Ready for Upper Austria? FH Upper Austria is advancing the integration of international academic professionals

The demand for skilled professionals in the workforce—especially in STEM fields—is expected to reach into the thousands by 2030. Upper Austria is not alone in facing this challenge but finds itself competing globally for top talent. FH Upper Austria positions itself as a key player in this context. The university motivates international talents to pursue their studies in Upper Austria and supports them throughout their studies in building connections with companies. Recently, the “Career Talk” brought together 120 participants at the Wels campus—international students and alumni of FH Upper Austria as well as representatives from industry.

“Your network is key—alongside practical, hands-on skills,” says Pariya Kiani, originally from Iran and a graduate of the Master’s program in Sustainable Energy Systems in Wels, when asked about the recipe for a successful career start. Accordingly, she emphasizes qualities such as curiosity and teamwork when advising current international students—speaking from the perspective of someone who has “made it.”

Kiani is currently working on a Bavarian-Austrian hydrogen research project at the cross-border Energy Transfer Center of Landshut University of Applied Sciences, which once again connects her closely with “her” faculty in Wels—the collaboration through which the contact originally came about.

Combining fresh know-how with cultural background

The path to success sometimes involves skills that first need to be brought out of their niche. This is true for Seifeldien Hussein, originally from Egypt. He completed his Master’s degree in Automotive Mechatronics & Management in Wels and was able to leverage his Arabic language skills in Upper Austria’s export-oriented industry.

As a Technical Sales Engineer at fire equipment manufacturer Rosenbauer, headquartered in Leonding near Linz, he operates at the interface of management and engineering—focusing on the Middle East. There, his native language skills, combined with the Master’s degree he earned in Upper Austria, make him an ideal fit.

“Upper Austria’s strongly export-oriented economy needs both: technical expertise and intercultural competence,” says FH-Prof. Dr. Michael Rabl, President of FH Upper Austria.
“We support our international students in learning German, finding internships and thesis topics, and ultimately launching their careers—thanks to our extensive network with industry. Under the ‘Ready4Upper Austria’ initiative, we will place even greater focus on these activities in the future.”

Kamilla Trubicki, Head of the International Office in Wels, and Vanessa Prüller, FH Assistant Professor and organizer of the Career Talks, also aim to motivate more companies to actively engage with international talents:

“At our internal career fairs, we offer dedicated services for this target group to make matching easier. We want companies to see that investing in international students pays off. They need suitable internships and thesis opportunities—and most of them would like to stay here in the long term.”

And many do—like Olga Chuca, who came from Mexico to study Innovation & Product Management in Wels and now works at BRP Rotax. Or Electrical Engineering graduates Abay Orynbassarov—from Kazakhstan, now at Coil Innovation—and Utku Özkan from Turkey, who has been building his career at BMW in Steyr since graduating three years ago.

At the Career Talk, they all demonstrated just how valuable internationally trained professionals educated in Upper Austria are—for the region’s economy today and even more so in the future.

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