About Us
Established in 2019, the “Asian-European Society Munich e.V.” (AES) provides a platform for students interested in Eurasian relations to interact with each other and establish new cross-cultural connections. Based on AES' vision to build an intercultural bridge between Asia & Europe, we organise a wide range of speaker events, corporate workshops, and social events to foster mutual understanding among students from Europe, Asia, and elsewhere. Founded as a student society at Technical University of Munich (TUM), we welcome interested students from all major universities in Munich to our events.
Our Beliefs
Vision - Building an intercultural bridge between Asia and Europe.
AES is a non-profit, student-run organisation striving to foster mutual understanding and collaboration between students from Asia and Europe.
Mission - Facilitate intercultural exchange and enrich student life in Munich.
Our activities promote direct interaction and knowledge transfer between students, academia, and the corporate world.
Values - Openness, diversity, and proactivity.
We welcome people with diverse background and encourage borderless communication in a respectful environment.
Our People
We are a group of students from diverse cultural and academic backgrounds, yet we have in common a passion for intercultural exchange and a strong interest in Eurasian relations. Click on the picture to learn more.
Our Working Groups
Our student society consists of six different working groups, each of which covering a crucial part of AES' activities.
Our Executive Board
Our executive board oversees the society's overall activities, provides strategic direction as well as manages legal and financial matters. The current board members are elected for the calendar year 2021.
Lukas Höcherl
Chairman
Korbinian Rausch
Vice Chairman
Yuruo Mao
Board Member
Merle Neumann
Board Member
Luca Seehafer
Board Member
Our Board of Advisors
Our advisory board consists of a group of individuals who share our passion for Eurasian relations. Given their deep understanding and strong network in Eurasia, they provide advice on a broad range of topics and thus help the society succeed.
Christopher Star
CEO at Space Belly
Chris is an experienced, hands-on strategist with proven track record in regional digital marketing for over a dozen tech startups across South East Asia. He helps startups launch, acquire new users and expand in new markets. Currently, he serves as CEO for Space Belly in Manila, Philippines. He is a very active member of the entrepreneurial scene in SEA, and held speeches at various events.
Dr. Sabrina Weithmann
Founder of Weithmann Consulting
Dr. Sabrina Weithmann advises organisations on various China-related topics. Moreover, she hosts the podcast „Chinalogue“ (see link above), and published specialised literature on China. Prior to that, she worked for a management consultancy and several international organisations, both in Europe and China. Sabrina holds a PhD in China Business and Economics from University of Wuerzburg.
Head of Fujitsu Academy Central Europe
Felicitas Birkner led many business projects to success in almost 30 years of professional career. She developed the P.e.P.Lebens-Stil-Programme®, co-founded the PWN-Munich e.V., and acts as coach, speaker, and book author. Today, she leads educational initiatives, is chairman of the Women in Tech Expert Committee of Bitkom, and has been awarded as “Women in IT Award Europe as Women of the Year 2019”.
David Berghäuser
Founder & MD at Gogoprint
In 2015, David founded together with Alexander Suess the online printing company Gogoprint. Today, the VC-backed company operates in five markets across APAC and employs more than 120 employees from more than a dozen countries with offices in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. Before that, David served as MD of Rocket Internet's Zalora in Thailand. David is a graduate of University of Mannheim.
Dr. Manuel Vermeer
Founder of Dr. Vermeer Consult
For more than 25 years, Dr. Vermeer consults DAX companies, politicians, and organisations on strategic topics in Asia. Besides that, he has published literature on China & India, taught at various universities around the globe, and is „Senior Advisor Asia“ at Mannheim Business School. Dr. Vermeer is fully proficient in Chinese and formerly acted as interpreter for intergovernmental consultations under former chancellor Helmut Kohl.
Christiane Stepanek-Allen
Chief, Responsible Investment and Partnerships at UNCTAD
Christiane Stepanek-Allen has over 25 years combined experience in the field of international development, providing policy advice to governments and capacity building in the area of investment and enterprise internationalization. She was based in New York, South Africa and Geneva and has worked in and with over 70 countries, including in most emerging Asian economies. Christiane managed several cross-cultural business linkage programmes.