Interview with BTU Alumnus Christian Mewes (Maschinenbau)

Hello Christian, you are assistant to the management at Build a Rock in Cottbus, what does the company do exactly?
We manufacture game and sports equipment with a focus on climbing. That's the short version. In the extended cut, you'd find that we make dreams come true. We use shotcrete for our products and with that we get a huge amount of design freedom. And believe me, we have no shortage of ideas and innovation. As climbers, we see the routes we walk. The structures we perceive in nature are our models that we give a usable form, be it wooden structures, ruin looks or any stone surface. So far, I have hardly come across any limits. In order to tailor the best possible products to the desired target group, we learn from you. We invite them to our adventure farm and show them how climbing works. You learn how to climb and we learn how to create a perfect product. Besides it is of course fun to make other people happy and to build up such a community.

What exactly are your tasks in the company?
As an authorized signatory, the tasks are only marginally different from those of the managing director. Let's put it this way, you will find me at the end of a climbing rope, at the handle of a hammer drill, in the wheel loader, at the PC, in the big yellow van with climbing handle trim, in front of the whiteboard and much more. I am virtually omnipresent in the company. I consult, sell, calculate, negotiate, develop, build and learn every day.

How can people join you, what kind of people and skills are you looking for?
Since we are quite broad, the opportunities to get involved are manifold. If you're great at soapstone carving, yoga, or improv theater, then you'd be great in our experiential education department. If you have building experience, then there is certainly room for your creativity in manufacturing. If you're better at working on a PC with CAD or Illustrator, then you'll probably be sitting next to me in the office. If you are a chatterbox like me, then maybe sales is for you. It could also be that height work is something for you, then please, here I would also know immediately where a rock maintenance is pending or facade work would be necessary. I think the most important prerequisite is to perceive climbing as a part of life.

You already did a lot of volunteer work in your student days and were, among other things, a founding member of the State University Conference and the Action Alliance for Education and Science, as well as a student representative in the Presidential Board. You are still involved in voluntary work, most recently in the Cottbus Club Commission. What drives you and what skills have you been able to develop that might also be useful in your professional life?
The last thing you did was cook for our international students. And that's where I would start. One of the most important things that studying at BTU showed me was the realization that there are no boundaries. I lived in the dorm on the 2nd floor, with people from all over the world to my right and left. People who became friends. I wanted to hang a hammock in the balcony and experienced a really solid panic attack. I later started climbing to get the fear of heights under control. You don't have to accept the condition. It was a long way with sometimes unpleasant scenes and many a stone in Saxon Switzerland, which I soaked with my tears. And now it is my vocation. Fear of contact is also one of the things I learned to put aside. I had so many great people around me at the university that I like to remember those times. But I think one thing that shaped me was the realization that if I want something, I'm going to do it. For example, we wanted concerts, ergo we organized them ourselves. And that was a certain form of emancipation that I went through. I had all the freedom to try out whatever interested me and to implement it with my own hands. Among other things, I had a darkroom for photos in the dormitory moved into my shower, because it interested me. That's what drives me, the freedom to just make something happen.

If you ask about professional topics, then an important point here has been that I never wanted to stand still and I am constantly educating myself. I had a constant influx of knowledge through my professors, doctors and fellow students. I sat during the day in the math exercise and in the evening with Video 2 Brain in the bed and binged C++. At that time there was no Netflix. I paid various fines to the library, because I could not part with some books in time and soaked up knowledge like a sponge. Especially in the IT sector, I still benefit greatly from the skills I bring with me. Stagnation is never good here. Topics such as company digitization, CRM, ERP, but also marketing topics as well as design theory, math, physics and statics are enormously important and make my life easier.

You have already worked in many different areas, including online marketing, IT and project management. What tips do you have for students and alumni who perhaps don't follow a linear career path and are open to change and new experiences?
There always comes a point where you ask yourself "What do I need this for?" In my case, it was trigonometry. As a student job in the call center I was asked how high a pedal garbage can would be when open, I answered cylinder height plus lid diameter times sin 45°. After a long silence came a "What are they doing?" What I want to say is that everything you learn does not seem relevant at first. But once you have penetrated it, the moment of glory is certain. And don't ask me how many times I have unpacked the GAGA chicken yard AG somewhere to show the ratios of opposite cathetus to hypotenuse. Calculate stair runs or build a playhouse for your kids without angles. Rule of three, who needs that, but derive missing dimensions from a drawing. My excursion into interference suppression technology also taught me many skills, including better technical English, since I often had to suppress interference in foreign languages. The technical understanding and negotiating skills that I gained in the process have paid off many times over to this day. I can only advise everyone to take the best out of such hooks. You gain a broader portfolio of specialized knowledge, an expertise that definitely always benefits you.