Roeland Nagel

After attending Technical College, Roeland was offered a job as a mechanical engineer. He worked on interesting projects, but beyond his assignments he also frequently saw business challenges which he, thanks to his purely engineering background, could not work on. That is why Roeland chose to follow TU Delft's MOT degree programme. "Our year was a special group; we were all highly motivated and deliberately opted for this degree programme. The diversity of nationalities certainly provided added value. That proved handy in the course itself, but also provided a different view of all aspects of everyday life. It led to some wonderful situations; I can still remember the surprised faces of our fellow Asian students who were presented with bread for lunch: "Bread is not a meal!" Roeland now works as a consultant at IBM Global Business Services. "IBM is a company with over 330,000 employees worldwide, quite different from the other companies where I have worked. Such a large company is complex but one advantage of a global network is that I have quick access to any information I need with just one phone call. In my capacity as Consultant Technology Strategy I help our clients to structure their IT in such a way that it supports and boosts the company's strategy. I spent seven years working before I started the MOT degree course. In spite of my work experience, I learned a great deal from the degree programme. The main one was the academic skills required to set up effective research. My work experience enabled me to link theory to practice. It also allowed me to ask critical questions. Students fresh out of university will have to accept information more easily. In the couple of months that I have worked at IBM I have already noticed that a great deal is expected of you and that IBM has many opportunities on offer. I am happy where I am for the time being!"