A native of Carinthia, Zettel passed the vocational university entrance exam during his apprenticeship at the Kostwein company and decided to study Industrial Engineering at Carinthia University of Applied Sciences while working.

“Through my professional experience as a quality engineer, it seemed advantageous to me to have both technical and economic knowledge. Therefore, this field of study was just the right choice for me,” he recalls.

With the support of his family and his employer, it was natural to continue his academic career by pursuing a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management.

“Of course, it is challenging to balance work and studies, but we had a super community and strong cohesion among our fellow students, which helped us tremendously,” says Dominic Zettel.

In addition to Kostwein, Flowserve was a further professional station before he began his academic career at Carinthia University of Applied Sciences in 2019. Here, Dominic Zettel is working on an international research project, and this has offered him the chance to take up doctoral studies (with the partner university Technical University of Compiègne/France).

Dominic Zettel considers his chances on the job market to be extremely positive due to his educational focus on both the technical and the economic fields. He says that he has acquired skills that can be used in any entrepreneurial field.

True to his motto “Keep moving forward – take your future into your own hands,” he can continue to actively contribute his knowledge and skills to research projects at CUAS.

In his private life, he likes to spend his free time in nature, playing golf, fishing or playing ice hockey.