Claudia Rohde

Claudia Rohde

Claudia Rohde came to ThyssenKrupp Uhde GmbH whilst she was still studying for her degree in industrial engineering and management (majoring in mechanical engineering). As Chair of the Siegen student chapter of the German Association for Engineering and Business Administration (VWI) she had instigated a relationship with ThyssenKrupp Uhde which resulted in her gaining an internship, writing her diploma thesis for progress evaluation for engineering activities and ultimately starting her career with the company. The 29-year-old project controller has been with ThyssenKrupp Uhde since July 2006.

Claudia Rohde is responsible for preparing complex schedules, carrying out progress checks, analysing variations, and developing recommendations. “As the project controller in the schedule control division I work very closely with the project management team, the technical and commercial divisions, subsidiaries, customers, partners and sub-contractors who I am partly responsible for overseeing.” The combination of technical and commercial knowledge gained from her degree has served Claudia Rohde well. “Meeting people, particularly from other countries, is absolutely fascinating. ThyssenKrupp Uhde puts on seminars for its employees, such as ‘Getting to know India’, to help them work well with different cultures.”

Claudia Rohde is currently working on ThyssenKrupp Uhde’s largest project to date: the Sorfert fertiliser plant in Algeria.  After assisting with engineering and procurement activities in the Dortmund head office, Claudia Rohde travelled to the site in Algeria to support the construction partner and to work on the agreed acceleration activities. Claudia Rohde reports that this has been an exciting and valuable experience: “Experiencing the completely different reality of site life greatly improves your ability to assess different situations. Even my ability to assert myself in a world which is already dominated by men has improved thanks to my experience on site and with the Algerian culture.” And this is exactly the element of her role at ThyssenKrupp Uhde that makes it so appealing: “I really enjoyed the fact that in this situation, which is not always easy, I was able not just to survive but actually to motivate people as well and I’m excited to see what interesting challenges ThyssenKrupp Uhde will come up with next.”