Philipp

AREA OF ACTIVITY

Engineering Suspension

EDUCATION

B. Sc. Mechanical Engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology

DURATION OF TRAINEESHIP September 2019 - January 2020

Please describe here in brief what your activities were during your traineeship

I investigated the influence of various suspension fork offset lengths on the handling of the bike. This included the following tasks:

  • Researching the riding and suspension kinematics of mountain bikes
  • Creating models for the theory
  • Checking models in test rides
  • Deriving hypotheses to link the measurement results to the theory

How did you become aware of the traineeship at DT Swiss?

As I am an enthusiastic mountain biker, DT Swiss was already a known concept for me, and we already worked with DT Swiss shocks during a student project. These two reasons motivated me to apply for a traineeship.

 

What makes DT Swiss different from other employers?

You work with very young and dynamic colleagues who you can talk to at break times about technical details or routes you have cycled. The wide range of activities arranged outside of work also improves the team coherence. 

 

What were you able to take from your time at DT Swiss?

I gained good insight into the everyday process of suspension development and learned how to start and carry out a project without prior knowledge. This made me even more curious and gave me new ideas for adjustments on my bike that I want to try out.

 

What was your personal highlight during your traineeship?

My personal highlight was setting up and preparing a big telemetry measurement of a whole mountain bike with various suspension fork offsets and evaluating the data measured.

 

And what does the time after your traineeship hold in store for you?

After my traineeship, I will start my Master’s studies with a focus on design, mechanics and materials and continue to work for DT Swiss as a working student in the Engineering Suspension department.