We are pleased to introduce Susanne Hazrati in this interview. Susanne is not only a successful graduate of our bachelor's and master's programs in Innovation Management but also an inspiring example of a promising career. In an exclusive interview, she shares her experiences from her studies, provides valuable insights into her professional career, and explains how studying Innovation Management helped her achieve her career goals.

Could you briefly introduce yourself and tell us what you are currently doing?

My name is Susanne Hazrati, 34 years old, and I am currently working as a Global Marketing Manager at NXP Semiconductors.

I am involved with RFID technology and its use in the aviation and pharmaceutical industries. Besides creating and implementing the strategy, I serve as the interface between R&D/Product Management and Business Development/Sales.

How did your Innovation Management studies influence your career path?

When I started my bachelor's degree, I was working as a customer advisor at a Raiffeisen bank. By acquiring technical and economic knowledge—alongside the innovation-related content—I decided to look for something new outside this solid but rather monotonous and conservative field of work in the bank. After completing my bachelor's degree, I started in Technical Marketing at NXP, a high-tech company (headquartered in the Netherlands) with now more than 35,000 employees worldwide and over 9,500 patent families. The master's degree refined the bachelor's studies in terms of leadership/management skills, which are essential for my current position. As an interface function between product management, business development, sales, and market communications, the soft skills learned in addition to the technical content during my studies were equally important.

What are your personal highlights and memories of the studies?

My academic highlight was learning the interdisciplinary ability combined with aspects of innovation—and that as part of a degree program.

The resulting network and the personal development that took place during the studies are also among the highlights for me.

What advice would you give our future students?

Whether in your studies, private life, or work life—go through life with a "YES, AND..." and not with a "yes, but...". Change and innovation can only happen if we allow them. During the studies, you meet many great people—lecturers from the industry and fellow students—a unique opportunity to build a broad and cross-industry network.