Which technical challenge during your studies did you remember for your entire life?

For the finalists of our Engineering Competition, there are many reasons why this could be the task they worked on during the finals last week. Four action-packed days, eight hours of improving a signal processing line, and five minutes of giving their best within the pitch presentations proved the dedication of our student participants.
From the start, the atmosphere buzzed with collaboration and innovation as over 80 students in 20 teams from international universities were welcomed on-site in Munich and tackled the challenge. Their passion, creativity, and technical prowess were simply inspiring and impressed the entire team as well as our jury members Peter Riedel, Holger Schoetz, Günter Ortner, and Stefan Bauer.

We're delighted to congratulate the winning teams and to honor their achievements with a prize money of USD 10000, 5000, and 3000:
🥇 Team "Pulsantwort", TU Hamburg
🥈 Team "Della Jave", FAU Erlangen Nürnberg
🥉 Team "You sined up for this", TU Hamburg & Universität Hamburg

Looking ahead, now it's time to get ready for the next challenge 2024 when we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Engineering Competition. Preregister now to secure your spot in this prestigious event where we will celebrate two decades of #makeideasreal. Join us, ensure a safer and connected world, and make the 20th anniversary of the Engineering Competition an unforgettable experience for your entire life as well: https://lnkd.in/eVr96wzE

#EngineeringCompetition #Innovation #Collaboration #PreregisterNow

Here’s a little introduction into the essence of us: Our people, our technology, our mission. Get to know us a little better with our short film that shows you how we live enthusiasm and an innovative spirit. 

We're pretty sure this is the beginning of a wonderful friendship. ;-) 

In order to further expand paths to innovation in our company we have created the InnoFunnel. With the help of the InnoFunnel we intend to develop the ideas of our employees into concrete solutions for customers. It is natural to develop certain projects in established business divisions where the path forward is more direct, but what happens with potential technologies that are still being explored? InnoFunnel is where we have to consider flexibel approaches. Dr. Thomas Ruster, software developer in the field of spectrum analysis, was one of the first innovators in the company to bring an idea to InnoFunnel. His idea is just taking off.

Dr. Ruster, initially there was just your idea for a new innovative product. Now you are developing a prototype. What has your experience been with the Rohde & Schwarz InnoFunnel?

The first step was presenting my idea quite informally to the InnoFunnel team. After that the team was there by my side to assist me and has taken many organizational steps that would have been difficult for me as an employee on my own. These include, for example, finding the right contacts for sharing technical knowledge or determining potential customer demand for my concept. Then I was allowed to present my idea to a large audience at our International Developers Conference and to the InnoBoard, consisting of members of top management. The InnoBoard was enthusiastic about my idea and has promoted it. This means I was able to spend part of my working hours on the idea and receive ongoing support from the InnoFunnel colleagues. Lastly, we have developed a concept to determine the potential and cost of a prototype. During this phase we also worked on aspects such as defining a business case, performing a patent search and detailing the technical concept.

What was the greatest challenge in this process?

In further developing the concept I had to fundamentally revise the technological approach on multiple occasions. That’s the thing about innovation – you keep on encountering technical challenges and problems that you weren’t aware of before. At times I thought the problems were so big that it no longer seemed worth continuing with the idea – but fortunately I always found solutions. That is what motivates me to keep going.

What helped you navigate this innovation process so quickly?

First of all, it is important that this innovation process actually exists, since otherwise it can easily happen that good ideas get lost in everyday life and are not pursued any further. Another crucial factor is a network within the company, which I was also able to build up with the help of the InnoFunnel team. In a very short length of time I got to know an amazing number of colleagues in the company, who then also energetically supported me. That was a real networking turbocharger.

This network has also helped in finding a potential application for your idea.

That’s true. I personally work in the Test and Measurement Division. However, my idea has an application that will appeal to customers of a different division. Since the very beginning, the focus has been not only on technology but also on customer benefit. We have collaborated across different divisions in an unconventional and uncomplicated way. This is also an important part of the innovation-friendly corporate culture at Rohde & Schwarz.

Many thanks for speaking with us, Dr. Ruster. We are very excited to see how your innovation will take hold, and we will continue to keep all our fingers crossed.

Innovation is our company core. Our people's ideas are essential to our success. These ideas don't always show up from 9-5. Not always in the office. 

We believe that our employees can only deliver their best ideas if they can shape their job in a self-determined way & work together in a great team. These are our ideas for a successful teamwork. ;)

As a privately owned and independent high-tech company, we have operated along the entire value chain for 90 years now. We develop, produce and market ideas and products that enrich all of our lives.

The key to our success is collaboration across the company in almost all projects. At Rohde & Schwarz, colleagues from all disciplines meet, develop solutions, innovations and of course toast & celebrate together ;) - like here in our new working environment in Munich!

Why? 

Because engineers and developers are going to show what will be possible with 6G.

Will you be one of them? / You might be one of them. Learn more!

For our colleague Fabian Güttge, software development is more than a job. It's a passion. His work inspired him to set up a working group for Linux based software dockers. For this idea he received plenty of support in the company – and was even honored with an award.

Fabian Güttge is convinced: "When we work among developers on a cross-divisional basis, we can do more than simply solve common problems. This also helps to avoid the cost of doing the same development work twice – which benefits the entire company." Every session of his working group, which meets twice a year, has a special focus. The topic is examined from a theoretical and practical standpoint. Fabian Güttge organizes and moderates the sessions with advice and hands-on support from the Training and Development department. He also has the support of his line manager and the top management. "It's a real luxury to be permitted to handle a project of this kind as a developer. That kind of support is certainly not taken for granted," says Fabian Güttge.

In 2019 he received the ONE Rohde & Schwarz Award from the Executive Board in recognition of his ideas and outstanding commitment. He sees this as an inspiration to maintain his strong commitment and to use his ideas to keep the company moving forward.

As a software developer at Rohde & Schwarz you have many opportunities. For example, you can be responsible for the entire development process for embedded systems, ensure outstanding software quality, or implement your applications on-site at the customer's location. You can also support us with your expertise in interface programming for touchscreens or the implementation of test and measurement systems.

Work with us to develop reliable solutions for a safer, more connected world. We'll give you all the support we can – with training geared to your needs, our own developers conference and much more!