Successful Alumni Day 2021

Successful graduates of the Master's programs in Food Technology & Nutrition and Biotechnology report on their path to professional life.

On Thursday, March 11, 2021, the event, which has been established for many years now, took place. This year, Prof. Katrin Bach and Prof. Christoph Griesbeck again welcomed successful alumni from the Master's programs Food Technology & Nutrition and Biotechnology. The online event was followed by more than 100 interested people. In addition to students, alumni from the two study programs also logged on to listen to the presentations of former fellow students.

Theresa Sandner and Alena Kaltenbach made the start. Both graduated from the MCI with a Master's degree in Food Technology & Nutrition. Theresa Sandner showed the wide range of professional experience she had gained during her studies in internships and then in permanent positions. She encouraged the students to also take a look at areas that one might not have imagined or that might not seem so attractive at first. Often, you get more insights when you get to know the company and the job yourself and try it out. Theresa Sandner gained experience at mymuesli and Spar, amongst others. A few months ago, she started at Red Bull in the Production & Technology department. Alena Kaltenbach showed in her presentation how a successful internship and writing the master thesis at a company can give you opportunities to start and advance in your career. Her current job is the head of quality assurance fruit preparation at Adolf Darbo AG.

Biotechnology graduate Nico Wahl reported on his career, which took him to New York to write his master's thesis at Rockefeller University. This was made possible at MCI with the help of the Marshall Plan scholarship. After this exciting and international experience, Nico Wahl is now pursuing an academic career. He went to the Medical University of Innsbruck for his PhD program in neuroscience. He reported on his current research focus and international collaborations, which brought him, for example, to New York for a stay abroad at the "Friedman Brain Institute".

Graduate Drenusha Sadiku took a somewhat different path. After completing her master's degree, she started as a lab technician at Sandoz. Within 5 years, she worked her way up the career ladder to Lab Leader, a responsible role with leadership skills. She spoke candidly about the challenges of her job, but also about the many opportunities that arise.

For the students, the presentations were a great way to see the wide range of career opportunities available after successfully completing their studies. The format also opened up the chance to ask questions of the alumni and thus get first-hand information on the subject of career entry and careers.