"There was this machine that all at once opened the door to a whole new world for me," recalls Andi. Sometime in the 1990s, when still a teenager, he was sitting at his AMC 486 DX4 100, a now-legendary classic among home computers. "With my first LAN party, gaming reached a whole new dimension for me. Warcraft II, Counterstrike, Doom: Playing with others and growing with the challenges this creates has had me hooked ever since," says Andi. As one of the co-founders of the EDAG eSports Community, his eyes still light up today. One of his particular favorites was League of Legends (LoL), a multiplayer online battle arena game that was very popular in the scene. "With its incredible depth and seemingly endless opportunities to use different skills, characters and strategies, LoL is utterly captivating," he says. It did not take long for Andi to form a "clan" with fellow gamers to "do battle" with other eSports enthusiasts around the world. The next step was then not far off. With the founding of the Dynamite Ducks Community and the development of an eSports team for the League of Legends universe and Counterstrike, Andi and his teams eventually began competing at national and international level.
"With League of Legends, we came third in the European Sports League's (ESL) German Championships in 2015, and second in 'Bavaria's Best Gamers'." On top of this, they won victories and podium places at popular tournaments and cup events. "We played against some of the scene's celebrities," says Andi with pride. By then, they were just a short step away from becoming a professional eSports team. "But when financially strong players joined the game in 2016/17, it quickly became clear to all of us that we were unable and unwilling to keep up. So I am more than pleased that I can now share my experience and passion in the EDAG eSports community."
"I enjoy trying out all sorts of new things and want to get involved in different kinds of tasks," he says. This is also reflected in his very varied educational background and professional career.
Andi took his Bachelor's degree in agricultural sciences and his Master's degree in environmental planning and ecological engineering at the Technical University of Munich. After being employed as a research assistant in the laboratory for bioenergy at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich and working in biogas analytics while still a student, he and business partners founded their own soil analytics company. However, the venture failed to live up to the great expectations the founders had placed in it. "We had to file for bankruptcy. Although I lost money in the process, I gained an incredible amount of experience," reports Andi.
Even after the failure of the startup, as far as Andi is concerned, experiences such as getting involved in major tasks, dealing with challenges and encouraging people to find a common path are very much to his advantage. As a team player in both eSports and real life, Andi knows how important challenging situations are for mutual progress and advancement. This is also what brought him to EDAG at the beginning of 2022. "As a team leader, it's my job to bring out the many different skills in our team to the best of my ability and to develop them to their full potential."
Andi's team from the Integration & Validation department is primarily concerned with trucks. They put a wide variety of functions and systems such as powertrains, driver assistance systems, infotainment, high-voltage components and telematics systems into operation and test them. Highlights include truck operations on the test track. "Driving a truck at a parked small car at speeds up to 90 km/h in order to challenge the advanced emergency braking system gets the adrenaline pumping every time," reports Andi. "Fortunately, the car is made of interlocked plastic parts which fly apart in a crash, and can be easily put back together again afterwards."
And how does Andi deal with the adrenaline so that he can calm down again? Andi has practiced kung fu for 20 years and, as a master in this martial art, also teaches students. "Kung Fu is far more than just a martial art. It is also philosophy and meditation in one. It has taught me to take a deep breath, not to burden myself unnecessarily with things I can't alter, but to focus instead on the things I can change."
"In both kung fu and gaming, you always have to be wide awake, alert and open to new things, to alternative possibilities and ideas. Just because you set out on a path doesn't mean you have to stick to it. The basis for decisions can change, alternatives can present themselves, and new paths can be taken. This is a philosophy I also try to follow at work at EDAG, in my role as a team leader."
