Trafo #132 - Fachschaft Elektrotechnik und Informationstechnik - TUM

Trafo Ausgabe 132
that the university is running properly. In general, I
enjoy doing research a lot; there are many different
problems to work on. As a professor I think one has
a lot of flexibility to look at any problem that is interesting
and this wouldn’t be possible in the industry
or in an industrial research lab where you somehow
have to follow the business units and only do what
the company demands or what makes money. Here
at the university, we have the luxury of working on
problems that interest us. Of course we try to work
on projects which are also important. It is this flexibility
I enjoy a lot. I also like teaching and learning
about new subjects. Whenever I feel like learning
something new, I usually try to offer a course which
essentially forces me to learn it. I also like interacting
with people and I like working with lots of people.
Overall, I enjoy being a professor.
So, as a professor you taught in Singapore and in
Germany. What are the differences between the students
in Asia and those here at the TUM?
In general I would say that there is no difference.
There were many students in Singapore who were
very serious and very interested in what they did and
therefore they were also very good. I also find that
the students in Germany, or at least at the TUM, are
very good and most of them are very interested in
what they are doing. The university in Singapore I
taught at is a very good university, so mostly good
students go there and the same is true for the TUM
which is one of the best German universities and
the quality of students is really good. Looking at
this, I would say that there is no real difference. But
there is only one point I can think of: In Singapore
many students were very examination-focused and
so they really wanted to know exactly which kind of
questions might be important and which were not.
Fortunately in Germany, of course students like to
do well in exams and this is natural, but they have a
better balance between learning for life and learning
for exams. Nevertheless, students at both places are
very good.
Now, we would like to ask some more private questions.
First, what do you prefer for breakfast?
(laughing) As I already said, I really like the German
bread. So usually we are having some bread
with ham, cheese and fruits. I don’t really like sweet
things for breakfast, like cereals.
With whom do you normally have breakfast on
weekends?
I normally have breakfast with my wife. But there
is no difference between weekends and weekdays: it’s
always the two of us.
What do you do beside university? What are your
hobbies?
I’m now in Munich for slightly more than one and
a half years, and as you might understand, it takes a
lot of time to settle down after you have moved to a
new place. When we moved from Singapore we had
a lot of things, a lot of books and a lot of furniture. So
I must admit that during the last one year it took us
a lot of time to settle down – there was always a box
to open. Since I’m also sort of new at this university
I didn’t have too much time to do something else. I
was usually preparing for a class or there was a paper
deadline or some household work. That is what has
occupied me so far.
So would you call yourself a workaholic?
I would prefer not to, but my wife keeps telling me
that. In general I really enjoy what I do, but I would
actually be happier if there was less to do. I still have
a long list of things I would like to read and I don’t
find enough time to do that. But overall I enjoy what
I do, so I’m happy.
How do you like Munich as city to live in?
The comparison that comes to my mind is usually
with Zürich, well sometimes also with Singapore,
but Singapore and Munich are really very different.
Compared to Zürich, I like Munich more, because
it is bigger and, it might sound strange, but I actually
like that Munich is not so clean and many people
are not so well dressed. If you go to Zürich it looks
very rich and everything looks too clean and everyone
looks too well dressed. Munich appears more
bohemian and more natural to me. But I have never
been to Berlin, and people always tell me that Berlin
is even more unclean, so maybe I would like Berlin
even more – but maybe Munich is just the right balance.
So overall, I like Munich.
What is your biggest dream or goal you want to
achieve in your life?
From a research perspective, this is a difficult question.
As I did most of my studies in Computer Science,
I look at Electrical Engineering more from a
Computer Science perspective. I think in Computer
Fachschaft Elektrotechnik und
Informationstechnik e.V.
Professoreninterviews
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