Honghao is a project manager at Geely

Hi Honghao, what are you working with at the moment?

I am currently working for Geely Innovation Centre Management AB in Gothenburg, and my role in the company involves me being the project leader for the hotel building on our campus, which means I am responsible for finding a hotel operator to lease our hotel and run it in the future, and for managing the construction project from the owner side.

What does a regular day look like at your job?

At this stage, it involves a lot of meetings with different hotel operators to be able to select the most suitable one for our campus. And besides that, we have a lot of technical and design issues to discuss with our contractors before the construction work actually starts.

Have you worked with anything else since you graduated?

After graduation, I worked for a sister company to my current employer called CEVT (China Euro Vehicle Technology AB), where I held the positions of IT assistant, software maintenance manager and Scrum master.

Why did you choose this programme at KTH?

Firstly, it was a joint programme between KTH and Beijing Jiaotong University, where I got my Bachelor’s Degree, and I love the history and art in Europe. Secondly, I wanted to do something less technical (my previous degree was in Mechanical Automation) and with more management elements. That’s why I chose Production Engineering and Management in KTH.

Are there any insights or knowledge you acquired during your studies that have been extra useful for you in your career?

It’s hard to pick something, but the lean manufacturing has affected my way of working and managing projects to a certain extent. I think the lean concept is very helpful for my career.

What was the best aspect of your studies at KTH?

I think KTH’s programme was well integrated with actual industry, for example in terms of projects, site visits and lab work at companies like Sanvik, Scania and Atlas Copco. This is really good for applying the knowledge acquired at school within a real workplace and it made studying more interesting.

What is your best memory from your time at KTH?

My best memory is my classmates from across the world. We were all strangers in Sweden, and through the programme we had a lot of fun together and became friends. I am still in contact with a lot of my friends from KTH who are scattered around the world. We still get together for each other’s big events, which is really nice and cool.

What are your plans for the future?

My plan is firstly to deliver my project in the next two years, and then I will see where things lead me. Maybe I will have other assignments in Sweden, or maybe somewhere else in the world.

What would you want to say to a student thinking of applying for this programme?

I would say that if you are like me and would like to learn more about management within industries, you should choose it, because it will be very helpful in your future work in terms of working methods and project management. And this programme has a good balance of technical knowledge and management knowledge.