My name is Pablo Alvarez Romeo, born and raised in Spain, where I completed most of my studies, including a bachelor’s degree in mechatronics and a master’s degree in electronics. I also spent about half a year in Denmark as an Erasmus student. After my studies and a 9-month internship where I worked as an electronics engineer, I decided to come to Dresden to start a PhD in the field of haptic technologies, discovering Germany and growing as a person at the same time. I believe that working and living abroad is an enriching experience. You get to know different situations and it allows you to grow and open your mind by giving you an overview of many areas that you wouldn’t easily get in your hometown, even in this globalized world.
How were you at school?
Pretty disciplined and studious, especially as a child/early teenager. Later I got my first laptop and well, I had to find a new balance between video games and studying. It wasn’t easy, but I managed to get good grades and improve my gaming reflexes at the same time.
What was your dream job as a child?
I’ve always been fascinated by science fiction, especially since I first saw the original Star Wars trilogy. I wondered what it would be like to meet those robots (C3PO and R2D2) and talk to them. I guess that’s one of the main reasons that sparked my interest in engineering.
What was your favorite subject?
As an engineer, I should say a science subject. I have to admit that both physics and chemistry were interesting to me, but my favorite subject was always history. I suppose I was interested in how the world works, because we are not only bound by the rules of physics, but also by human behavior. And there are many examples of this in human history.
What is your favorite thing to do in your free time?
That’s a simple question with a rather complicated answer. It all depends on my energy level. I have to admit that I’m quite domestic, although the pandemic has changed that a bit. When I’m at home, if there’s a lot of time available, I usually focus on video games, series/movies and books. When free time is scarce, I tend to focus on watching short documentaries or videos with topics ranging from geopolitics to cats doing random cute things. Outside the house, I like to go for walks and enjoy nature. And barbecues. Before I came to Germany, I thought the US was the place for barbecues, but I see that I was very wrong.
What drives you crazy?
Making my designs work. There’s a constant loop in design where you have an idea, you design it, it doesn’t work, then changes have to be made and so on. Sometimes this whole process ends with unsatisfactory results and everything has to be scrapped and a new design has to be thought up. That can be quite frustrating. But that’s part of the process. In this context, I would like to point out that no matter how many times you fail, you have to keep trying until you succeed. Or until you run out of time.
Do you prefer coffee or tea?
Coffee! All my experiences with tea have been neutral at best. I would say that I can drink a bad coffee, but if I start drinking a bad tea, I can’t finish it. I hope the tea companies don’t prepare their marketing campaigns with me in mind: That would be a waste of money!
