Herzog, an electronics intern at the Johannes Kepler University Linz, took an outstanding 4th place in electronics at the WorldSkills vocational championships, making him the EU’s top participant at the competition.

The JKU is well-known as Upper Austria's largest institution of research and education, boasting over 23,000 enrolled students. What most people do not realize is that the JKU also offers apprentices and internship positions, such as in the field of electronics, providing opportunities to hone professional skills as well as combine theory with real-world, hands-on practice. During the first day of the competition, participants were required to master calculating and simulating analog and digital circuit design. During the second and third day of the competition, participants demonstrated their skills in troubleshooting, repair, and programming STM32 microcontrollers.

Intense Preparation
Under the supervision of electronics student Simon Dorrer and backed by expertise at the JKU’s Institute of Signal Processing (ISP) (head of the institute: Prof. Mario Huemer), Lorenz Herzog worked hard during his summer internship to prepare for the competition in Bern. The competition pitted over 1,000 participants from 56 countries and 61 different professions against each other. Lorenz was beat only by participants from China, Korea, and Switzerland. Herzog remarked: "Getting ready for the competition at the JKU was ideal as I could take advantage of the university’s outstanding infrastructure and expertise. The internship also gave me more insight into the university’s exciting day-to-day operations."

Lorenz Herzog (19) is originally from Wilhering. He graduated from the HTL Leonding and is currently completing his mandatory alternative service before starting his studies in electrical engineering.

The academic degree program, "Electronics and Information Technology (ELIT)", at the JKU is a contemporary, internationally recognized degree program focusing on electronics. Austrian national champion Simon Dorrer earned a "Medallion for Excellence" at the 2019 WorldSkills in Kazan (Russia). In addition, last year Manuel Feindert, also an institute technician at the ISP and an ELIT major, won a bronze medal at the EuroSkills (European Skills Championships) in Graz.