Quality in the fast lane: the mission of an automotive engineer

The automotive industry continues to be one of the most exciting industries for young engineers. This is also the case for Nikolett Marton from Hungary. By the time she joined the thyssenkrupp Automotive business in Hungary, Nikolett had already gained a great deal of experience as a young engineer. Today, she enjoys a challenging yet fulfilling job in which she gets to be an inventor.

Nikolett had already completed an internship in the automotive sector during the final year of her degree. After successfully qualifying as a quality engineer in 2017, Nikolett continued to demonstrate her commitment to the company full-time. In 2018, she took the next step in her career and began working for a major player in the automotive industry, where she gained valuable experience as a senior quality engineer. Experience that would later equip her to work in development at thyssenkrupp in Budapest.

In February 2022, she joined the thyssenkrupp Automotive business, an innovative development partner of the automotive industry, as a Hardware Design Quality Leader. “Here, I am responsible for quality assurance and ensuring that the ECU design meets our quality requirements throughout the entire product development stage, and then approving it for series production” Nikolett tells us. She is not familiar with the concept of a normal work routine: “After all, no two projects, problems or customers are the same, so we are always facing new challenges. That is why we need to come up with brand new solutions on a regular basis.”

Wanted: Assertiveness and team player skills

A challenge that Nikolett approaches with extreme positivity, “This way I get to complete very exciting tasks that never become monotonous.” For Nikolett, the most challenging aspect of working in Quality involves coordinating with other departments on all the requirements, corrective measures and additional controls. “And doing all of that on time and without delaying key product development milestones,” Nikolett says. Another challenge is of a financial nature: “In many cases, quality involves a high level of expenditure even at an early stage of development and this will only pay off in the long term. But it isn’t always easy explaining this to all those involved at the beginning of the project.”

This means that Nikolett has to bring her exceptional assertiveness and excellent teamwork skills to bear to get things moving. And what else do you need to be successful as a junior manager at one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers at just 28 years of age? Well, you need to be technically competent first and foremost: “Professionals working in electrics/electronics (E/E) need to know the entire system for which the components are being developed inside and out, and also take into account that it needs to be manufacturer and tested in mass production, not just as a prototype,” Nikolett explains. “You need to pay attention to the details and contexts as well as what goes into precision work. We need to have a comprehensive understanding of how circuits work and operate in the real world. It is not enough to just consider the electronic properties of a component. Its mechanical parameters are just as important if you want to build in the desired function.”

Nikolett is attracted to the complexity that her job demands

It is precisely this complexity that fascinates Nikolett about her job. "The great thing about E/E is that it is such a complex and diverse field. I never tire of exploring it," enthuses Nikolett. "The part of my job I enjoy the most is when we discover a problem, investigate its cause and then develop ideas for remedial action. Of course, we try to ensure that there are no problems, but if one does arise, I can feel like a detective," laughs the 28-year-old.

Nikolett can always rely on a motivated team. "Everyone in the team respects each other's knowledge, so we look up to each other and are happy to get the opinions of our experts," reveals Nikolett. "Everyone is helpful and we always pull together. I feel valued here at the company, both professionally and personally. I like the fact that a lot of emphasis is placed on making us employees feel comfortable at work."

Engineer and inventor

It's clear that Nikolett can highly recommend her employer. "In my opinion, what makes thyssenkrupp an outstanding E/E employer is that the engineers here can really use their creativity and knowledge: We can work with the latest technologies and tools and constantly expand our knowledge. We are always looking for the latest technical solutions, which we can patent individually and thus even become inventors." And that fits. To Nikolett - and to her life motto: "If you believe you can achieve".