Now she is mentoring the next generation

The time as a technological leap

Johanna Navarrete-Emretsson made the technological leap at Corporate Research at ABB. The department is unique and differs from traditional product development in that the purpose is to find the next big thing with a time perspective of 10 years into the future, rather than future years. By combining research and a broader view with a focus on concepts rather than individual products, researchers and engineers at Corporate Research can create future trends in technology. In addition, there are many different types of engineers and skills under one roof.

Johanna highlights the value of the meetings and contacts she created at ABB as a technology leaper. On coffee breaks and in the break room, she asked engineers in different fields questions about how they found their way to the profession. In this way, she was able to better understand what it meant to be an engineer.

"Working with things practically, but still having this anchoring in theory, I feel that was really, really fun"

The road to engineering

After four months as a technology jumper, and a couple of freestanding courses in the US via a scholarship, it was time for Johanna to start studying for real. She began her education as a civil engineer in electrical engineering at KTH. Her choice of studies was directly influenced by her time as a technology pioneer.

As a student, she had decided that she would complete her education and turned it down when ABB offered her a permanent position. Summer jobs, on the other hand, were of interest and Johanna got a position at ABB during the holidays.

After that, Johanna continued her employment at 20-30% while studying, and finally wrote her thesis on a previous ABB patent. Since she already had knowledge from her time as an intern, she estimates that this gave her a three-week head start over her classmates.

Supervisor for Tekniksprånget

As a former technology jumper, Johanna has a deep understanding of how her supervision affects the intern's experience. Her mentoring style is based on her own experiences and the knowledge of what works, and what doesn't.

Instead of quick meetings with engineers in the break room, the supervisor style is now adapted so that Ally, Johanna's current technology leaper, can meet engineers in their environment. Johanna emphasizes the importance of not being afraid to hand over your technology leap to other colleagues within the company. Although the supervisor bears the main responsibility, there is also support from others in the team.

She has also been meticulous with tasks and prioritizes that her technology jumper always has a task that can be done on her own. An important aspect of the intern's experience is their own responsibility and understanding of why the task should be performed. If there is time, it is always better to explain too much than too little.

Ally is also encouraged to visit as many departments as possible and is introduced to many different scientists and engineers, it is important to have several people you can talk to at the company.

"I think it's important, that it feels good in the match between technology jumpers and supervisors."

Why supervise?

The idea of giving a young person the experience she had has been in the back of Johanna's mind since she started at ABB. It only took a reminder in the form of a weekly letter in the emails for that idea to become a reality. For Johanna, it was important that the decision came from herself, and after more than three years as an employee at ABB, she felt ready to take on the responsibility.

The process after that was not complicated. After she expressed her interest in becoming a supervisor, she was given a list of candidates to interview, and she was offered support during the hiring process from her manager and the HR department.

"I can help someone else make a good choice for their future."