Ready for the Future: Shaping today's Automotive Industry

Peter Gliga has started his career at thyssenkrupp as an expert for electric/electronic (E/E) steering systems. He shared with us how he and his team at thyssenkrupp Steering are influencing the future of the automotive industry and how a robot tournament allowed him to get his foot in the door and join the corporate family.

Peter's first encounter with thyssenkrupp was quite "unusual". It was at the "RoboCup Rescue Robot League", an international competition where participants compete with their robots in simulated, but realistic rescue scenarios. An extraordinary hobby for tech enthusiasts like Peter. "While our hobby developer team was busy preparing for the competition, a team member told us about thyssenkrupp," Peter explains. "The group of companies and the complexity of their products impressed me. So, I made the decision to apply to work at thyssenkrupp Automotive Technology!"

Without hesitation, Peter won the recruiters over with his application and his passion for technology and started working at the Competence Center in Budapest in 2017. "I started out as a hardware development engineer and shortly thereafter became responsible for a variety of development projects, among them the development of Steer by Wire hand wheel actuator."

Key Technology for Assisted and Highly Automated Driving

After spending about five years in Budapest, Peter heard the next challenge calling him and took on more responsibility. He moved to the central research and development department at thyssenkrupp Steering in the Principality of Liechtenstein. Nowadays, the 35-year-old ECU Core Project Leader is responsible for developing an electric power steering system (EPS), among other things. His current role involves integrating the servo unit directly into the steering wheel column (C-EPS). Together with his team, Peter is already shaping the future of the automotive industry. After all, EPS systems are considered to be the key technology for the assisted and highly automated driving of tomorrow.

Peter remembers the start of the C-EPS project particularly well as it embodies pretty much everything that thyssenkrupp stands for: creativity and interdisciplinary teamwork. "Very early on, actually right at the start of the project, the team succeeded in achieving the high safety targets by adopting an unusual approach and cooperating on a cross-divisional basis," Peter reveals. "I am really proud of the team."

One of the greatest challenges for Peter as an E/E architecture expert is the need to continuously develop in all areas. After all, Peter is convinced that a sound basic knowledge and an open mind for self-improvement are good basic prerequisites for being successful in his field. What is crucial for E/E experts like him, however, is the ability to analyze and classify problem areas, especially with regard to the effects on the work done by other teams.

“That’s what makes thyssenkrupp for me.”

What the passionate motorcyclist loves about his job is always having the opportunity to learn something new. “For me, the special thing about working at thyssenkrupp is the creative freedom and the excitement that is closely linked to collaborating with other teams,” says Peter.

Why would he always choose to work at thyssenkrupp again? Peter has a clear answer to that: "At thyssenkrupp you don't feel like you are just a cog in a big machine. Here you are appreciated and always feel like you are making a valuable contribution to the company. That's what makes thyssenkrupp for me."