Yenni Setiawan

Back home in Indonesia, I worked as a mobile network optimisation engineer at Motorola after completing my Bachelor’s degree. After a few years, I felt like I was missing something: the logic behind the management decisions, and the big picture of the whole telecommunications business. The scope of my work was too specific to gain a good understanding of the dynamics in the company and the industry. This really motivated me to master the knowledge and skills required for managing companies, especially in the telecommunications industry. I looked for a Master’s programme that would allow me to understand the business while on the other hand still keeping the technological context in view. I focused particularly on TU Delft because of the good stories that I heard from other Indonesian students and the close ties between Indonesia and the Netherlands. The Management of Technology (MOT) programme at TU Delft appealed to me as it is tailor-made and touches upon all the important aspects of managing companies in high-tech industries, with a focus on innovation and company strategy. It also offers several scholarships for financial support, which was important to me. In the programme, there was an emphasis on practical examples and real-life case studies, which helped me to apply the theories being taught into practice. The plus of following the MOT programme is that you have close relationships with your fellow students as well as your teachers. This is because of the interactive classes and the intensive group work. The most interesting experience was calling my tutors by their first names and having meaningful talks during coffee breaks.Besides studying, I also spent time with other students having dinner, occasionally an international one, or drinks together. The Sport and Cultural centre at TU Delft offers interesting activities that usually I wouldn’t like to miss. Delft is a very nice and cosy city to live in, with almost everything within walking distance. I felt it was a perfect city for students. After I started my first job in the Netherlands at Vodafone, I was even more convinced that I had made the right choice with MOT. My job is to manage IT projects that bring new products or services to the market. As a project manager I must maintain a good overview of the project process and to a certain extent understand the technology that project introduces. It also requires an ability to communicate both with management and technical experts in the project team. This is basically part of the knowledge and skills that you bring with you from MOT and currently helps me perform these tasks effectively. Being a project manager is a certainly a good start of my career in the Netherlands. After a few years of experience, I think I’m ready again to move on to the next challenge. I don’t know yet what, but I guess that’s the most exciting part, isn’t it?