Congratulations to the many new engineers - check out the pictures from the graduation ceremonies
Several hundred engineers graduated last week. Aarhus University wishes all the newly graduated engineers the best of luck in the future.
"I hope you’ll challenge the industries. Look them in the eye and ask them what they think they’re doing. I think it’s so cool when that happens. Try out new things! And be careful not to become creatures of habit and get lulled into doing things the way it’s always been done. Keep challenging them.”
Those were the words of Kasper Lynge Jensen, head of digitalisation and healthy buildings at the engineering company Søren Jensen Rådgivende Ingeniører A/S, when he visited Navitas on Friday 28 June, setting for the graduation ceremonies for a large number of engineering students at Aarhus University.
A total of around 400 engineering students graduated on Thursday and Friday at four different ceremonies held at Navitas and Katrinebjerg. A big chapter in their lives has come to a close and a new one can now begin. Hundreds of relatives, teachers, researchers and friends gathered in the lecture theatres to celebrate the newly graduated engineers and to mark the beginning of a new phase of their lives.
"Looking back on my studies, I can see how I've learnt a lot about how we can use technology to solve future challenges. It's pretty crazy to think about how much of what we’ve learned can be directly applied at companies," said Mathias Birk Olsen, who graduated with a degree in software engineering and who needs "some fresh air and family time, and then I'll go out and land a job as a software developer at a company where I can contribute positively to the climate or to creating a more secure internet."
Impressive interdisciplinarity
Finn Borchsenius, vice-dean for education at the Faculty of Technical Sciences at Aarhus University, congratulates the new engineers and praises them for all their hard work - both during their studies and in the future, because the green transition is calling for engineers:
"I wish our graduates all the best in the future. All of them will now be entering a Danish and international labour market that is crying out for more engineers. Our students enjoy a great study environment in a fantastic university town and work together to solve real-life problems. Moreover, the programmes have a green purpose: The digital and green transition requires new and innovative technologies that our graduates will now help develop," he says.
The many researchers and teachers, both from Denmark and abroad, who attended the graduation ceremonies praised the graduates. Particularly because the solutions needed to solve the challenges the world is facing are more complex than ever before.
Senior Professor of Engineering Ole Balling from the Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering expressed enthusiasm for the gumption and commitment graduates have demonstrated towards subject matters that require more interdisciplinarity than ever before:
"The world these young people are stepping into requires technical solutions that are bigger and more complex than ever before. This means that today’s engineering students have to learn more in the same amount of time or less. The interdisciplinarity these young people display in their projects is nothing short of impressive,” he said.
The first jobs: Renewable energy and transport
Society needs engineers, and many new graduates can look forward to exciting job opportunities in a labour market with virtually no unemployment. And many of them have already signed a contract.
At the graduation ceremonies at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Katrinebjerg and the Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering at Navitas, we met some of the new engineers who are ready to embark on the next chapter.
For example, we met 25-year-old Anthony Trabichet from France, who completed his Bachelor's degree in the US before moving to Denmark with his girlfriend to take a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering.
"I worked on producing 3D-printed bio-compatible implants during my Master’s. I've now got a job at Siemens Gamesa, and I'm actually starting next week, so there won't be much of a summer holiday for me," he says.
Pernille Pallesen, who graduated with a Master’s degree in Computer Engineering also has a job lined up. She will join Uber's development department in Aarhus after the summer holidays:
"The most important things I’ll be bringing with me from the degree programme are my network and my ability to work in a team and to seek out knowledge myself. We’ve been challenged academically all the way through the programme, which is great when you work with new technologies because then you learn to find solutions yourself. I'm really looking forward to joining Uber after the summer," she says.
Simone Veis Marxen, who graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Energy Technology, really wants to work with energy planning. She is interested in how we can integrate different energy sources into one unified grid in the future because she does not think we can rely on just one technology. About her degree programme, she says:
"Learning to acquire new knowledge together is one of the strongest components of the programme. My interests range from wind turbines and solar cells to district heating and thermodynamics, and I look forward to working in that field. But before I do that, I’m going to travel to Central America and learn how to tango," she says.
Kasper Lynge Jensen from the engineering company Søren Jensen Rådgivende Ingeniører A/S is the drum beater for solving our shared challenges in new ways, developing new technologies and digitalising the biggest sectors of society.
He hopes that the graduates remain curious and actively seek to change things.
"The different industries are used to doing things a certain way, but we're facing some big challenges that we can only solve if we change the way we do things. Companies need to reflect on their methods, and this is where young people can really take the lead. There's a unique opportunity in the construction industry right now because the whole industry is looking for different ways of doing things, and I hope that young people will come and shake things up because there's a huge opportunity there. I hope the new graduates will dare to try new things, and even establish their own companies. I'm blown away by the drive of these young people," he says.
Working with your interests
We also met 24-year-old Malene Stenius Petersen, who had just completed her Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. She went straight from high school to university, which is why she has chosen to take a gap year before taking her Master's degree.
"I used to do elite sports and stopped just before I started university. So I wasn't ready for a gap year then, but I am now," she says.
When asked why she chose the mechanical engineering programme, she answers:
"I like sailing, and there's a lot of aerodynamics and material technology involved in the sport, and those elements are also part of the degree programme in mechanical engineering. And I've just had an elective called Introduction to Ship Technology, and I might like to work with something like that in the future. We’ll see. First, I have to do my Master's degree, and that’s when I’ll be able to choose between a lot of electives and see what interests me the most," she says.
Mette Simonsen, who graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering, is also interested in the maritime industry. She is 34 years old and is currently looking for a job.
"I did an internship at OSK Design, which is a maritime consultancy firm. I though it was very interesting, but only time will tell if that’s the area I’ll be working in," she says.
Christian Rud Hansen graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronic Engineering, and the practical aspects of teaching and learning made a huge difference to him.
"The best solutions are discovered and developed through testing and endless trial and error. I did an internship and studied for a semester in Germany, and I'm glad that Aarhus University has a very hands-on approach to learning," he says.
He has landed a job at DIS, where he will be working with sustainability in electronics after the summer holidays.
Congratulations to all the graduates.
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