Graduate pathway

Marcel's story

From lecture halls to international exhibitions: how Marcel turned his degree into real-world experience with TechStart.

Age 25 · Warwick graduate

"Joining the programme has shaped both my career and my confidence. It has also given me a much clearer understanding of what I am capable of achieving."
- Marcel

From university to real-world experience

When Marcel graduated from the University of Warwick, he was looking for an opportunity that would help him turn what he had learned into practical experience. Joining TechStart has given him exactly that, along with opportunities he would never have expected so early in his career. Rather than spending all his time learning in a classroom or carrying out basic graduate tasks, he has been involved in technology projects from the early stages of development through to international exhibitions.

Working in Taiwan

Over the past year, Marcel has spent much of his time in Taiwan working on technology projects and supporting the development of products intended for the global market. This has allowed him to work closely with experienced teams, understand how products move from an initial idea into development and see how technology businesses operate across different countries. Living and working in Taiwan has also helped him become more independent. He has had to adapt quickly, communicate with people from different cultures and become more comfortable taking responsibility in unfamiliar situations.

Visiting global technology leaders

During his time in Taiwan, Marcel had the opportunity to visit the TSMC Innovation Museum in Hsinchu and Google's engineering headquarters in Banqiao. As a student, these are the types of global technology companies you hear about in lectures, case studies and industry reports. However, most students never have the opportunity to visit their facilities, tour their sites and learn directly about the work taking place there. Seeing these organisations at close quarters gave him a much better understanding of the scale of the technology industry and the expertise behind the products and services we use every day. It helped connect what he had studied at university with how engineering, innovation and product development work in practice.

Building and exhibiting technology

Marcel also travelled to Shenzhen to source parts and components for the products the team were building. This gave him a better understanding of the practical side of product development, including identifying suppliers, assessing components and making decisions based on quality, cost and suitability. In January 2026, he travelled to CES in Las Vegas, one of the world's largest technology exhibitions, as part of the team presenting products he had helped to develop. Seeing their work displayed in front of an international audience was a proud moment. It showed him how the individual tasks he had worked on contributed to something much larger. Preparing for CES also taught him about the work that takes place behind the scenes, from product testing and troubleshooting to logistics and preparing demonstrations for potential customers and partners.

Looking ahead

Marcel is now looking forward to exhibiting at NRF in New York in 2027. The opportunity to present the team's technology at another major international exhibition gives him something exciting to work towards and shows how far he has come since leaving university. TechStart has given him experiences that many graduates may spend years trying to find. He has been trusted to contribute to meaningful projects, work overseas, source components directly from manufacturers, visit leading technology companies and represent the team's work at major international events.