About Stefan J. Trucker
My name is Stefan J. Trucker and I have been fascinated by technology since I was a child. Thanks to my family, I was able to give free rein to my creativity and thus acquire a wealth of knowledge and experience in a wide variety of areas over the years. I love variety and looking at challenges from different angles, which often leads me to completely new solutions.
When I dedicate myself to something, I like to go the extra mile to achieve the goal in every respect, because it usually pays off not to just barely achieve the goal. My view is that if you invest enough work early on, you usually save yourself a lot of hassle and stress later on, and ultimately you have less work and more enjoyment, and that's what life is all about—doing what you enjoy!
- Education
Sep. 2016 - Jun. 2019Completed bachelor's degree at Technikum Wien, 1200 Vienna, with good results.
Jul. 2013 - Aug. 2013
Sep. 2009-May 2013During my apprenticeship, I participated in Skills Austria (2012) with my teammate and we took 2nd place. A total of 2 teams from ÖBB participated and during the preparations we jointly developed a production line from all available components for presentation purposes.
Oct. 2007 - Nov. 2008I have been working with computers since I was a child and have therefore developed a keen interest in them. However, during my studies, I quickly realized that I did not want to pursue this interest professionally, so I dropped out of college and looked for something technical where computer science still played a role, which ultimately led me to mechatronics.Nevertheless, my year at the Vienna University of Technology was one of the experiences that had a strong influence on my life. Although I dropped out of my studies, the lectures, especially in the area of creating models of reality and the social science background of computer science, had a lasting impact on my way of thinking and solving problems.Modeling helps me to concentrate on the essentials in all areas and to focus on what is essential. I have also learned that there are always different ways to achieve a goal. Some paths are shorter than others, and some take a little longer, but you can learn more from them and take further steps more quickly and purposefully.
Even though this time has had a big impact on me, I don't regret dropping out of college, because I learned more here in my first semester than I ever could have anywhere else. Furthermore, I can't imagine a job where I would always be working in front of a monitor.
I love variety and I also enjoy being outdoors, and laptops didn't have long battery life back then, so it wouldn't have been possible to combine the two.
2007Military service 2nd Infantry Company/Gd, Maria Theresien Barracks Vienna
I decided to join the Austrian Armed Forces because, after spending so much time sitting in school, I wanted to spend more time outdoors, be more active, and because military service is shorter than civilian service and starts earlier on average, as I don't have to look for a job and wait for a position to become available.My time in the Austrian Armed Forces enabled me to earn the Austrian Sports and Gymnastics Badge, which I was the only one in my company to complete at the bronze level, which contributed to my promotion to private first class. I loved that we regularly had camping weeks in the Austrian Armed Forces and did lots of exercises with the military academy, where we spent a lot of time outdoors.
Sep. 1994 - June 2006Science track
Sep. 1994-June 19982 years at AMS Vienna 18, followed by 2 years at Montessori VS Gilgegasse Vienna 9
Werbung - Career
My resume can be viewed on LinkedIn. I will provide a detailed list of my experience here a little later.
I started my career after my apprenticeship at ÖBB as a trainer at ÖBB. Since I became vice state champion at the vocational championships and my trainer/instructor at the time decided to pursue a new career, his position became vacant and I was asked if I would be interested in taking it over.
Since my teachers had already asked me after graduating from high school what subjects I would choose, meaning teacher training to become a high school teacher, and this was now the second time, I began to wonder why I was asked and whether I could really imagine doing that.
Since I had often helped my colleagues at ÖBB to better understand the material due to my in-depth training in automation technology, and had also taken over teaching duties when the instructor was ill, and since everything had always worked out very well, I took the plunge. - Career
My resume is on LinkedIn >My time as an instructor gave me the opportunity to deepen and consolidate the basic knowledge I had learned. I quickly realized that each group develops a completely different dynamic and wants the lessons presented differently. Some can't wait to get started themselves, while others prefer to be guided and play it safe with lots of additional explanations.
One of my biggest discoveries was to let the group decide for themselves what they wanted to do next, because that way they were much more motivated and more likely to persevere when things got difficult, since they had chosen it themselves and once they were done with it, they had the option of choosing something easier.
So I began to structure my lessons into modules that were designed so that they could be started in any order. You can find out how I plan my lessons and learn more about my materials on the subpage: mechatronik.truckers.at, the site I originally started so that the still completely analog training would be available online at any time, allowing my colleagues and I to learn anytime, anywhere. I have been working on the site for over 10 years now (not all areas are publicly accessible), and during the coronavirus pandemic, this site has enabled unhindered teaching. At the beginning, it was not planned that apprentices would be taught digitally, and it took a long time for colleagues to digitize their documents. Then the bandwidth of the LMS provided was insufficient, and the site loaded very slowly or not at all. - Certifications
Certified trainer |
Hydraulics training | FESTO
ÖSTA - Bronze | Austrian Armed Forces
I was able to complete the Austrian Sports and Gymnastics Badge in Bronze with the Austrian Armed Forces. - Hobbies
It is important to me to highlight how important hobbies are, because I did not learn most of my experience and knowledge at school or at work, but in my free time. I enjoy tinkering and teaching myself new things more than playing one video game after another or binge-watching one series after another. Of course, I have also...
Photography and videography
I have been fascinated by cameras since I was a child, but unfortunately, in my youth, I was held back by the fact that analog film can only take 24 pictures, development took about a week, and it was ultimately very expensive if you took more pictures.
Since the digitization of cameras, photography and filmmaking have opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Now, a video camera can record even under strong vibrations without any problems. Cameras now display a live image, allowing you to see the effects of your settings immediately, which makes night photography or working with filters much easier and saves a lot of time.
Now it is possible to concentrate better on taking photos and filming. This is also supported by the variety of form factors, as there are small and lightweight action cameras, smartphones, compact, bridge, and system cameras, so you have the right equipment for every application.Technology
Ever since I learned to read, my drive to understand and redefine technology has been unstoppable. I love to draw inspiration from old machines for new projects and solutions, and my urge to do everything myself is unbroken, which is why I have already acquired a lot of knowledge and my interests are wide-ranging.
My interest in being able to do everything myself stems from the fact that I am a mechatronics engineer and therefore have a very broad basic understanding, which makes it easy for me to solve a problem with the ideal solution, combining mechanics, electronics, and programming.
Nevertheless, it is particularly important to me to exchange ideas with others, because this is the only way to develop further and grow faster together.
Mechanics