Passion for the automotive
Taavi Vaimel, 29 years old, industrial engineer from Estonia, has been working almost a year at Intercable in Bruneck as a global industrial engineer and team leader. He tells us about his experience and goals.
Taavi Vaimel
We meet Taavi on a sunny morning in July as he agrees to take a coffee with us to tell us about why he has chosen to move to South Tyrol and work for Intercable in the automotive sector and why he likes it here. With a notebook in one hand, he opens the door of the meeting room for us. Inside, everything is made of wood, from the big common table to the wooden walls, it is a cozy environment, and the perfect place for a chat. Taavi takes the time to talk with us, although his schedule is very busy: within a few days, he is off to Slovakia for two weeks to follow the operation of a factory.
What it means to be a global industrial engineer at Intercable
“Half of the time I work in the office in Bruneck and half of the time I am working abroad to support the operation of our plants in Slovakia and China.- Taavi tells us – The job can be tough because you have to be flexible and willing to travel a lot, but if you have a positive attitude and are motivated it is exciting and extremely interesting: you fix problems, you make sure everything run smoothly, you coordinate different engineering activities and help them to perform better and this can have a big impact on production”.
Intercable is a technological company; its products include plastic parts and components, specialized tools for power distribution and new solutions for hybrid and electric vehicles. Within industrial engineering, automotive is the sector that has always fascinated Taavi the most and this is way when he got the possibility to work for Intercable, he decided to leave his job in Tallinn and move to Bruneck. “I studied industrial engineering in Tallinn, Estonia, Turku, Finland and Stockholm, Sweden. I always worked while at university, and this helped me to understand what I wanted to do professionally. My dream has always been to work within the automotive sector. However, in Estonia, we don’t have this kind of industry, so I knew that if I wanted to go into this area, I had to move away from my country. I had been to Italy for holidays several times, but I couldn’t imagine it as an option for me in terms of career opportunities”.
The headquarter of Intercable in Bruneck
Moving to South Tyrol as a chance to work in the automotive industry
Taavi found out, almost by chance, about what the industry in South Tyrol could offer him. “When I was about to finish my studies at the University in Stockholm, some students that were in my course told me about an “Automotive Innovation Camp” that was going to take place in Italy in the Alps region. I found it interesting; I applied for it and was accepted. The camp was just three-days long, but it was a great experience: I had enough time to meet new people and find out about companies. I did not know about this beautiful region before.” After the camp, Taavi graduated and went back to Tallinn to work. It was only a few months after that he received an offer from Intercable. He saw it as a unique chance to finally go into what he had always wanted. A few months later, he was settled in Bruneck. “Before the Intercable job offer, I was already considering pursuing my career abroad, but inside ABB Group. Not many, whom I studied and worked together, were aspired to pursue an international career if you can find a job you tend to stay, but I looked for a new challenge”.
Climatic chambers to execute tests at Intercable
Taavi finds the job motivating and can’t wait for future challenges. “I find it great to work in the sector of electric vehicles. It will be the future of our mobility; it is exciting to be part of its development. Besides supporting the plants that are already in operation, I hope to be involved in building up a factory in a new country. This is a process that fascinates me a lot”.
A new home and a region to explore
Taavi likes South Tyrol very much. “I was expecting more differences in terms of culture and having a bit of a cultural shock coming to Italy, but in the end, I find the culture in this region quite similar to mine and it suits me perfectly. What I had to get used to is to leave in a smaller town, coming from the outskirt of Tallinn I was used to having a larger city nearby, now it is not the case, but I do appreciate the nature a lot”.
As far as his new home is concerned, there is still a lot that Taavi wants to experience. “I love skiing, but I also want to do start hiking. Everyone here is up in the mountains on the weekend and they come back really happy after their trips, I can’t wait to have some time to explore more the natural surrounding which I find really wonderful”.
Taavi Vaimel on a sky trip in the mountains
