VOJTĚCH KUČERA Role: Material Specialist Area: materials chemistry Employer: ŠKODA AUTO a.s.   What can I help my mentee with? comparison of the academic environment with the private sphere insight into the corporate environment presentation skills (in academia and in the corporate environment) how to organise your work effectively LinkedIn profil

Vojtěch chose to further his studies at UCT after the general grammar school. He enjoyed chemistry and first wanted to study organic chemistry. However, in his second year he was lured by the offer to participate in a research project dealing with metal alloys with shape memory, so he switched to the field of Chemistry and Technology of Materials with a focus on metals and their alloys. He has remained in this field ever since. During his master's studies he went on an Erasmus trip to Lovan and then, in a split year, took a part-time job at METAL TRADE COMAX, which, among other things, recycles aluminium alloys. After defending his master thesis on the same topic, he did not hesitate and went on to get his PhD. After a year and a half of studying, Vojtěch felt he needed to take the plunge into something new. He was attracted by the idea of combining academia with industry, so he applied for the PhD programme at ŠKODA AUTO. He successfully completed five entrance interviews that tested various skills, including an assessment centre, and today he only needs to defend his dissertation to complete his PhD.

"It was a great experience for me to be able to work with many people with different know-how on my dissertation, which was very enriching." During his PhD, Vojtěch went to Taiwan and Canada for an internship; in addition to his supervisor at UCT, he also had a supervisor at the CTU, and part of the work was carried out in collaboration with the Technical University of Liberec and the Politecnica delle Marche University in Italy.

At the moment Vojtěch is working in the press and welding shop of the production plant. He is involved in material analysis, introduction of new materials and technologies and also deals with cooperation with universities on research projects. He also takes care of trainees. "In my experience with interns, not everyone is suited to the same environment, workload or people. I am happy when I get feedback and can then find a different type of work for them so that both parties are happy." At the moment, Vojtěch is the product owner of an innovative project to introduce new technology in the context of digitalisation of production, which collects input data and in the future should help to manage production so that it is smoother and "error free".

He is involved in mentoring because, as he says, he likes the programme and if he were a student at the moment, he would certainly take advantage of the opportunity himself. He is looking forward to helping the younger ones with his experience and also getting feedback on himself.