16.07.2010
"I have been involved in projects with some of my fellow students from Karlsruhe across Europe."
Trevor Bannon did a M.Sc. in International Construction Management at the University of Applied Sciences in Karlsruhe (© private)
When Trevor Bannon came to
Karlsruhe in 1995 to do the
Master's Programme “International Construction Management” he had already gained three years of professional experience at an Irish construction company in Germany, had saved some money, but was ready to go back to college.
“The student housing was quite hard to get used to at the beginning,” he sais. Soon he got used to student life in Baden-Württemberg which he today – eleven years later – relates to as “colourful”.
“Although my class mates from France, Italy and England and me worked hard and had little time between classes like International Marketing, International Project Management or International Business Studies, we had a lot of fun shopping in Strasbourg, strolling through the park near the university campus in Karlsruhe or visiting companies in organized excursions."
Today, Trevor Bannon is Regional Director of the globally-acting firm “The Facility Group”. ”Even if I usually don’t have time to come to the annual reunions, I still keep in touch with some of my fellow students from Karlsruhe. I have been involved in projects with some of them across Europe.” Four years ago, he was the first person to be employed in Germany for the company. He was the project leader for a research center in Munich. His company offers the unique service of designing, planning and constructing buildings to a guaranteed maximum price – site analysis and feasibility studies included.
“Especially the language and the cultural peculiarities, but also laws, regulations and fee tables – there is so much you can only learn in the country where you work,” says Mr. Bannon. Born and raised in Ireland, he did his Bachelor at DIT Bolton Street, a College in Dublin but soon decided that he wanted to live in Germany. He and his German wife have four children and Trevor believes: "Young people have to leave home for a while to gain a broader perspective. I would always send them abroad." Then he adds: "And if they can appreciate a nice landscape, jogging in the parks and a good glass of wine as much as their father, they might want to come to Baden-Württemberg."
