A successful start as a civil engineer in project management

For Zehra Celik, the best ideas come from teamwork. It was with this conviction that she began her studies in civil engineering at RPTU. Today, as a project engineer, she is responsible for construction projects such as the renovation of bridges and rail infrastructure. Here she talks about her experiences and adventures.

Zehra Celik is standing in the canteen at RPTU in Kaiserslautern and asks for directions to Civil Engineering. Someone immediately turns around and helps. "They really are so friendly," she thinks. Before her visit, she had read online that the students at RPTU were particularly helpful to each other. An aspect that is important to her when choosing a place to study.

Zehra Celik already noticed that team spirit is important to her when she was at school. She enjoys working on projects, especially in the natural sciences. Because she is also interested in legal issues, she initially considered studying law after her Abitur and did an internship at a law firm. Between files, paragraphs and screens, however, she realized that she was missing something. "Complex issues suit me," she says, "but I need the daily exchange with others and want to see what my work achieves."

"Complex issues are my thing," says Zehra Celik. "But I need the daily exchange with others and want to see what my work achieves."

Zehra Celik takes career aptitude tests, compares degree programs and finally comes across civil engineering. She was looking for a university that combined specialist knowledge and a pleasant learning environment. After meeting in the canteen in Kaiserslautern, she walks around the campus and is impressed by the large lecture halls and the open atmosphere. She enrolls.

The first few semesters are exciting, but not easy: "It was intense at the beginning," she recalls. "The solidarity among the students helped me to keep going." The student council was also present from the very first week. "There were lots of offers, which meant I quickly made my first friends. I also got to know students from related subjects in the lectures. That went faster than expected: You see each other, nod, smile, sit together - and you're already friends."

Mastering challenges, crossing boundaries

During her bachelor's degree, Zehra Celik works as a student assistant in surveying and solid construction. From the third semester of her Bachelor's degree, she also worked as a student trainee in a structural engineering office for a total of six years. She is writing her Bachelor's thesis in cooperation with the company. The topic: the stability of steel escape stairs, as seen on the outside of buildings.

Specifically, Zehra Celik is investigating whether the grating steps sufficiently reinforce - i.e. stabilize - the side stringers of the stairs or whether the structure requires additional elements. Steel construction is considered one of the most challenging subjects in civil engineering. "That was the final boss," she says, "but I enjoy challenging myself."

After her Bachelor's degree, Zehra Celik stays at RPTU and continues her studies in the Master's program. The move is easy for her: she knows the system, the lecturers and has built up a network. During her Master's, she finds out about the opportunity to go abroad during a conversation with fellow students in the library and applies for a semester in Granada, Spain. "A semester abroad is not common in civil engineering, but I would definitely recommend it," she says. "RPTU supported me in my plans right from the start and I was able to plan in advance which credits would be recognized later."

"RPTU supported me in my project from the very beginning and I was able to plan in advance which achievements would be recognized later," says Zehra Celik about her semester abroad.

Drones, AI and modern construction technology

After her return from Spain, Zehra Celik took up a working student position in construction management in building construction. She observes in practice how much time it takes to carry out as-built surveys and damage assessments: hours of walking, measuring and documenting. When she chose the topic of her Master's thesis, she tackled this problem.

Zehra Celik is writing her Master's thesis on the use of drones in the construction industry. For her research, she takes the drone driving test, analyzes various drone technologies and compares the legislation in the EU, the USA, Turkey and Switzerland. She spends weeks looking for a suitable drone and an experienced pilot.

In the end, Zehra Celik flies over a building in Frankfurt with a former surveying professor at RPTU. The drone creates so-called point clouds, which are automatically evaluated by AI-supported software: one click and the software recognizes a wall and draws it. "The new technology saves an enormous amount of time," says Zehra Celik. "But I have also discovered inaccuracies in the AI-supported programs." With her Master's degree in the bag, Zehra Celik has long since arrived in the field.

From the canteen to project management

Zehra Celik organizes the transition to her career herself at an early stage. She regularly attends the after-work events at RPTU, where companies come to campus. She holds talks, makes contacts and introduces herself. When she got in touch with one of these contacts after completing her Master's degree, she was hired.

Today, Zehra Celik is a project engineer in infrastructure construction and works as a project manager on bridges, traffic routes and rail infrastructure. "No two days are the same," she says. "Sometimes I'm in the office, sometimes on the construction site, sometimes in the workshop." What she experiences every day in this role: she needs her knowledge from her studies, but also her practical experience. "Conversations with the foreman are different to those with the planning office, some skilled workers speak little German, the technical language varies and the demands on me as project manager are also high," she says. "You don't learn how to deal with this and talk to people from books," she says.

She lives the team spirit that once led her to civil engineering every day: she is an ambassador for her company and has already brought a working student from RPTU into the company. At the end of the year, she will return to the afterwork event at RPTU - no longer as a student who wants to get to know companies, but as an engineer who tells students about her profession.