Praktis Welcome – Meet Luca!

To provide pupils with practical training, the 11th year at the Ingolstadt State Technical College and Vocational College comprises two work placements of nine weeks each, divided into two blocks of four and five weeks respectively. For several years now, Nepata has also been offering pupils work placements as a host organisation, giving them the chance to ‘get a glimpse’ into various departments – this year, it’s Luca’s turn.

Naturally, we’ve also asked him to answer a few questions so that we can introduce him to you.

Would you like to introduce yourself?

My name is Luca Vitzthum. I’m 16 years old and live in Wolnzach.

What do you get up to when you’re not here at Nepata?

I try to make the most of my free time to get the best out of every day. I have various hobbies – the main ones include: basketball, skateboarding, coding (and anything to do with computers), playing the piano, table tennis…

Which departments have you worked in, and what were your responsibilities there?

At the start of my work placement, I was given a rota drawn up by Nepata, which allowed me to rotate between different departments.

My working day as an intern starts at 9.00 am in the Engineering & Purchasing department, under the supervision of Thomas Bauer. Here, I check devices by testing them for all their basic functions.

From 10.00 am, I’m with Josef Geier in the Production & Resource Planning department. There, I organise and update important documents.

At 11.00 am, it’s the turn of the Accounts Department, led by Marta Schmidt. My task is to check sales invoices for accuracy, allocate them to the correct accounts and then enter them into the company’s internal accounting system.

After returning from my one-hour lunch break, from 1.00 pm I actively support the sales department, led by Stefanie Binder. There, I check that all information about our dealers is correctly entered into our system.

From 2.00 pm, I assist the managing director, Bernhard Schmidt, by entering files into the Nepata interface.

From 3.00 pm to 4.00 pm, I’m with the managing director, Oliver Tiedemann, and together we test devices, create test files or brainstorm ways to tap into new customer groups.

From 4.00 pm, I’m either in the logistics department with Tobias Schmid, supporting the Application Manager Ääd, helping out in marketing, or working through tasks that still need to be completed.

Which department did you enjoy the most?

I really enjoyed all the departments. However, if I had to choose two, I’d say the marketing department – even though I wasn’t actually assigned there. And Ääd is almost like a department in his own right to me 🙂

So, what’s next for you?

To get through Year 12 with as little stress as possible, as it’s likely to be quite a challenge.

Do you have any unusual preferences when it comes to documentaries?

I’m very interested in documentaries that aim to answer unresolved questions. On Netflix, for example, there’s the documentary series ‘The Billion Dollar Code’ – it’s about the legal dispute between ART+COM and Google. The basis of ART+COM’s lawsuit was an allegation of patent infringement. According to the claim, Google is said to have stolen the code for Google Earth. I find that sort of thing really fascinating!

Are you a ‘get-up-straight-away’ sort or a ‘snooze-button-pusher’?

I’ve had bad experiences with ‘hitting the snooze button’ (it’s taken its toll on my ego and my energetic/over-motivated side). That’s why I’m a ‘get-up-straight-away’ sort; I’m grateful for every day I manage to resist my inner laziness.

What was the last good deed you did?

I simply try to do as much good as possible every day. These days, I don’t even notice it anymore – it’s become second nature!