Career Fireside Chat
Quelle: BAM
"Build your network: Attend conferences, workshops, and project meetings — most opportunities arise through professional connections."
Do you already know which career path is right for you? Do you know how to get there and which steps are up next? The BAM career fireside chats series invite alumni and other partners of BAM to an informal chat focusing on their career paths. Developed for BAM’s early career scientists, this series aims to help PhD students and postdocs figure out which career path would be best suited for them. We invite a wide range of professionals from different sectors, including science, industry and the public sector. Additionally, we aim to include different professional backgrounds. We ask our guests about their experiences and invite the audience to ask questions.
What was your doctoral project at BAM about? Which memorable experience from your time as a doctoral candidate has stayed with you?
My doctoral research was part of the EU-funded PileInspect project, which aimed to improve the assessment of concrete foundation piles — in particular, determining pile length and defect location. The originally proposed method within this project (University of Cranfield) could detect irregularities but not their precise depth or the total pile length.
My work investigated whether the same equipment developed within the project could be used to extract this missing information through signal deconvolution and impulse-response analysis. This involved a combination of numerical simulations, laboratory studies, and field experiments at BAM’s testing sites and partner locations.
A memorable moment was realizing, after many attempts and data analyses, that the approach did not yield the desired experimental results. The length could be determined quite accurately; however, it was not possible to extract the depth information of the defect locations.
Accepting this outcome — that sometimes a method simply does not work as intended — was a defining experience. It taught me that in research, a negative result can still be a valuable and honest scientific contribution, as it helps others understand the limitations of an approach and prevents redundant effort in the future.
Which experiences from your time at BAM have proven most valuable in your current position?
Several experiences from my time at BAM have been particularly valuable in my current role:
Interdisciplinary collaboration within an international EU consortium, learning to coordinate with researchers and engineers across different backgrounds.
- Bridging theory and practice through the combination of simulation work and large-scale experimental validation.
- Analytical and problem-solving skills developed through extensive signal processing, numerical modeling, and critical evaluation of real-world data.
- Resilience and scientific integrity, especially when dealing with inconclusive or unexpected results.
- Excellent working conditions at BAM and in department 8.2, with plenty of discussions, support, and a very friendly and collaborative atmosphere.
What three pieces of advicewould you give to early career researchers for their career planning?
- Build your network: Attend conferences, workshops, and project meetings — most opportunities arise through professional connections.
- Invest in transferable skills: Strengthen your abilities in programming, data analysis, and communication — they open doors in both academia and industry.
- Be open to different paths: Research experience can lead to many rewarding careers; stay flexible and curious.
Are you a former BAM researcher? Did you work at BAM while pursuing your Ph.D.? Did you partner with BAM on a research project?
Stay in touch with BAM by joining the Alumni@BAM network! Simply register online here.