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Already during high school I decided to study naval architecture. I liked the idea of a multi-disciplined education and the diversity of job
descriptions. So I started my studies in 1996 at the Technical University of Hamburg and focused soon on the strength and construction of ships. Consequently my diploma thesis was a strength analysis of an unconventional containership
without a hatch coaming.
After graduation in 2001 I started my career as an engineer at the shipyard HowaldtswerkeDeutsche Werft (HDW) located in Kiel at the Baltic Sea. I was employed in the basic design department for commercial and navy surface vessels. The department was responsible for the steel design from the early design stage to the point of the class approval. Soon I specialized in dynamic investigations as vibration and shock analysis. I liked the mixture of theoretical and practical work at a shipyard as e.g. to conduct vibration analysis and to perform afterwards vibration measurements during sea trials as well as the possibility to see
the results of my engineering work in the workshops.
Nevertheless in 2004 I changed my position and started to work for the classification society Germanischer Lloyd (GL) at the head office in Hamburg. I began in one of the core businesses of a classification society, in the plan approval where I was responsible for the approval of the steel structures of seagoing ships. The experiences I gathered at the shipyard were very helpful for my everyday’s work. In this period I also completed my postgraduate studies as an industrial engineer, which I already started at the shipyard. My
diploma thesis was about the “Computer Aided Plan Approval”. What I liked most at the plan approval was the chance to learn a lot about different designs due to the great number of ships and ship types one has to handle with.
After joining GL for two years I got the opportunity to change the job within the company back to my roots of vibration and shock analysis. My new department belongs to the engineering consultancy services of GL. Today I am the head of the shock and vibration group. My work is much diversified. I have to deal with consultancy services and R&D projects, with internal and external customers as well as with organizational and technical problems.
Already during my studies e.g. at the international water bike regattas of shipbuilding students and nowadays at international conferences I have learned how pleasant and important networking in the rather small world of the maritime industry is. This was also one of the main reasons for me to join the German Society for Maritime Technology (STG).
Even my career as a naval architect lasts for less than ten years, I can already state by now, that it was the right choice for me and it gave me many opportunities to meet interesting people, see different countries and to develop my self. | 
