Interview with BTU Alumnus and Founder André Röhrig (Industrial Engineering)

André studied industrial engineering in Cottbus and founded BRAVIS in 2006, which offers privacy-compliant tools for video conferencing. Before Corona, video conferencing was rare and unknown, but now it is part of most people's everyday working lives. BRAVIS offers customers who value security and data protection, such as the German Bundestag, a high-quality solution made in Cottbus.

Hello André, you studied industrial engineering in Cottbus, how does your studies help you in the development and management of BRAVIS? By specializing in computer science in my degree program, I can think my way into the two worlds of software development and business administration and combine the two. From my point of view, this is eminent for the management and helps me especially to understand the processes in a company in the IT sector and to direct the employees.

How did you get the idea to develop a solution for video conferencing and to found BRAVIS? During my studies I came into contact with the research on the peer to peer videoconferencing system BRAVIS in the lab at the chair of Computer Networks and Communication Systems at Prof. König and was asked to write a business plan because of the competences in industrial engineering. That was the beginning of the BRAVIS company.

By now, you certainly don't have to explain to anyone what a videoconference is. How has Corona impacted your business? BRAVIS has greatly increased its sales during the pandemic, and yet it is still a product that is only of interest to special target groups who have a need for highly secure transmission and data protection. However, as awareness of this is also growing, BRAVIS is also gaining more and more customers. In addition, BRAVIS is ideal for smaller project groups and their agile work, since the software functions similarly to a telephone. You don't have to send a link to each other to be able to communicate in words and pictures, but the conversation only takes one click. Our unique selling proposition of being able to set up video conferences "in-house" without having to send a bit to the Internet makes us particularly interesting for user groups such as the German Bundestag and its PARLAKOM network.

You live and work in the region and also founded your company here. What makes the region attractive for you and your company? I now live in Brieske and commute to Cottbus every day. I like Cottbus because it combines the advantages of a big city with those of a smaller town. Everything you need is within easy reach and you can enjoy the advantages of a big city, such as the state theater.

What do you remember most fondly from your student days? I like the university and explicitly chose Cottbus because it is small and clear and gave me the opportunity to get into a more intensive exchange with researchers and teachers. BRAVIS would probably not have come into being without this proximity. I was a member of the Senate for two years during my time as a student, and that was at a time when the Bologna Process, i.e. the changeover from Diplom to Bachelor and Master, was taking place. That was very exciting.