Career portraits of IKV graduates
Dr.-Ing. Lionel Winkelmann
HO Site Scheduling and Logistic Engineering Airbus, Hamburg
After studying mechanical engineering at RWTH Aachen University, spending time as a student worker and graduate, and finally obtaining my doctorate at IKV in the field of composites, I left the Institute and have since been working at Airbus. During a period of practical training at the Institute of Research and Development of Sports Equipment (FES) in Berlin, I came into contact for the first time with fibre-reinforced plastics and composites generally. During my time in Berlin, I laminated a wide variety of sports equipment such as bobsleighs, canoes and racing bikes for top German athletes. In my working life, I am now also involved with composites: At Airbus, I began my career in Stade near Hamburg, an Airbus competence centre for the industrial manufacture of CRP parts for the various aircraft families. I never cease to be fascinated by my work, for example when I am standing in front of wing shells over 30 metres long made of fibre-reinforced plastics. I am now responsible at Airbus for the development of textile technology at three sites in Germany, France and Spain. Through this trans-national assignment, I travel around Europe nearly every week. Working together closely with my colleagues from countries abroad is not only challenging but also exciting.
Apart from my technical training, my time at IKV also provided me with a whole number of soft skills, e.g. in the fields of work organisation and employee management, which made it very much easier for me to start my career. That period has also shaped my life: I still regularly meet up with many of my former IKV colleagues, some of them scattered far and wide.