Michael Bartels is responsible for the global pricing strategy of an international medical technology company. He is passionate about photography and filming. On his travels through Asia and Europe he captures the landscapes, people and architecture in striking pictures (Photo: private).
Creative Generalist and Traveller Michael Bartels
“I Was So Curious about an Unknown Country”
Michael Bartels particularly remembers the many projects on which he worked with his fellow students, sometimes for days and nights. “That’s a bonding experience,” he says. “It’s how I learnt to enjoy working with different characters.” Even today, he still draws on the experience of achieving goals as a team in a very interdisciplinary field.
CURIOSITY AS A BEACON
Also with regard to international experience Michael Bartels has relied on diversity from the start. He was interested in Japan, Russia and the USA. He decided for a year abroad at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan. “I was so curious about an unknown foreign language and a country that, even though it is economically similar to Germany, is culturally and socially very different,” he explains. The Japanese courses at the TUM Language Center and the professional support from the TUM International Center were the perfect preparation for his exchange year. His TUM professor Thomas Bock from the Chair of Building Realisation and Robotics also supported his endeavour. “His contacts paved my way to Japan,” says Michael Bartels.
The years in Japan were an important milestone in my professional career.
CAUGHT UP BY WANDERLUST
After finishing his degree, Michael Bartels wanted to keep working in an international environment. The Munich-based company Brainlab, founded by TUM Alumni and revolutionary in the field of Medical Technology Stefan Vilsmeier, met this desire with a job in the planning department. But Michael Bartels’ wanderlust was not satisfied yet. He wanted to return to Tokyo to improve his language skills even more and to gain further international work experience.
After an executive MBA in Switzerland and various positions at the Munich headquarters, he has been working for a very important technology leader in the field of Medical Technology since 2016. Here he is responsible for the global pricing strategy.
EXPERIENCING THE WORLD´S DIVERSITY
In addition to his demanding job, Michael Bartels still finds time for extended travels. Striking photographs and films capture the people, landscapes and architecture he encounters on his travels through Asia and Europe. For his documentary “Tokyo Munich – by land” he received the Munich Youth Film Award in 2005.
Michael Bartels (Picture: privat).
Michael Bartels
Diploma Architecture 2006
In 2000 Michael Bartels enrolled in Architecture at TUM. With the Young Scientist Exchange Programme of the TUM International Center he was at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan in 2003 and 2004. He acquired his first skills of Japanese at the TUM Language Center.
Back in Munich he was employed at his Alma Mater as a scientific assistant and continued to attend the Japanese courses offered here. In 2006 he completed his studies and started working for the medical technology company Brainlab in Munich. But his wanderlust was not satisfied yet. With the German Academic Exchange Service’s postgraduate programme “Language and Practice” he went to Japan for another two years. He honed his language skills at the Naganuma School (Tokyo School of Japanese Language) and gained further international experience at Brainlab’s Japanese branch. Since 2009, Michael Bartels has been back in his home town Munich and has been co-responsible for the global pricing strategy in a company’s headquarters since 2016. In 2013, he completed his MBA at the University of St. Gallen.
Michael Bartels’ spare time is devoted to pictorial arts. He exhibits photo and video work online.
