For some time now, he and a couple of colleagues are being assigned as a permanent formation to big industrial projects. “Our team is interdisciplinary and self-managing which makes us agile and flexible. We usually manage a complete project, from the initial conversation with the client to the design and implementation of the software applications, and finally the test phase and commissioning. Clients are often a bit sceptical when we arrive without a project manager. But soon enough we’ll exceed their expectations and they’re convinced. Our team runs like clockwork.”
Tissue technology
The team is currently working for an international manufacturer of industrial solutions for pharmaceutical and nuclear medicine. The assignment at hand is a software application for an incubator that makes bone and skin tissue. “It’s not hard to imagine how precisely the production of tissue must be executed, a minor deviation in temperature or humidity can influence the quality of the product. We have designed an application that collects, saves and interprets all relevant data for the production process. As a result, the manufacturer of these machines can secure and guarantee the quality of the production process in which tissue is made to cure patients.”
Comfort zone
As a software designer, Danny has knowledge of both PLCs and the programming language C#. That makes him quite unique, not only within his team. “I will take on any challenge, stagnation simply is not an option. Technology is developing fast and I want to keep up my knowledge and be capable of doing everything myself. The organizational culture encourages a curious mindset, I don’t think I know any colleagues who aren’t eager to learn new things. For this project, I have developed a new web application while I had never done that before. That’s how things are done at ICT, you just learn how to do it. Not only with regard to technology but also regarding communicative skills. There’s a first for everything, for example having your first conversation with the client or going on your first trip to China to solve some problems on site. Perhaps you’ll need to step out of your comfort zone, but the effort will empower you.”
“I will take on any challenge, stagnation simply is not an option.”
Sharing knowledge
“Another great opportunity,” Danny continues, “was teaching a course on TIA Portal by Siemens for my colleagues. I have taken many of the courses taught by my colleagues, how nice to share my knowledge with them in return. Some of my colleagues were still working with the old version of the software and were assigned to a project with the new software. The software optimizes all planning and processing procedures, and saves engineers a lot of time. I showed them the upgrades and how it works. The ICT Academy offers a wide range of courses taught by our own people as well as external trainers, both for your professional advancement and personal development.”
Success story
“The current project is in the commissioning phase, we only need to perform and evaluate the SAT (Site Acceptance Test). As a team, we will continue to work with the client on a new assignment. We’ll be making an application for clean rooms, an installation to work with radiation or bacteria. The gloves attached to the clean room may not leak. A device has been developed to test the integrity of the gloves and I’m writing the software for the single board computer that will assess and save the data in one central location. The best part of this new assignment is that the client was a bit doubtful about our team’s method at first, especially because we weren’t going to be on site all the time. Now, we’re being presented as a success story towards their Italian headquarters because we delivered on time and within budget, something not too common in IT projects.”
