Ogi Stanovcic – ETH CIRCLE

Ogi Stanovcic
General Manager, Strategic Alliances
Ontinue, the MDR division of Open Systems

I left former Yugoslavia with the specific intention to study at ETH Zurich. My mentor at the time said to me, “this is the best engineering school in the world, you should go study there.” ETH changed my world in a very literal way – how I live, where I live, what I do and why I do it.

I was lucky to have that recommendation come my way, because I find that either people know ETH very well, or they do not know it at all. I believe we can better communicate the opportunity that ETH is at two levels in particular.

Firstly, when I am speaking to young talents as a mentor at a time when they are thinking of where they should go and study, I think that we can make ETH more approachable and appealing. This needs to happen early on, so that young boys and girls can aspire to join early on. We shouldn’t let the university be perceived as out of reach, unattainable, or elitist. This applies both to Switzerland and abroad.

Secondly, in the corporate world, when we are looking for more senior talent that needs to consider where they kids can continue their education, ETH becomes part of what makes Switzerland attractive as a place to relocate to. Yes the quality of life here is incredible, and we are close to nature thanks to our proximity to the lake and the mountains; but we also have fantastic gems like ETH that should not be underestimated as part of the appeal of this part of the world for talents abroad.

I love the word “ambassadors”, and that’s what we should all be as part of the ETH Circle: we represent ETH and its values, and help make it known across the world. We work together as a group on the ways to make it known, because the world needs more engineers. And the quality of the engineers that come out of ETH is second to none.