Details zur Referent/in: Vera Böker
Vita: During her bachelor studies in mechanical engineering at the Leibniz University Hanover, Vera discovered her talent and passion not only for mechanic but mechatronic systems. After her bachelor’s degree, she hence decided to change her field of study to mechatronics & robotics. Vera studied one semester of her master’s abroad at the Sorbonne University in Paris and graduated as Master of Science in 2021.

To start her career in the automotive industry, Vera chose the Global Graduate Program in R&D Mechatronics at Webasto, supplier for roof, heating, and battery systems with headquarter near to Munich. Throughout the 18 months of the program, she got to know several functions in different teams and business areas. The program also took Vera three months to South Korea, where she gained more intercultural experience. With Mentoring as an integral part of the Global Graduate Program, she quickly learned how valuable the exchange with her mentor from higher R&D management was, for her personal development and career. Hence, she continued mentoring also after the end of the program with the mentor of her choice. Vera also chose to train as Continuous Improvement Coach in addition to her different functions during the 18 months, and successfully completed the training by presenting her first improvement project to the management board. As she was one of the few female engineers in her company, she wanted to connect more with other women and joined the internal network Women@Webasto, where she volunteered in the network organization team.

Vera continues volunteering for the network as well as working as Continuous Improvement Coach until today, now beside her current function as development engineer in Advanced Engineering. She started with developing innovative ambient light technologies for roof applications in the headquarter near to Munich. After one year in the job, Vera took over additional responsibilities concerning glass and coatings, for which she travels regularly to Webasto’s glass plant in Luxembourg. Her work mainly consists of activities concerning development and validation of concepts and technologies, as well as project management tasks like timeline and budget planning. In 2024, she was identified as potential in the company’s talent management process and is now working towards her career goals with a specific development plan.