Kulturpreis Bayern for THI graduate Manon Mandel

Manon Mandel, a graduate of Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt (THI), received the Kulturpreis Bayern of Bayernwerk AG on Thursday, November 12th, for her final thesis in the master's programme "Marketing, Sales, Media". The Kulturpreis Bayern has been awarded for over 60 years by Bayernwerk for cultural and scientific commitment, since 2005 together with the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and Art. The award ceremony took place in a studio in Ismaning and was broadcast on regional television and via livestream. THI President Prof. Dr. Walter Schober, representing the universities, was a studio guest and the godfather of the science prize.
When asked about current higher education policy, Prof. Schober explained: "Bavaria has the ambition to introduce the most innovative higher education law. This law will be passed next year. Issues such as transfer and start-ups play a special role in it. I am convinced that we have to encourage young people's innovative strength so that they can set up their own start-ups. Here in Bavaria we have a broad-based activity with the business incubators at universities. We are well on the way to success. Is there anything better for a young person than doing his or her own thing and being successful?
And the award-winning Manon Mandel is also successful. In her master's thesis entitled "From product seller to digital health care provider", Mandel investigated the question of what influence digitisation is having on the pharmaceutical industry and the importance of digital service offers. The aim was to find out how pharmaceutical companies can develop into holistic digital health service providers through services such as apps and how this will change the future business model. The 28-year-old conducted guideline-based interviews with seven experts from the German pharmaceutical industry.
Born in Munich, she studied communication science, psychology and economics at the LMU. Then Mandel decided to take the Master's programme "Marketing, Sales, Media" at the THI, of which she had heard only good things in Munich. Today, she sums up her experiences in Ingolstadt as follows: "Studying at the THI is actually very practice-oriented. There is a collegial, even informal atmosphere between professors and students. You're not a number as a student. And the teachers really do their best, they give a lot of thought to possible projects and final theses.
After her Master's degree in 2019, Mandel gained a professional foothold in the pharmaceutical industry. As a Marketing & Sales trainee at Bristol-Myers Squibb, a global biopharmaceutical company, she is active in the field of immunoncology. "Bristol-Myers Squibb develops innovative drugs with active ingredients that fight cancer without the need for radiation or chemotherapy by stimulating the body's immune system, thus giving many patients the chance of long-term survival with a good quality of life for the first time. I find this very meaningful," says Mandel.
In addition to Mandel, 32 graduates of Bavarian colleges and universities were honoured.