Ingolstadt
Skilled for the future
The course participants who arrive for the Institute for Executive Education’s classes at the Technical University of Ingolstadt are not your “average” students. Many of them have years of professional experience and are highly qualified. Yet here they are, back in the lecture hall. With programs like this, Audi is getting its employees in shape for the future while advancing the company’s strategic realignment. Engineers who previously specialized primarily in combustion engines are expanding their expertise into whole new areas by completing a kind of compact course in electric mobility. This clearly underlines the transformation the automotive industry is undergoing.
In order to continue to play a leading role in the future, Audi is focusing on further education and training. After all, it is always people whose inquiring minds, enthusiasm and insights ensure the Audi “Vorsprung.”
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After earning his qualifications, Martin Schabert started out as a planetary transmission developer. Now he is fascinated by the place where the conventional and the electric worlds meet: so-called mild hybrid technology. The electrification of powertrains with combustion engines is a key pillar of the Audi strategy.
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Herbert Tschentscher spent many years designing the engines in the successful Audi Sport racing cars. Today he works in Powertrain Development for battery electric vehicles. Here, he can use his newly acquired expertise in electric mobility also in his additional role as a trainer for technical product designers.
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The rise of Audi into the premium segment is closely linked with quattro all-wheel drive. Carsten Trautmann helps get it fit for the future and adapt it to the new requirements of mild hybrid technology. His training offered him a change of perspective – one that benefits him today in his cross-departmental work.
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With Premium Platform Electric (PPE), Audi and Porsche work in tandem on the electrification of their full-size models. That is Markus Schäfer's sphere of action. He develops new transmission solutions to meet the changed demands electric mobility presents. Targeted training courses gave him the knowledge he needs to get the job done.
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Uncompromising quality is an Audi brand pledge that remains just as true in the age of electric mobility. As quality manager for electric drives, Reinhold Stahl is a kind of window on the end customer – and he brings the experiences and insights he gains in practice to the processes and structures in Powertrain Development at Audi.
New skills for the mobility of the future
“We are already paving the way for the ‘Vorsprung’ of the future.”
From data analyst to electrochemist and from artificial intelligence specialist to development engineer for fuel cells – the mobility of the future is creating new job profiles and calling for new skills. In this regard, Audi makes use of an HR tool – strategic resource and competence management – to help smooth the way to the future.
How many fuel cell experts will Audi need in 2020? And five years after that? How many engineers for the development of a new electric motor? Systematic analysis of current and future needs helps the company determine which employees are needed when, how to prevent shortages and what qualifications will be required. Thanks also to the further education programs that run in cooperation with the Technical University of Ingolstadt, Audi has already more than doubled the number of employees developing electric drives compared with the previous year. That is how we live and breathe transformation.
Taking change seriously means harnessing transparent, responsible methods to help employees grow into suitable new roles. Audi is systematically tackling the challenges posed by this change together with its entire workforce.
