Iñigo Mendizabal

Researcher, Vicomtech

Studiengang: Mechatronics & Smart Technologies (Master)

When I look back at my time at MCI...

I remember myself very happy, enjoying my academic and personal life in Innsbruck and learning new engineering and cultural topics every day. Definitely, I also remember my colleagues, the glühwein, the Tyrolean mountains and the ski resorts, and the goldenes dachI. I’m really proud of having taken the decision to study there. I think that during the two years that the Master’s lasted everyone in the program had an awesome time and grew a lot both personally and academically.

How did your studies at MCI prepare you for your current job?

Since I finished my studies at MCI, I've worked in different companies and in all of them I've felt that what I learned there has differentiated me from other engineers. There are several reasons for this. The first one is the great balance between theory and practice. Being a very theoretical program is necessary in certain careers, but, in my opinion, it is not in engineering. Being able to get data from a bunch of sensors using a data acquisition board is as important as knowing how to get the integral of an equation. The second one is the great team that I found in the program (professors, university staff and fellow students). Great professors make you get interested in topics and understand difficult subjects more easily; great university staff helps you focus on your studies and with non-academic matters of the program; and of course, great (and interesting) fellow students make you improve academically too, since they also know a lot you can learn from. Besides all the wonderful time spent outside the seminar room. Finally, I think that all the talks given by external lecturers about a diversity of topics were also very enriching. Receiving an overview of different subjects is wonderful for the future: it makes you more valuable for a company, since that knowledge makes you aware of new techniques that can be used to solve specific problems you are facing.

What would you tell someone who is considering studying at MCI?

It is clear that some decisions (such as the place where you want to study) are hard to make, but, in this case, I would say: Go for it!! You will not regret it. As I said, academically it has very high quality, with great professors and a very interesting and complete curriculum. Also, besides these academic reasons, I think that Innsbruck is a wonderful place to live, full of students of similar age, with great social life and, of course, many ski resorts nearby. It’s going to be a decision you will be proud of your whole life.