Interview with Dr Tilman Traub, Professor of Automation Technology at Aalen University. Tilman completed his doctorate at PtU between 2014 and 2019 and was a chief engineer at the institute from 2015.

Hello Tilman, great that you are available for this interview.

Why did you decide to do a PhD back in 2014?

The main driving factor for me was to continue working on exciting topics that I had already learnt about as a student assistant. But the truth is that I already had a lot of contact with the PtU and I also wanted to keep the option of a professorship at a later stage.

What are the key aspects of the work as a researcher for you?

It is a combination of flexibility and creative freedom with a high degree of personal responsibility, which you rarely find in industry after starting your career. You are given the opportunity to freely shape your own research focus. You can focus on fundamental research topics or work on projects as a kind of industry-oriented research manager.

How is TU Darmstadt and PtU in particular perceived in industry? How did this affect your job search?

The PtU is “THE” institute in Germany (and beyond) when it comes to the research field of roll forming. As I was working in this field and wanted to stay for the time being, I spoke to various companies in the industry. It would have been possible to join almost all of them. If no suitable position was advertised, some companies would have created a suitable position for me with the PtU label. The PtU can definitely be described as a “stepping stone” in this field.

However, a PhD is not an automatic ticket to a successful career in industry across all sectors, but of course it doesn't prevent it either.

After completing your PhD, you decided to stay loyal to roll forming by working in industry at Dreistern and have now found your way back into the academic world.

What topics are you currently working on as a professor of automation technology at Aalen University of Applied Sciences and what does your day-to-day work look like?

As I am new to the university, my current focus is very much on structuring my courses to ensure that everything runs smoothly and that students achieve their learning goals. At the same time, I am trying to submit my first research proposals and hope to be able to set up my own research group. I will be focussing on the topic of “intelligent automation”. I want to explore solutions for how knowledge-based decision-making processes relating to manufacturing can be supported by automation systems (classic automation, knowledge-based systems, AI-supported decision-making) or even designed autonomously. In principle, this approach is no longer limited to individual forming processes – at the same time, however, research in the field of forming technology with associated issues such as lightweight construction will certainly remain an additional focus for my research.

And finally: What advice would you give to students who are considering doing a PhD or have just started one?

Use the time to try out new things: Do I enjoy teaching? Am I the right person for university research or am I more of an application-oriented developer? Am I more of an organiser or a detail-oriented person? You will usually never have this much freedom again.