed by Druckerei Joh.Walch GmbH & Co Augsburg

Print run 9.000

+49.89.289.25013, marquard@alumni.tum.de

Technische Universität München · Alumni & Career / KontakTUM 80290 München / Germany www.tum.de/alumni

Copyright by Technische Universität München. All rights reserved.

Thanks to for supporting our work!

Photos: TUM / Eckert, Heddergott

German mentor Hans-Dieter Blaser with Indian mentee Arun Ashok.