Physics & Engineering
User-Centric Design
Navel is a social robot for care facilities. It makes eye contact, addresses people by name, remembers earlier conversations and responds with empathy, activating residents emotionally and cognitively.
Care has too few hands for too many people. Navel does not replace caregivers. It gives residents attention in the moments when nobody else has the time.
A robot that sees, listens and talks with vulnerable people is a compliance challenge: data protection, AI regulation and safety. Making that work is my job, with privacy by design: conversation data stays on the robot, and image data is analysed on the device and deleted within milliseconds.
Education · 2007–2014
Bachelor of Physics (B.Sc.), 2007–2011, with a focus on medical physics and laser physics. Bachelor's thesis: development of a microscope for single-molecule spectroscopy using "Single Molecule Cut and Paste".
Master of Physics (M.Sc.), 2011–2014, with a focus on biophysics and nanotechnology (NIM & CeNS). Master's thesis: development of a laser microscope for measuring cell activity on nanostructures.
Research · 2011–2014
Two theses in microscopy: a microscope for single-molecule spectroscopy, and a laser microscope measuring cell activity on nanostructures.
Cell activity on nanostructures · 2014
The perturbation of Bragg maxima was directly measurable by light intensity, correlating to cell density on nanostructures. These results led to further experiments with cells and bacteria, culminating in the formation of the startup Phio by my former colleague and supervisor Philipp Paulitschke.
Automotive · 2015–2017
Development of power electronics and a starter for the Thales Hawkei. The Hawkei is a protected military vehicle program worth $1.3 billion AUD, with in-house production of 1,000 units.
Responsible for process management within functional safety (ISO 26262), reliability analyses and FMEA.
Power electronics for the Hawkei · 2015–2017
The Hawkei is a protected military vehicle program worth $1.3 billion AUD, with in-house production of 1,000 units. My part: requirements management and systems engineering for the power electronics.
Process Management · 2015–2017
Responsible for process management within functional safety (ISO 26262), reliability analyses and FMEA.
Education · 2017–2018
In engineering, requirements determine the product. Engineers like to follow requirements. It is easy and you know what to do. But who sets the requirements? Exactly this is where engineers have to understand humans - and they are not good at it. But this is what I wanted to do. So I moved to Berlin to study user-centric Design /Design Thinking.
An intensive curriculum based on the d.school concept of Stanford University, with projects on the future of teacher education (University of Cologne) and on internal processes (ProPotsdam).
Future Teacher Education · 2017–2018
Together with the University of Cologne we conducted user research and, as a team, developed several prototypes for how the education of future teachers in STEM subjects can be designed for better collaboration.
Education · 2018
Agile frameworks for product development: the Scrum framework, Kanban boards and agile transformation.
UI/UX Design · 2019
Coordinated small Scrum projects (e.g. HessenForst, metr) and ran qualitative interviews to derive product features from user needs.
Digital Health Accelerator · 2019
As a UX Research lead, I worked with three design thinkers to coach four teams, conducting targeted interviews and designing tailored guidelines. From these insights, we co-developed SuMus, a virtual physiotherapist tool.
Design Thinking · 2019–2021
Designed and facilitated Design Thinking workshops in automotive, health, energy, education and start-ups, with a focus on user-centricity.
Accompanied product development and agile transformations for partners such as Siemens, University of Stuttgart, Viessmann, Signal Iduna and BTA.
BetaHood · 2019
In collaboration with Berliner Stadtmission, we co-designed a neighborhood of modular living spaces based on sustainable cradle-to-cradle principles.
Space Station Design · 2019–2021
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Politics · 2019–2021
Redesign Democracy. [Text follows]
Lecturing · 2019–2021
Design Thinking workshops at BTA Business Trends Academy, for managers in retraining programmes funded by the employment agency.
Automotive · 2021–2022
Scaling the Daimler software factory Mbition (MBUX CI/CD pipeline) through hardware development and IoT-based test systems, optimising workflows and redesigning the testbenches.
Automated Test Farm · 2021–2022
Test engineers at Mbition (Berlin) validate roughly 8 billion lines of automotive code daily. Flashing each build onto physical vehicles doesn't scale, so cars are emulated by testbenches.
Green Innovation · 2022
Together with the sustainability department, I designed and facilitated the "Green Innovation Pitch", an internal contest for driving sustainable improvements within the workplace.
IIoT & Risk Management · 2023–2024
Built up and shaped an IIoT campus to open new business opportunities in risk management: tailored innovation workshops, and small projects developing interactive demos that make complex technology tangible.
Campus build-up · 2023
A cold call on LinkedIn, I could not say no to that challenge: In just five months, we (a team of 4 people from HDI TH!NX / PROTH!NX) had to transform 320m² of empty space into an interactive hub for IIoT and Risk Management. In my role as Workshop & Experience Lead my responsibility was to shape the visitor experience for maximum satisfaction, synergy, topic-immersion and Business opportunities. This meant conceptual work, but also hands-on: Space design, user-centricity and lot's of Engineering & Teamwork to get things done until the opening.
The campus features six areas, including a showcase of IIoT milestones, a Smart Home demo, and an interactive game illustrating Industrial IoT. The Engineering Lab highlighted IIoT device fabrication and functioned as a hands-on workshop, while another space focused on Risk Management applications with self-built product demos from industry partners. The event hub, designed for keynotes with up to 100 attendees.
Demo Building · 2023–2024
Leak360 by PROTH!NX helps to prevent water damage and conserve resources. It is a real-time water management and leak detection system designed to help users monitor and optimize water consumption while providing automated leak protection. It offers real-time data visualization and alerts via a digital dashboard, enabling quick responses to potential issues.
This demo creates a real water leakage at the push of a button, triggering the system in real time. Two monitors display and explain the end-to-end process, making the technology accessible to a diverse audience on the Campus. A pump system was integrated that created leaks and triggered the system's response in real-time. Together with a software developer and a video designer, the videos were created and triggered with a Raspberry Pi. The final version was housed in a rugged, transportable case, making it easy to showcase at national and potentially international exhibitions.
Workshop: AI & Wind Power · 2024
We designed a Requirements Workshop to bring all stakeholders together and build a common understanding. By the end of the session, we had a comprehensive roadmap with well-defined next steps.
"Amidst heated debates and diverse viewpoints, a remarkable atmosphere of the will to achieve something together emerged. This workshop vividly demonstrated how different perspectives can lead to innovative and sustainable solutions."
I grew up in a peaceful little town in the south of Germany and studied physics in Munich. It is great to understand the world and why the sky is blue. But it was a bit nerdy, so I became an engineer. I like the challenges of engineering: they are clear, and in the end you have something that works. But who sets the requirements? Exactly this is where engineers have to understand humans - and they are not good at it. So I moved to Berlin to study Design Thinking: to learn about team dynamics and collaboration, and to work on the challenges of people with user-centric design. Now I see myself at the interception between the user and the dev team.
