Arman Köklü (Power Engineering)

After studying Mechanical Engineering (B.Sc.) in Istanbul, Arman Köklü came from Turkey to Cottbus studying Power Engineering (M.Sc.) at the BTU. As a student he already worked for Shell and Siemens and after graduation he started working for General Electric, where he became a Senior Project Manager with international reputation.

Hello Arman, why did you choose the BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg for a master programme?
Firstly, thank you for reaching out for this interview. It is a privilige and pleasure for me to be here and re-connect with BTU family. As you stated, four years of Mechanical Engineering education formed the basis of my technical skills. Multiple internships during my B.Sc. studies in multi-national companies in oil & gas market not only provided me the chance to improve my technical skills with the practical work in a professional environment, but also increased my awareness on the global energy market. These opportunities combined, offered me the chance to have an inner view on the growing power generation industry. My high conviction on the growing global need for a Sustainable Energy Ecosystem was my main motivation to start doing an extensive research on International Master’s Degree Programmes on Energy Landscape. BTU’s international master’s programme on Power Engineering wasn’t a difficult choice then as it stood out amongst others with it’s curriculum covering almost entire spectrum of energy field, it’s technical-scientific focus on power generation, it‘s collaborations with Energy Industry Leaders as lecturers and finally with it’s wide range of options on specialization opportunities on specific areas of energy (Sustainable Energy Supply, Power Plant Technologies etc.). 

You worked as a „Werkstudent“ during your Master Degree for Siemens. What can you tell current students about the importance of work experiences during their studies?
During my time in Cottbus, we had the priceless opportunity to learn from multiple Industry Leaders in Energy Space and this broadened our view on the obvious need of combining technical knowledge with practical work. My werkstudent position as an analyst in Order Management - Supply Chain Management - Production departments in the headquarters of Siemens AG in Berlin have contributed me with an invaluable experience on the german engineering, production, analysis and sales culture from the first hand. Throughout my time in Berlin, I have acquired skills in such crucial aspects of engineering and energy field as generation, production, optimization, analysis, problem solving and decision making. It also served as an internship which was a a pre-requisite for Graduation, nevertheless the ultimate value of this year-long opprtunity during my Master’s Degree was: a strengthened analytical, communications, team working and leadership skills along with daily communication with energy sector professionals with projects, assignments and excursions. These skills later on, served as an enabler for my next career steps along with my energy and motivation to be an integral part of the global efforts on the pursue to find solutions to world’s energy problems.

You started working for GE within a Leadership Programme, what was this programme and how did it help developing your talents?
GE’s Project Management Leadership Program is one of the many leadership programs within GE with the very specific mission to accelerate the development of early career EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) and Project Management capabilities through structured 4x6 month rotations and a thorough learning curriculum. Within the program I had the amazing opportunity of taking on various Project Management roles in GE Power& Water, Power Services and Renewables businesses based in New York, US and Salzbergen, Germany. Before the age of 30, with the help of the PMLP framework and curriculum and my GE Colleagues, I had the chance of managing multiple projects in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa- putting in total more than 100 Wind, Gas and Steam Turbines into operation in multiple countries like US, Canada, Germany, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Ghana. These projects were and still is a perfect example of GE Gas Power’s purpose — engineering cleaner, more accessible energy that people depend on; powering growth and prosperity everywhere.
All in all, the PMLP program was an accelerated and intensive path for gaining extensive project delivery experience in various GE technologies like Steam Turbines, Gas Turbines and Wind Turbines and helped me to collect real-time data and knowledge based insights on the Global Energy and Power Generation Landscape.

You worked on very difficult and amazing projects around the world. Have you always been so talented or did you have to learn and develop everything step by step?
Thank you, I agree on the fact that I had the chance to be a part of a team working on challenging but meaningful projects. It is hard to express how invaluable it is to be a part of a group of people working on projects that matter for building a world that works. Nevertheless it is difficult to link that to a specific talent I personally posses. One thing I learned over time is that it is far better and far difficult to stay humble and hungry for new information like an apprentice versus to strive to be a master in a profession. Having an ability to accurately assess situations or people and turn this into a mindset that embraces flexibility and adaptability every single day have been my most loyal asset in almost every critical decision I make or any crisis I am asked to manage. In fact, it requires much more wisdom and strength to stay an apprentice.
Hence in my view, having a mindset that embraces flexibility and adaptability every single day is a must-have skill to succeed in life and this a capability that could be learned rather than a talent. Only if you are willing to continually learn and are not paralyzed by new knowledge, can you deliver value in today’s world where even the best laid plans can often shift dramatically.
Frequently taking time to self-reflect is fundamental to a healthy mind. I always try to learn from my shortcomings as much as I celebrate my wins. So, one should always look for development opportunities and shouldn’t be afraid to openly share their own developmental areas. It creates a culture of accountability and continuous learning when you acknowledge that there is always room to improve.

The international Project Management Institute honors you for your great achievements as part of „Future 50. A New Generation of Leaders Has Arrived“. How did the BTU training help you to become a procejt manager with an international reputation?
Thank you again, yes recently I was named to Project Management Institute’s Future 50 list for my work in helping deliver energy to communities around the world. The list recognizes 50 individuals that are part of the next generation helping to create, build and transform The Project Economy — where work increasingly centers around executing projects both large and small — and make ideas reality. In my case, I was fortunate enough to be able to build my career on a strong fundamental domain expertise: Energy and Power Generation. Power Engineering studies in BTU enabled me to unlock the potential of a strong domain expertise in an industry which is also a globally acknowledged challenge: Energy and Access to Electricity. BTU Training gave me access to a fundamental expertise area in order to be able to take a part in Projects which have significant impact global energy equation. With the help of the strong energy expertise and the teams I work together with, these Projects had an impact and a say on meeting the needs of the present world population, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
The concept of sustainability and energy supply is a complex equation and composed of multiple pillars: economic, environmental, social etc. and these impacts were noticed by PMI. 
If the knowledge and motivation doesn’t get updated in real time continuously, any mission can be at risk of not being relevant anymore. BTU training combined with the hardwork of the people I work together with to date helps us to the challenge of building a world that works. Several companies and Universities might have similar purpose statements, but few have the knowledge, technology and motivation that GE and BTU has to fulfill this promise.