In Port and Learning: KLU Stories

He chose the strong path to land straight in the job market. Life brought him to academia. PhD candidate Zachary Rabinowitz tells us how the research in his Master’s in logistics at KLU opened new dimensions in his career path, leading him to stay at the university for a PhD. With him, we discover the backstage of research work and the motivations to join this endeavor. Tapping into his research o...

3 teammates, 2 business dimensions, 1 sustainable solution. In this episode, we sit with Agostina Altobello and Mariajose Gonzalez, the two KLU students who made it to the final of the Global Sustainability Supply Chain Student Competition GS3, endorsed by the United Nations. With a mindset on sustainability that goes way beyond the carbon footprint, the incombustible duo guides us through their i...

Always happy to “come back home” and always ready to approach any task with an Operations Mindset. This way shows up Marta Balbastre, MBA alumna and an absolute powerhouse. She tells us about how her ambition led her to KLU and how this step changed her professional career, but also made her grow from within. With remarkable strategic thinking and passionate about a job well done, Marta guides us...

Thinking outside of the box was not just a suggestion, but a mandatory rule in the future-thinking event Beyond Now, one of the boldest initiatives of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center at KLU. 160 students, 10 challenges, 7 strategic partners, and one goal: resolving real-world industry challenges with the most innovative ideas, dreaming beyond the frames of today’s business world. Take a...

With hundreds of hours of university engagement and a fairly developed Operations Mindset: this is how Ksenia Ramaj approaches the preparation of Disrupt HR, a globally spread event, for the first time in Hamburg. In close cooperation with Prof. Brooke Gazdag, Ksenia opens the way to KLU for experts in HR trends, inviting along all types of audiences who want to know how to make an impact in the n...

“Ask for more, the universe is not on a budget” – under this life mantra, Bachelor student “Charlie” has developed from scratch and participated in social engagement projects that have not only earned her a scholarship to KLU, but most importantly have bettered the experiences of hundreds of people. From representing over 80,000 students in her federal parliament to building an AI app with IBM, Ch...

In this episode, Carlos Avila Gorostiaga and Ferdinand Quaye are joined by Professor Rodrigo Garrido, Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Data Science and Professor of Industrial Engineering at Universidad Diego Portales in Chile. Together, they explore how human capital is at the heart of building sustainable logistics systems. Rodrigo discusses the challenges of workforce development in...

In this episode, So-Young Kim and Katja Wiedemann talk with René Vorpahl, Change Manager at Airbus, about the future of digital logistics. With over 25 years at Airbus, René shares how digitalization is reshaping supply chains from creating digital twins of physical processes to streamlining warehouse flows and reducing waste. He explains the challenges of integrating new systems, ensuring data se...

In this episode, MBA students Ina Litterst and Agata Florek welcome Lucy Cooper, Project Lead for Refill, and Steve Hanks, National Account Manager for Customer Partnerships at CHEP. Together, they explore how circularity is more than a buzzword – it’s the DNA of CHEP’s business model. Lucy and Steve explain how CHEP’s share-and-reuse approach reduces packaging waste, how refill pilots in UK super...

In this episode, SuMO students Zakaria Nefaoui and Spencer Artman are joined by Nelson Zampieri, Lean Six Sigma Manager at Pandora, who shares his journey from a law graduate in Brazil to an operations leader in Europe. Nelson explains how Lean principles like Kaizen, PDCA, and standardization are applied in practice, why people and mindset matter more than tools, and how coaching and teaching fue...

In this episode, SuMO students Merry Haarder and Thomas Ponath talk with Thomas Hougaard, Senior Vice President at IFU (Investment Fund for Developing Countries), about the role of sustainable finance in accelerating the global green transition. Drawing on IFU’s portfolio and Thomas’s own experience, the conversation explores both the opportunities and challenges of impact investing in developing...

His passion for logistics and sustainability is only comparable to his passion for people. Ferdinard Quaye, recent participant of KLU’s Master’s in Sustainable Management and Operations, gives us first-hand insights into sustainability practices across the world. From his homeland, Ghana, to Germany, Ferdinard looks back into his educational journey and how sustainability is met in different socie...

Endless curiosity and fascination for exactitude. These two traits made KLU Professor Arne Heinold embark on a life of research to find the optimal solution for very complex problems. Get to know his journey from studying at KLU to teaching the next generations about AI, transportation, and operations, from Hamburg to Vietnam. See how pure mathematics, logistics, data science, and business analyti...

Heard of love at first sight? This is more like “friendship at first talk”. Exchanging a few words was enough for David and Michael to know they had found a real soulmate, matching each other’s craziest ideas. From gaming together to becoming business partners, they have gone through it all, and have the greatest tips for a healthy relationship. Throw in the mix drones, AI, unstoppable energy, lau...

Comfort-zone free. This way can Leska and Linus be described after challenging themselves during their semester abroad. From the skyscraper fantasy of Shanghai to the flavors of Mexico City, our KLU students bring us along on this journey through their experience. Discover how they went from misunderstandings with the locals to receiving wedding invitations from them. And of course, add incredible...

Inspiration has one name: TED. And KLU students Oleksandra Shvets, Paul Scharlau, and their team have dedicated a year of hard work to bring the world-renowned seal of impactful stories to our Campus and to Hamburg. Get to know how a small student club became a true task force in pursuit of knowledge beyond the classroom, gathering some of the most stimulating minds to share a piece of their excit...

Diversity and inclusion are not synonyms, but they are interconnected. As a manager, employee, or simply as a human being it is key to understand this connection and have the tools to integrate diverse people. How can you become more inclusive in your day-to-day life? Prof. Gazdag, our expert on the topic, gives us in this episode clear achievable steps to make this happen and create for us all a...

The right attitude and a good pitch. Those tools made Alan Coronado stand out at KLU's annual Career Connect recruiting event and get hired by Sysmex, an international company specializing in medical devices. Sysmex hosted Alan for his mandatory internship. In this experience, he further developed his knowledge of sustainability, learned about the day-to-day life of a big corporation, and of cours...

As a child someone handed him a hockey stick, and his enthusiasm, abilities and hard work did the rest. Bili’s dream of being in the world’s biggest championship, the Olympics, has come true… twice! Discover in this episode not only a great athlete, but a great person, and how true effort, big ambitions, and deep humbleness lead to superb achievements.

In this last episode of The Sustainability Talks, hosted by Ilkka Kujala from our Master in Sustainable Management and Operations (SuMO), we explore the world of emission reporting and accounting for companies. Ilkka is joined by Sirkku Palmuaro, an accounting and sustainability reporting expert, who shares her extensive experience and insights into the evolving landscape of sustainability standar...

In this episode of the "Sustainability Talks" series, Jonathan Schünke and Lidija Peters from the Master in Sustainable Management and Operations (SuMO) dive into the practical aspects of achieving sustainability goals in the logistics industry. Their guest is Anders Christensen, Vice President of Logistics for Nordics at DFDS, a leading ferry and transport company based in Denmark. Anders shares...

In this episode of the "Sustainability Talks" series students Jonathan Schünke and Sophie Drakopoulos of the MSc in Sustainable Management Operations (SuMO) dive into the critical topic of sustainability collaboration in the logistics industry. They are joined by Christoph Wolff, CEO of the Smart Freight Centre, a leading non-profit organization in climate action for the logistics sector. The disc...

Constantly highlighted by our students as one of the best evenings spent at KLU, this event brings the community together to learn through short films about leadership and organizational behavior. It serves as a celebration of the skills of the students, the engaging learning philosophy of our university, and the feeling of community for all KLU members. In this episode, the creators of the KLU Mo...

Traveling through Europe was a clear goal in his life and an exchange semester at KLU made this, and much more, possible for him. With the energy of a spicy habanero, Cristobal guides us in this episode through the city of Hamburg, through the classes at KLU, and through an unforgettable experience that has broken all stereotypes and changed paradigms for him. Discover his journey and let yourself...

The war in Ukraine forced her to leave her studies in Kyiv and find a safe place to continue her life. However, no army can destroy the extraordinary energy of Oleksandra and her will to grow, thrive and give back to her community. Now inside the walls of KLU Campus, she is still the extremely engaged student she already was in Ukraine, and her story of overcoming all kinds of challenges with a bo...