Johanna Vorwerk: "It's amazing how many companies are already familiar with the name MEST."

You gained your Master's in Energy Science and Technology (MEST) at ETH Zurich and are now working towards your doctorate. What inspired you to study at ETH?

I gained my Bachelor's degree as part of a dual study program at a technical college in Germany. Once I graduated, as agreed I was hired and started to work in distribution network planning. At the same time, I started looking round for a Master’s course. I didn't just want to specialise in electrical engineering, but to study the energy sector in general. I thought that this Master’s course at ETH was great because I was free to choose the subjects I wanted to study and because it was a small international degree programme.

Because I had only graduated from a technical college, I wasn't too hopeful of getting onto the course. It was a pleasant surprise when I was accepted. The Master’s has a very international outlook and the majority of students come from abroad. So we quickly very much became our own community and I really liked that.

What are you working on for your doctorate?

I’m working in Professor Hug’s Power Systems Laboratory. We are working on preparing the existing electrical network for a time when only renewable energy is fed into it. The electricity network needs to be balanced at all times: generation needs to equal consumption. So we are looking at how to balance the network on various time scales extending from seconds to months. Because until now we have been able to respond more rapidly with conventional means of generation such as nuclear power, we now need alternative approaches. Feed-in is the traditional solution. I’m researching how we can make different use of loads. In other words, how every individual’s consumption pattern can help to maintain balance in the network.

You are the president of the recently founded "Master Energy Science and Technology (MEST) Alumni" group. What are the aims of this group?

Before founding the group, we conducted a survey because it was important to us that the board didn't dictate our aims. We are proud of the fact that we involved people who graduated from each of the twelve year groups which have completed the Master’s course so far. In excess of 110 potential members took part. We got feedback from almost all continents because most of the alumni have either returned to their home countries or are working in other countries.

One of the main things people wanted us to do was create an international platform to allow them to enter into dialogue with one another about professional matters. But people want it to be fun too. We also found that a lot of the alumni work in the same sector and want professional dialogue. We also want to set up a mentoring programme, not just for students but also for people embarking on their professional careers. Several experienced alumni, who graduated a number of years ago, are involved in this. That’s very useful.

Of course, the international aspect brings challenges with it. But we are confident that we will find a good way to integrate everyone. I think that the online dialogue is working well. I’m also a member of Femtec Alumna e.V., an alumna association of a career development programme for women in MINT professions. It is relatively well known in Germany for supporting women in MINT professions and inspiring girls to study technical subjects. A conference is held every year and I volunteer to help out. This year, we had to switch to an online format within the space of a week. All items on the programme were created so that you could access the content but also and more importantly get to know other members. It worked really well online and everyone enjoyed it. I would like to do something similar with the MEST alumni. It goes without saying that we want to organise physical meetings too as soon as it is possible to do so again.

Who can join the group?

In a nutshell: all MEST graduates will be made very welcome. But we also want to invite students from the Master’s course to our events; not least because we are establishing the mentoring programme and association. And of course, we want to get them involved. It’s amazing how many companies are already familiar with the name MEST. We are a sort of family and that’s something I noticed while we were studying together.

What advice would you give today's students?

I often hear negative comments like "women and technology don't mix" or "half of the students in this course won't succeed". Initially, this used to upset me. But now it motivates me. So my first tip is that if something is important to you, stay positive and ignore any destructive criticism.

My second tip relates to theory and practice. I found it incredibly useful that the first part of my education was very hands-on. Many students struggle to understand why they have to cover various abstract topics. They only get to specialise at a later date. It was important to me that I always knew why I was studying something. Even if we only spent a couple of hours on something, I always tried to see the application from the standpoint of placement work, for example. This made it easier for me to understand why I was studying various topics.