Philip, what brought you to KEEQuant?
After several years of studying in Karlsruhe, I was looking for something new: a change of location and an environment where I could continue to grow both professionally as well as personally. At the time, I was almost at the end of my Master’s studies and wanted to gain practical experience within a research-related internship in the field of quantum technologies before starting my thesis. I wanted to build a strong foundation before starting it.
KEEQuant combined everything I was looking for: a new city, new people, growth potential, practical experience, quantum technologies and above all (which I realised during the job interview) excellent support with a high degree of knowledge transfer.
So you decided to join a start-up…
Yes, I was motivated by the fact that it was a start-up. I was aware that one can learn a lot here. There is an almost inexhaustible number of tasks coupled with creative freedom. I was really surprised to find that there are really well thought-out structures in the background that provide a good framework – despite all the freedom. A good foundation on which I can continue to grow.
What does growth mean to you?
In addition to a huge amount of technological knowledge, I have learnt how to work efficiently and purposefully in my day-to-day work. Reflecting on the work process and questioning the sense of certain tasks is always at the forefront – as opposed to “lets just do stuff and see what happens”. Keeping an overview is not so easy, especially in the daily routine. At KEEQuant, working in a structured and efficient way with a sense of purpose and constant reflection are skills that are firmly burnt into the brain, so to say.
I often stumbled or got stuck on a task for a long time and asked myself: why. Many tasks that used to take me weeks now take me just a day. It’s a great feeling to go through this learning process and realise that I’ve made great professional progress.
It’s not just that I’m constantly growing. In the almost one and a half years that I’ve been here, I’ve seen the company and its internal structures evolve and become more refined and detailed as well. It’s really exciting to experience this!
So was it worth coming to KEEQuant?
Yes! I came here as an intern, just to get a taste of the practical side of things. Whether I would also write my Master’s thesis here was written in the stars for me back then. Now I’m writing my Master’s thesis at KEEQuant, simply because the conditions, the support and the subject matter are hard to beat.
You don’t have to be able to do everything right from the start – but you should be sufficiently motivated and willing to learn and not be afraid to ask questions. Above all, you should be enthusiastic! You don’t just benefit from the other people here – it works the other way too: I can really use my knowledge from university here. It feels like all those years of studying have really borne fruit, and I am now able to reap the rewards. At the same time, in addition to the technical aspects, you can also gain a lot on a personal level: you have a lot of creative freedom and feel like an equal part of the team – as a working student or master’s student as well as a permanent team member (we students also don’t make coffee for others ;-)
