"I remember the early days very well," says Daniel Slezak, who has been working at KUKA in Budapest for over 3.5 years. "In an email from our communications team, I learned about the Global Exchange Program and was immediately excited about the opportunity to go to China." The program allows KUKA employees to work abroad for a few months. Shorthand, he applied for a project in research and development (R&D) at the technology park in Shunde and was accepted.
"Exciting, beautiful and challenging."
Daniel Slezak loves to travel and has already been to many continents and countries. But he had not yet been to Asian before the start of his Global Exchange in August 2022. "The first weeks in Shunde were exciting, beautiful and challenging," Daniel says. "Because there are still strict entry requirements due to Corona." That meant 3 weeks in quarantine first. Meanwhile, the quarantine period amounts to only 7 + 3 days. When things really got going at KUKA Robotics Guangdong Co Ltd in Shunde, Daniel experienced great support from his colleagues. "They showed me everything – from the office to parks and restaurants in Shunde. So, I quickly made new contacts, which have since become friendships."
New tasks, valuable insights
In Budapest, Daniel worked in the "Service and Solutions" area of IT, fixing software bugs and implementing new functions, for example. In Shunde, he is now working for the first time in R&D on robots, more precisely on Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR).
"Being here on site has great advantages," Daniel tells us. "I now understand the way my Chinese colleagues work much better; know what is important to them. Since the teams in Hungary and China are working on the same projects, these insights and experiences will also be very valuable to me in the future."
He likes his stay so much that he has extended it by four more weeks in Shunde. "The Global Exchange Program is a great and enriching experience."
