Starting my Internship in Germany
The internship in Munich was the final goal of what I had planned for my time at QUT. In 2021 I was given the opportunity to be a Design Intern at the Academy, which provided me with a good skill set and understanding of what is required for the jump to the Bavarian capital. Covid and travel restrictions had just started to ease at the start of the year and I took the first chance I could to jet over to Europe.
I was born in Munich and have family over here, so the BMW Group internship was always very appealing to me. Speaking German was less of a challenge, but setting up a life in a country I have lived in very little was nevertheless a challenge. Navigating the German bureaucracy jungle was quite the experience and a real shock coming from, what I would now consider, a very digitalised system in Australia. I don’t think I have ever filled out as many paper forms in my life. The rest of Munich however is as you would expect from a modern European city. A beautiful combination of historic buildings slotted in-between modern architecture weaving around lively inner-city parks. Once spring had arrived and the trees started to sprout, the people also came out of their homes and Munich had transformed from a sleepy winter city to a very busy and exciting multicultural hub. With the season change the days have also started to get longer, it's currently 9pm and the sun is just going down now, and it's going to get later. It’s definitely something to get used to but I found that I would get a lot more done in a day and spend less time watching Netflix on the couch.
A standout part of Munich is the Englischer Garten (English Garden), which sits right in the middle of Munich. Whether you want to go for a surf, study, BBQ or just enjoy a drink in the Beer Garden this is the most popular place for locals and tourists alike. No matter where I went, there was a never-ending presence of Munich’s largest employer, BMW. The Bavarian Motor Works sure have made their mark on Munich; being able to find the logo just about anywhere in the city, most commonly on the streets. A notable change from Brisbane was the number of electric cars on the roads. It was interesting to see the potential and widespread use of electric cars when the infrastructure is available to support the technology. Fast chargers are readily available at public parking spots, cafes and my local Aldi. I recently walked past a traffic jam in the inner city and it was completely silent, a rather nice change from Brisbane where you are bound to hear, and smell, fuel guzzling cars amongst the noisy traffic.
Experiencing a different culture, city and climate is definitely a stand-out part of the internship experience so far and something that makes this such a great opportunity for students. The other part of this experience is of course working at an innovative and exciting company like idealworks. From my previous experience through the WIL internship at the Academy last year I was already familiar with the basic aspects of idealworks’ products. My first week I spent catching up on the latest technological advancements, processes and plans for the company. It was very cool to see the innovation and testing of new technology right at the forefront of the industry by a company that was looking to push the boundaries of what is possible. This exciting work is done by a very friendly and multicultural team here in Munich and overseas, which have made me feel very welcome from the get-go. I am now in the middle of some future oriented work which I am very excited to hopefully share at some point later this year. I am thoroughly enjoying the experience so far and am excited to see how much I can learn and achieve throughout this internship.
Thanks for reading,
Søren Waldmann
Digital Design Intern, idealworks