Post by Vithushan N.

More than a Tourist: 3 Months of Innovation and Culture in Chicago 🇩🇪 ✈️ 🇺🇸 Four months ago I landed in Chicago with a suitcase and a project plan. Here's what I'm bringing back. I've been back in Germany for a month now, reflecting on an international assignment at the Fresenius Kabi site in Lake Zurich, Illinois — a suburb northwest of Chicago — from January to March 2026. Bridging Networks with AI Since joining the Network department at Fresenius in August 2025, my focus has been on replacing manual processes with automated, AI-first workflows using Python. The US assignment let me scale that work further — and site visits to our manufacturing, distribution, and office centers gave me a concrete, ground-level view of our infrastructure through Cisco Catalyst Center and NetBrain. The Chicago Immersion There's a world of difference between visiting a city and actually living there. Three months of navigating the winter cold, riding the "L" like a local, and finding the spots that aren't in the travel guides gave me a professional fluency and cultural instinct that no classroom can teach. Being embedded in a local team changes how you think, communicate, and collaborate. Gratitude to the Team This journey wouldn't have happened without some exceptional people. Hermann Luckhardt and Jukka Oksanen laid the groundwork for this opportunity, and Michel Grossenbacher carried it forward from the German side. Kent Lerdal provided great mentorship stateside — and the essential introduction to Chicago Deep Dish pizza. Stefanie Gulden and Jürgen Muthig's HR team navigated a complex visa process with real care, and Aimee Goodman and the team at the GACC Midwest - German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest, Inc. made the J1 process seamless and the Chicago welcome genuinely warm. Now I'm back in the lecture hall for my theory semester — and already looking forward to bringing everything I learned, technically and culturally, back into practice later this year. 🚀 #Fresenius #NetworkAutomation #PythonAutomation #AI #DualStudent #EarlyCareer #GlobalCareer #Chicago