"What is your Volvo Future?" was the theme of the career day co-organized by the automaker and the Student Union at Chalmers. Chalmerists were invited to look towards 2020 and think about their own role eight years from now.
One speaker after another took the stage at RunAn amphitheater for a clever and entertaining presentation moderated by Navid Modiri. President Karin Markides gave a short welcome address, and then it was time for one of today's big news: the unveiling of this year's Formula Student car.
Together, project manager Jonathan Rice and Sven-Erik Svensson from main partner Volvo Cars, revealed this year's model to great cheers from the crowd.
Volvo brought along several of their absolute top names on the visit to Chalmers: besides Paul Welander and Sven-Erik Svensson, there was Peter Mertens, senior vice president of R & D at Volvo Cars; Jan-Eric Sundgren, Executive Vice President Volvo Group Corporate Public & Environmental Affairs and former President of Chalmers; Torbjörn Holmström, Executive Vice President, Volvo Group Trucks Technology; and Kerstin Renard, Executive Vice President, Volvo Group Corporate Human Resources.
The event's main attraction was Paul Welander and Peter Mertens' joint appearance onstage. Both managed to charm the audience, which predominantly consisted of international master's students, with plenty low-key humor:
“You don't have to be crazy to work in the auto industry, but it helps,” joked Peter Mertens.
Paul Welander said he had brought his Chalmers cap for Volvo Day, but forgotten it in the car. He has an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Chalmers and graduated in 1983. His once-white student cap has by now adopted a somewhat yellowish hue.
"It brings back a lot of good memories from my college, but also reminds me of what it was like to start the job search. I had no idea what working meant, all I knew was that I definitely was not going to work at Volvo. It sounded boring, like a factory, gray. Now I've been working here for 25 years. If I knew then what I know now I would have begged to to start right away - it's just that exciting,” said Paul Welander.
He had a special greeting for the nearly 200 Chalmerists in the audience:
"We need you guys for the future! We need you for the future because you have so many talents - creativity, innovation, new ideas and skills, and that is exactly what we want!”
And Peter Mertens added:
"We need you to make Volvo cool again! Help us get there and you'll have a very bright future with us.”
Text: Michael Nystås
Photo: Mathias Elmeskog (CFFC)
Read more about Chalmers Formula Student >>>www.chalmers.se/en/education/studentprojects/formulastudent/Pages/default.aspx