A traffic accident occurs - vehicles collide - people may be injured. The parties involved duly inform the police. But technical expertise is also needed at the scene of the accident: What does the damage to the vehicles look like? Can the accident have happened at all as stated or assumed?
This is where Anja Schütz and Lea Kolbusch come into play. As experts for accident analysis and traffic measurement technology, they are on duty at any time of day or night. This is a sought-after job that is becoming increasingly important due to current trends such as staff shortages, lack of time and job cuts at the authorities - and the two vehicle technicians are already working beyond the Saarland to Rhineland-Palatinate.
An almost unknown profession
You need strong nerves for this job, which is generally little known, explains Dipl.-Ing. Gundolf Himbert, Managing Partner of HMS Gutachter Sachverständigenbüro and supervisor of the two htw alumnae. In addition to several years of professional experience, a willingness to work outside normal office hours and a desire for further training, you also have to have a strong mind: On site, it is not uncommon to meet injured or at least agitated people in exceptional emotional situations.
But the vehicle technicians, who also work as GTÜ test engineers in the pit at HMS, prove themselves in this diverse field of work and appreciate the variety of field assignments: They usually only find out what awaits them at the scene of an accident on site and hardly any two cases are the same. This also makes accident analysis a profession with a future: although AI will probably make the framework conditions (e.g. the legally usable formulation of independent expert reports) easier in the near future, estimates Gundolf Himbert, the assessment of events is always an individual case that cannot be treated in a standardized way or evaluated by machine.
Women in a male domain
Anja Schütz and Lea Kolbusch rarely have to deal with prejudices in their work as accident analysts. They are certainly surprised when they arrive at the scene of an accident as female experts, but they do not underestimate their abilities or receive unpleasant remarks. At most, these occur when they come into contact with customers who bring their car in for an inspection and only associate vehicle technology with experts.
But the opposite has also happened: Female customers who specifically wanted to have their cars inspected by the two female test engineers. According to the women themselves, they had less of a feeling that they were being treated from above or that they were being accused of a general lack of knowledge. And if something is still unclear, illustrative examples such as worn brake disks and broken shock absorbers are available for explanations. If time permits, you can also take a look under the car. After all, how can you (and especially women) understand technology if you've never had the opportunity to look at it and have it explained to you?
Enthusiastic about technology from an early age
Both HMS employees were able to fall back on this basic prerequisite from an early age. Anja Schütz talks about her family, where manual work was the order of the day. Gender stereotypes did not play a role here; she often helped her father in his own workshop and even unscrewed the training wheels on her first bicycle herself. Both also share the influence of older brothers. In addition to playing soccer, Lea Kolbusch was also interested in technical subjects from an early age. This is how they met in 2016 on the bachelor's degree course in automotive engineering at htw saar. They didn't know where they would end up professionally shortly after graduating from high school. However, during their studies and above all through internships during their studies, they gained their first professional experience and sharpened their view of possible fields of activity.
From learners to teachers
Both have kept in touch with htw saar. Today, five years after graduating, they are themselves working as lecturers on their former degree course. Not only do they give students an understanding of everyday life in automotive engineering, but as women they are also role models for female students in a field that is still predominantly male-dominated.
Initiatives such as the ScienceClub4Girls vacation program (STEM department of the Equal Opportunities Office at htw saar) get schoolgirls interested in STEM subjects from as early as year 5. In the medium term, formats for younger girls are also being considered. The aim is that, ideally, inhibitions and (unconscious) prejudices should not have to be refuted and unlearned in the course of a career, but should not arise in the first place. If the choice of a field of study is imminent or has already been made, the alumni network can facilitate and intensify the exchange between students and graduates. After all, like Lea Kolbusch and Anja Schütz, very few young people realize after leaving school that they could be the accident analysts of tomorrow.
Contact
HMS Gutachter
Sachverständigenbüro
Himbert | Schwarz | Seiz GbR
Schulstraße 16
66793 Saarwellingen
Phone: 06838 9060
Fax: 06838 906123
E-mail : info@hms-gutachter.de
Homepage: www.hms-gutachter.de