Business Engineering M.Sc.: Oliver Kroon

The tasks of an officer are manifold: Oliver Kroon was responsible for about 50 officer candidates in Munster, coordinated their training and taught them about weapon systems and tactical procedures. As a group leader, he trained the students entrusted to him at the Helmut Schmidt University in Hamburg in ethics, military history and politics, among other things. Before that, he worked at the Bundeswehr base in Oldenburg in the IT and logistics department. "My work there had a planning focus, which included NATO exercises with the transport of large-scale equipment or the equipping of foreign missions. These processes are extremely complex. The optimisation of logistics as well as management through IT are big topics at the Bundeswehr," explains Oliver Kroon. His interest in processes and their optimisation through IT was aroused.

The family man had committed himself to the Bundeswehr for 13 years. Shortly before the end of that time, the question arose as to how he could shape his further working life. He came across the part-time degree programme in industrial engineering at the Leuphana Professional School: "I knew that I needed a well-founded degree programme for a new start. I found the Professional School's presentation exciting and contemporary," says Oliver Kroon.

After graduating from high school, he studied political science at the University of the Bundeswehr in Munich. He achieved the missing credit points for the Master's degree in business administration at the PS by taking distance learning courses. "But my degree in political science also included business administration and economics," says Oliver Kroon. He brought a lot of practical experience with him from the military: "The Bundeswehr training is also always a bit of management school," he says.

When he informed his superior that he wanted to study industrial engineering at Leuphana Professional School, he was thrilled: "He knew the university and spoke of 'Silicon Valley vibes'. I myself can only recommend studying at the Professional School: It is very professional, the lecturers were extremely good and the course was stringent," says Oliver Kroon. The alumnus praises the close supervision and interaction between students and lecturers: "This enabled me to understand a lot of the content even better. I felt very well prepared for my new professional life."

The part-time Master's programme in Business Engineering qualifies students for the interface between engineering sciences and business administration. The practice-oriented degree programme combines the technical content of engineering sciences with economic expertise. The programme can be studied without prior technical knowledge. In over 70% of the curriculum, lecturers teach technical content of high quality and consolidate this in practical teaching units in the laboratories and the machine hall. Starting with the basics, the modules build on each other methodically and didactically, so that students acquire a comprehensive overview of the relevant areas at Master's level.

In his Master's thesis, Oliver Kroon specialised in IT: "Engineering can no longer be thought of without IT." The then Master's candidate designed an implementation concept for an SAP system at the Hamburg Port Authority in the Port of Hamburg as part of his thesis.

In addition to the technical content, Oliver Kroon was also convinced by Leuphana's cross-study offers: "At a career training course, I was able to reflect on the decision for my new professional life. In the end, I came out of the seminar stronger."

In the meantime, Oliver Kroon can be sure of his decision: His entry into civilian professional life went smoothly. The Hamburg native works as an IT business analyst, digitalises business processes, evaluates software solutions and optimises workflows. Starting this autumn, he will move to Strategic IT Management. "The degree was a door opener in the IT field. I noticed that during the job interviews. The Master's degree is an absolutely obligatory goal," says Oliver Kroon.