From the Lower Saxony Technical Internship to MTU Maintenance Hannover

Germany’s leading engine manufacturer offers a wide variety of appren­tice­ship opportunities. Part 3 of our series: Air­craft main­tenance engineer Pauline Riessler (MTU Maintenance Hannover).

A few weeks ago, 22-year-old Pauline Riessler opened the letter containing the results of her appren­tice­ship and couldn’t believe her eyes: 93 per­cent. She had achieved the highest grade in the state, putting her ahead of all her male counter­parts. “I knew I was among the best,” she says. “But the very best? That was a surprise.”

Riessler’s relationship with MTU Maintenance began back in 2014 through the Lower Saxony Technical Internship. This collabo­ration between the state and a host of uni­versi­ties aims to give inter­ested female high school and vocational college gradu­ates the oppor­tunity to gain practical experience of scientific and technical careers. At the same time, the young women get a taste of studying one of the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, mathematics).

“It works like this: over six months female techni­cians spend one day a week at university com­pleting a taster course,” Riessler says. “The remaining four days are spent at a company.” For her, that was MTU Maintenance Hannover.

Together with three other young women inter­ested in technology, Riessler gained practical experience in the various fields of engi­neering. Following six weeks of basic metal­work training, the appren­tices rotated through repair devel­opment, parts repair, quality control and operations scheduling. “The great thing about it is that you work closely with the engi­neers and can even per­form smaller tasks on your own,” Riessler explains. “Being so directly involved naturally offers great insight into what it means to be an engineer.”

Riessler recalls that she originally intended to com­plete the technical intern­ship and then go on to study. But after six months at MTU Main­tenance, she had a different take on studying. “I decided to stay on and pursue an appren­tice­ship in air­craft main­tenance engi­neering special­izing in engine tech­no­logy.” Thanks to her per­formance at that very same internship, Riessler can now celebrate being state-best. Since completing her appren­tice­ship, Riessler has been working at MTU Maintenance Hannover at the “special dock” for the PW1100G engine, one of the engine options for the A320neo.