Wilhelm Stock learned the trade of electrician in the mining industry from 1975 onwards, before beginning his studies in electrical and automation engineering at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences at the age of 27. After completing his studies, he accompanied the development of automation and process control technology in the opencast mines of the Rhenish mining area at RWE Power AG before taking over the management of technical training at RWE Power AG from 2010. Until the end of 2022, he was responsible for the further training of 15,000 employees and the change from classroom training to global blended learning. During this time, the development of knowledge management and a digital education and content management infrastructure for RWE AG was also driven.
He has been retired since the beginning of 2023 and is involved in several projects to establish the recording of evidence of the lignite industry in the Rhenish, Central German and Lusatian lignite mining districts; on mining traditions and in the field of automation technology.