Golden Owl: "I mostly talk about the failures, the bad luck and the mishaps"
This year, D-BAUG students awarded Stefan Moser the "Golden Owl" for his dedication to teaching. He has been a lecturer in civil engineering for many years and is a member of the management of the engineering firm Basler & Hofmann. In this interview, he talks about what he likes about being a lecturer and what it takes to make a successful start in the profession.
Mr Moser, congratulations on winning the "Golden Owl"! What is your recipe for success as a lecturer at D-BAUG?
You would have to ask the students. The jury's statement says: "Great practical relevance with many examples." What I can say is that I do not offer a blue sky vision of construction sites, but mostly the failures, the bad luck and the mishaps – what we had hoped for and what went wrong. I try to convey that you always need a Plan B, because a project just can't go right. I try to show the students how costs, deadlines, clients and contractors interact, and who plays what role. And why, even with great people involved, a project can still fail.
Why do you teach?
I am motivated by the fact that I have a lot of freedom at ETH Zurich. The freedom to teach. I can decide for myself what to teach, what documents to distribute and who to invite to give a guest lecture. I try to give the students the knowledge that I, as an employer, expect from graduates. As a student myself, I always appreciated it when someone with practical experience taught. So I am happy to share my experience as long as it is welcome.
Your advice to aspiring civil engineers?
Go through the world with your eyes open. If you pass a construction site, ask yourself: Why is that scaffolding there? And why is that crane there? What are those silos? You want to understand. And that the students then try to put what they have seen into the context of the whole backpack that they have been given and come up with a theory as to why something is the way it is. Maybe it's right, maybe it's wrong. And that they try to go in a certain direction out of curiosity. You're young, you can try anything. If you realize after two years that the path you've taken isn't the right one, then you make a cut and try something else. I think the current market allows you to do that. So my recommendation is to go for it, jump into the deep end and keep your eyes open.
Thank you external page Basler & Hofmann for the nice video interview!
