Our series ‘Unlocking the future of research’ is coming to its first release! In this editorial, we will hear from the PhDs, PostDocs, junior researchers, staff, master students and interns working on HumanTech. They will tell us about their experience in our project, how it fits with their research and how working on a European-funded initiative can influence their careers.
Meet our first guest, Chiara Zarna, a brilliant research scientist at SINTEF, Norway:
Just one month ago, I started my position as a researcher at SINTEF Manufacturing AS. This was right after graduating with a PhD from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). In fact, my Norwegian journey started after my master’s graduation from the Technical University Dresden in my home country, Germany.
During my master’s, I specialised in textile and processing machinery, where I became especially interested in polymer composite material characterisation, design and manufacturing. Slightly off-topic, I chose to write my master’s thesis during an industrial internship on the anti-squeak behaviour of artificial leather for the application of automotive seats. I consider this one of my most valuable experiences, as I gained insights into how daily business is handled in large companies and how to interact with many fundamentally different people.
“I consider this internship as one of my most valuable experiences, as I gained insights into how daily business is handled in large companies and how to interact with many different people.”
Just a few days after defending my master’s thesis, I was lucky to receive a call notifying me about the opportunity to start a PhD position at NTNU in the field of wood fibre-reinforced thermoplastics, also referred to as biocomposites. I happily took this chance and moved to Norway with full excitement, as it was my first educational stay abroad and my first in Norway ever.
During my PhD and besides subject-related knowledge, I gained skills in scientific working, writing and communicating, as well as handling complex tasks and not losing myself in a swirl of uncertainties (or at least how to escape it before drowning). It was a partially challenging but mostly exciting time, which sparked my desire to become a researcher. Besides that, I got to know the Norwegian culture, language and environment, making me fall in love with a major part of that. Thus, the decision to stay became evident relatively early on.
“During my PhD, I gained skills in scientific working, writing and communicating, as well as handling complex tasks and not losing myself in a swirl of uncertainties.”
After that, another exciting opportunity arose, which I gratefully seized out of curiosity for new challenges. For the first time, I got the chance to participate in an EU-funded project. The HumanTech project deals with human-centred intelligent automation of the European construction industry, supported by omnipresent data and knowledge. The aim is to increase the productivity, safety and well-being of its workforce and importantly contribute to the shift towards a more resource-efficient and sustainable industry.
Ten countries are involved in the project, which significantly widens the horizon of my work and brings new challenges in terms of collaboration across borders and taking into account perhaps yet unnoticed viewpoints. On the other hand, the opportunity to build or expand my network with industrial and academic partners on a European level is of the highest value. It accommodates the potential to gain international visibility and identify future research trends and needs from a broader perspective.
“The opportunity to build or expand my network with industrial and academic partners on a European level is of the highest value.”
Besides that, I am more than excited to be part of a project with high international relevance and to dive deeper into great collaborative work. Work that is again slightly different from what I did before. For me, however, it is motivating and keeps my curiosity alive to get involved in different research fields and deal with new perspectives, especially when a project’s objectives are as ambitious and trendsetting as they are in HumanTech.
Stay tuned for the next editions of our “Unlocking the future of research” editorial series and subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter to learn more about our advances!