Source: Fatma Akyel
Hello, my name is Fatma Akyel. I am a mechanical engineer from Aachen and have a passion for welding. Since last year, I have been working with colleagues at BAM to set up my own company. I come from a non-academic family but have always had the full support of my loved ones. During my studies, I discovered my passion for mechanical engineering and later worked on my doctoral thesis at a welding institute.
My current task is to design a magnet system for use in new fields of application. That means I get to decide for myself which tests should be carried out, what the next project steps are and what the product should look like afterwards. It's exciting to make your own decisions and develop something from scratch.
I discovered my love for mechanical engineering after I did an internship at a large car manufacturer at school. I had actually wanted to study medicine until then, but after the internship I was really enthusiastic about mechanical engineering and positively surprised. Until then, I didn't even know what an engineer did. So my tip is to try out new things. It's perfectly okay not to know what you want to do at first. Sometimes you might have the wrong idea about something until you are actually confronted with it. Let yourself be surprised and be open to new things! You have so many possibilities and paths you can take, take your chances. And if you don't like it, that's not a bad thing. Just have fun trying out new things!
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