Head of Civil Engineering Structures | Jörg Niewels

A playground for civil engineers

Diverse projects, diverse designs, international customers: From his point of view as a civil engineer, working at thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions is very challenging. Dr. Jörg Niewels has been working at the Beckum site since July 2018, initially as Head of Offer Department and eight months later as Head of the entire Construction Department. There he heads a nineteen-member team of civil engineers and coordinates the customized, turnkey construction of cement plants for customers all over the world.

“The technical creativity of thyssenkrupp is enormous,” says Dr. Jörg Niewels. “It’s a great feeling to see and understand how a plant works and to be involved in its construction.” However, he only discovered his penchant for the art of building after an apprenticeship as a banker: “I knew there had to be something about technology.” He studied civil engineering directly at the Technical University of Dortmund and then gained his doctorate from Aachen University of Technology (RWTH). Due to the variety of tasks in Beckum or at customer sites and the variety of designs, thyssenkrupp more than lives up to the expectations of a passionate civil engineer like Dr. Jörg Niewels: “Because no matter what preferences you have as a civil engineer, whether you want to build a 100-meter-high building, construct wide-span dome roofs or prefer to calculate pre-stressed concrete, at thyssenkrupp Industrial Solutions everyone gets their money’s worth.”

As Head Construction Department, he not only deals with technical issues, but also develops workflows and new strategies for his team. For Dr. Jörg Niewels, the top priority in restructuring is to get every employee on board while ensuring that the company remains capable of action. “Good preparation is important for this, otherwise it won't work,” he explains. “I plan every working day the evening before so smooth operations are guaranteed and the projects can continue without disruption.”