Lina Diaconu

Tell us a bit about your path.

After graduating from Jacobs University in 2014, I started an international graduate program at Infineon, a semiconductors company based in Munich.
Being part of the graduate program was not only a good transition from "student-life" to the “full time employee-life", but it also gave me the opportunity to work and travel around Asia and learn a lot about the company in a very short time. Today, I am doing Supply Chain Planning at the same organization. Simply said, I have to make sure on a global scale that the right products are produced in the right quantities and at the right time - in order to successfully deliver to the biggest car manufacturers worldwide. And this would be the first point where my thoughts go back to the SCEM Program.

What were the strengths of your major?

The courses offered during the Master Program at Jacobs University were undoubtedly helpful to understand the supply chain and its complexity. It was a perfect combination of theory and practice. Just to give an example, one of the courses we were offered was Factory Planning. After all the useful theory that I have learned in the classroom, I had the opportunity to work with a Bremen-based company on their Factory Planning project. During the project I had to design the factory layout given their logistics and production processes.

However, this is not the only benefit achieved during those two years.
Looking back, I regard the master studies as an effective “simulation project” of the real work-life that comes after graduation. Weekly presenting “powerpoints” to communicate a message and convince someone that your ideas are worth being implemented, working in teams to find solutions to interesting challenges, endlessly trying get your work done until the deadline in order to keep your performance up, getting out of the daily business and focusing on cross-functional areas as marketing or finance - this is exactly what is happening when you work in a company, regardless of the industry. And the best part is that the SCEM does prepare you for this environment.

A word to prospective students.

The two years of Master Studies at Jacobs University are intense but totally worth the effort. Take the time to learn from the lecturers and from your fellow students, to develop your own soft skills, and don't forget to enjoy this great experience