After studying computer science, Emma wanted one thing above all: to travel. To see the world. "This was the reason I joined EDAG", she says. After all, who could offer better opportunities to get to know other countries and cultures than an international company with many branches worldwide?
In 2006 she started on her thesis at the EDAG Group in Fulda. It certainly never got boring. Be it China, England, the USA, Portugal or Sweden - she experienced a wide variety of tasks and positions in many different countries. From software development to project and team management, to sales and business development. Currently, her work is divided, half of which deals with the topic of production-related IT, i.e. helping customers to make their factories smart.
For the other half, she is involved in the research project "Campus Free City", in which autonomous fleet vehicles are to be tested on the grounds of the Frankfurt stadium. A cooperation with universities and other companies committed to the mobility of the future. From 2023, the "CityBots" will transport guests, water trees and collect rubbish. However, before they can be tested, the IT infrastructure has to be created, the buildings equipped and a maintenance centre installed. And Emma is the one who makes sure it all runs.
"Ultimately, there has to be some kind of brain that synchronizes the bots with each other," Emma explains. Users then have an app at their disposal with which they can order the vehicles for their purposes and give them driving orders. "I've been involved with these kinds of solutions in manufacturing for years. Now I have the opportunity to transfer this experience to the field of smart cities. It is something I find so exciting."
For Emma, however, the smart city of the future is not just about self-driving cars that are shared. It's also about the intelligent dustbin that tells you when it's full. Or intelligent traffic light control. To put it briefly: it's about networking everyday objects in the city in order to improve the quality of life.
Working on the research project "Campus Free City" is exciting for her - also because you have a lot of flexibility. You can be creative. It is different with the classic client projects. Although they also have their appeal. "You have to know what you're doing," says Emma, who is just the right person for difficult tasks.
She particularly remembers an assignment in Sweden. At the time, a customer was building a new, smart production facility for trucks. Emma and her team were tasked with setting up the entire IT infrastructure. Defining requirements, developing software, collecting and evaluating data. The whole programme. "In some projects, not everything runs smoothly, there's pressure. I always enjoy responding to the customer in complex situations and solving problems," says Emma.
She also benefited personally from such stays abroad, she says. Because you can reflect on yourself and your own approach. "In Sweden, there is a completely different culture of cooperation. Decisions are not made alone, but are discussed together until a result is reached," Emma says. This is a way of working together that German companies often find difficult.
"I have always been interested in the opportunity to travel. The variety, the different characters, the diverse tasks," says Emma. She was also able to take advantage of numerous training courses - from classic database courses and SCRUM to sales and marketing and soft skills such as personnel management or conflict management. " At the EDAG Group, everyone can develop well and quickly. That is not a matter of fact in many companies."
Emma used to travel a lot. Today she only travels with her family, preferably to the seaside. She is now married and has two children. The job is compatible with family life. "We have the opportunity to work from home and are flexible. I can manage my time well and take the children to kindergarten and school." The job just has to fit life. And for Emma, that is the case.
