Melanie Vukas - Bachelor's program in Industrial Automation

Why did you choose Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences for your studies?

To be honest, I already lived in the area before and wanted to stay here. Also, when I researched universities I found HKA to have a very good reputation.

What do you like about studying at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, and about Electrical Engineering in general?

I especially like the good contact with the professors. They are seriously interested in teaching the students and making sure that we can study in the best possible way. Meetings are organized together with the students in order to identify difficulties in teaching and learning, to stop them and to develop solutions that on the one hand make studying more pleasant, but on the other hand maintain the quality.

I have always found technology in general very interesting. I previously completed training as an industrial mechanic (specializing in the electrical industry) and realized that electrical engineering was more to my liking.

In addition, I am a person of a rather logical nature who always enjoyed maths at school. What I like about electrical engineering is that everything in it can be described and proven logically and mathematically.

What was surprising for you in the first semesters of your studies? What was different from what you'd expected?

I was surprised that I actually had no idea what mathematics really meant. As the professor said so aptly for the first lecture: "What you've done at school up to now is actually just calculating. From now on, you will learn mathematics.” And he was right.

The workload for the individual subjects is also not to be underestimated; it bears no comparison to school.

Also surprising: Realizing that professors are only human, too. From the very beginning, one perceives teachers as "different". No matter if they are educators in kindergarten, teachers in school, professors.... The student council of our faculty organized a table soccer tournament. And quite naturally, quite a few professors also signed up for it. Some also came just to watch. We spent a great afternoon, with tournament and pizza and got to know the professors from a completely different side. After that, tournaments were held regularly. This also contributed to my feeling so comfortable at this university.

What tip do you have for future students?

The most important tip I can give you is to take advantage of what is offered:  If you have questions, ask the professors, seek personal contact. Email them, they don't bite. On the contrary, I have made the experience that they are pleased about it. Take advantage of their office hours to have some things explained to you again.
Go to the Lernzentrum (learning center), everyone explains a topic differently and the understanding increases through different explanations . Go to the tutorials. Exercises are the be-all and end-all in this course of study.

And another very important thing: If you don't get along in the lecture or don't understand something correctly, put up your hand, say so. I promise you, you are not the only ones who don't understand. You're just the only ones who admit it!