After studying materials science, Maria Zivcec earned a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at RWTH Aachen University, focusing on alternative manufacturing methods for hard metals and their characterisation. Ten years ago, she began her career at Hilti in Liechtenstein as a project manager for powder metallurgical manufacturing technologies, followed by a role as a technical project leader in product development. For the past three years, she has led the Materials Research team in Corporate Research and Technology at Hilti.