Stage 1: how she learned it
BAFEP training and one year of work as a kindergarten teacher.
Built strong interpersonal and educational skills that later became valuable in technical education and leadership.
Building Services Engineering / Energy & Environmental Technology
Austria
Dr. Barbara Rehling
Head of Department, Building Services Engineering, HTL Pinkafeld
From training as a kindergarten teacher to earning a doctorate in process engineering — now leading building services engineering education and student innovation.
Senior (15+ years)
Career pathway
Stage 2: skills acquired
Degree in Energy and Environmental Management at the University of Applied Sciences Pinkafeld.
Created the technical and environmental foundation for a move from a traditional female profession into green technology.
Stage 3: how she learned it
Internship followed by employment in biomass power-plant construction, an additional process-engineering degree, and a doctorate.
Worked directly on plant commissioning and developed high-level technical expertise, including research on synthetic natural gas from wood gas.
Stage 4: how she learned it
Doctoral research, industrial practice and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Her dissertation project produced high-quality synthetic natural gas from wood gas and received the Watt d'Or.
Stage 5: how she learned it
Head-of-department role at HTL Pinkafeld, teaching and student project work.
Leads Building Services Engineering and supports student innovation; the Green Oasis moss air-purification project won Austria's Energy Globe in the Youth category.
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