Category: Testimonials

The Netherlands has long worked to put its stamp on mechatronics design and development. One way the country maintains its ‘Dutch approach’ is through trainings to transfer the knowledge. But how does that differ from other regions in the world? Vinicius Licks, professor of mechatronics at Brazil’s Insper College, shares what he observed attending Dutch mechatronics training.

With a rich history of technical innovation embedded in its culture, the Netherlands has long been at the cutting edge of technology and engineering. This advanced position stems, in part, from the robust relationship between industry leaders and the technical universities. However, another instrument the Dutch use to maintain a healthy high-tech ecosystem is through the utilization of courses and trainings to both transfer and preserve the knowledge. Now, as the Netherlands’ high-tech industry continues to hold its influence on global markets and supply chains, it should come as no surprise that the country’s expertise and skills within the realm are also of great international appeal.

Just ask Vinicius Licks, professor and associate dean of the mechatronics program at Insper College in São Paulo, Brazil. In 2018, Licks made his first of three long treks from South America straight to the Netherlands. He didn’t travel across the globe to enjoy a vacation; he came to get a feel for the Dutch high-tech environment, specifically through the mechatronics training cluster provided by High Tech Institute. “Training is one of the best ways to get in touch with new ideas and often to get new perspectives on old ideas,” says Licks. “It’s a great opportunity to communicate with your peers, exchange best practices and learn how to push the state-of-the-art in the field.”

Eye opening

Of course, coming from a setting in higher education, Licks was more accustomed to attending conferences, rather than technical training programs. “I work for an academic institution, so usually we’re the trainers, not the trainees,” he jokes. “But this was truly an eye-opening experience for me.” According to Licks, his first course, the “Motion control tuning” training, offered him a vastly different perspective on teaching and learning feedback control. “Most schools that I’m familiar with emphasize system identification in the sense that you must use it first to get a plant model to work with in your tuning efforts. The approach that I was exposed to during the training, however, was more experimentalist. The focus was less on the ‘modeling from first principles’ part and more on using frequency response estimates to tune the controller iteratively. While this approach to teaching feedback control was new to me, it was clear that for the control engineers in the Dutch mechatronics cluster, this was common sense.”

Enthusiastic after completing his first course, Licks made the long journey across the Atlantic twice more in 2019, specifically for two more courses in the Mechatronics Academy’s training curriculum: “Advanced motion control” and “Experimental techniques in mechatronics.” “I was so impressed with the courses that I attended, they really helped me sharpen my skills and understanding of the Dutch cultural approach to mechatronics, both practical and theoretical,” highlights Licks. “The instructors were very knowledgeable and all of them professionally connected due to working or studying together in the past. That makes a big difference in terms of continuity and coherence of the content they’re delivering – all with the same vocabulary and experimental references.”

“The curricula are very meaningful and relevant. They’re completely designed for someone who wants to have a complete view of the field of mechatronics design. The sequence of courses is built in such a way that some frameworks will be dealt with continuously, but from different perspectives and with increasing complexity. This is very rewarding because you feel that someone has put in time and effort to really think about what’s included in every one of the courses,” depicts Licks. “It’s most likely, of course, that this is the work of many people and the outcome of several iterations of offering the same courses along the years, but also of caring to ‘close the loop’ with student feedback.”

Automation and Control Lab at Insper College in São Paulo, Brazil. Photo credit: Insper.

How were these trainings different from others that you’ve attended elsewhere?

“These trainings, in particular, have given me a different perspective about how feedback control theory can be taught and learned, as well as the importance of creating common project frameworks before sharing these frameworks with all your teams and making sure that every new team member will be well-versed in those frameworks as soon as possible. Coming from outside the Dutch cluster, it’s very interesting to realize how much shared knowledge there is in this industry in the Netherlands. People have been indoctrinated, in a positive way, into using the same conceptual tools and vocabularies, which makes the region much more productive. It’s amazing to see all these people getting so excited to look at an experimental Nyquist plot,” laughs Licks, “I’ve never seen such a fervent devotion to the frequency response function.”

Pragmatic

Another specific difference that Licks sees in the Dutch courses, versus others, is the style and format in which the training is presented. He says, of the several previous trainings he’s attended, they almost always fall in one of two categories: extremely theoretical or purely empirical. “Instructors coming from academia tend to be more prone to the theory, while typically, the industrial side is drawn the other way. What I experienced in the Netherlands was a methodology that mixed both worlds in such a way that theory was always informed by experimentation. You see that theory actually works in practice and you have a robust understanding of why this works because of the theoretical background. It’s this approach to teaching and learning that reflects much of the pragmatism embedded in the ‘Dutch way’ of doing mechatronics design.”

Do you have any plans to return for a fourth training course?

“As a matter of fact, yes. I’m looking forward to attending the ‘Advanced feedforward and learning control’ training. But I still have to convince the organizers to include additional sessions closer to the summer when the weather in the Netherlands is way more attractive!”

This article is written by Collin Arocho, tech editor of High-Tech Systems.

Training programs can be an effective tool for any high-tech company to attract new talent and help employees sharpen their skills. To Development Manager Stefan Vossen of Hittech Multin, training courses provide something much more important – a chance to discover your intrinsic motivation and realize your passion. Hittech Multin organized the ‘EMC for mechatronic engineers‘ training in-company.

In 1994, Cor Heijwegen stepped down as a divisional director within the Hoogovens Group. The group consisted of numerous companies that supplied Hoogovens, now Tata Steel, with tools and materials used in the production of iron, steel and aluminum. On his way out, Heijwegen and a couple of colleagues decided to start their own business comprised of several of the Hoogovens suppliers, which was called Hoogovens Industriele Toelevering (Hoogovens Industrial Supply) or Hit Group. In 2004, it was incorporated as Hittech Group. Today, the corporation consists of eight self-governing, but not independent outfits, managed by a small holding company. By design, the companies are kept small, less than 100 people, to ensure flexibility, entrepreneurship and a focus on the customer.

One of Hittech’s subsidiaries, Hittech Multin specializes in the development and production of mechatronic products for the medical, semiconductor, measurement and analytical industries. These products are subject to high qualification requirements and are often associated with accurate positioning, optics, vacuum technology, cleanliness and medical regulations. To achieve this, the Hague-based Multin branch requires a staff with a strong technological background, as well as the desire to enhance skills through training.

“It’s no wonder that the majority of the development capacity of Hittech Group sits under the roof of Hittech Multin,” remarks Development Manager Stefan Vossen. “To work here requires the mindset and an urgency to constantly improve and the willingness to really engage with customers. That’s why so many of the technological advancements of Hittech are developed in, and with involvement from, this department.”

Stefan Vossen from Hittech Multin organized the ‘EMC for mechatronic engineers’ training in-company. Photo by Fotowerkt.nl

Philosophy

To maintain the customer-oriented focus, Hittech is continually looking to shake things up and employ out-of-the-box thinking to adapt and better fit its customers’ needs. After all, its mantra is “masters in improvement”. One tool the systems development company uses to ensure this is training. “I have a different kind of philosophy when it comes to training. I’ve noticed a number of times when attending my own courses, there’s a stark difference between those that are motivated to be there and others that are obligated to attend,” recalls Vossen. “The truth is, if you’re not intrinsically motivated to be there, you’re not likely to get anything out of it.”

Vossen himself started his career as a scientist at TNO, specializing in electromagnetism. While at the institute, he became interested in coaching others in their professional trajectories. “It was a rather steep growth track, but I attended multiple trainings on coaching. In these courses, I learned so much about myself,” illustrates Vossen. “That’s where I discovered that I really enjoy working with younger people and trying to help them further their career. That’s when I became a team manager and really found my passion for coaching and mentoring young talent. And ever since, that’s where I’ve tried to put my energy.”

Driver’s seat

Another aspect to Vossen’s philosophy on training is that there will never be a fixed course program in his group. Rather, training programs should be tailor-made to custom fit each member. “It really comes down to the needs of the person, of course, within their role on the team. I want to see them be enthusiastic about something and decide for themselves,” says Vossen. “I shouldn’t be in the driver’s seat of their career. That has to come from them, with their own vision and their own interests. I think taking courses is part of that.”

It seems like the approach is paying off. According to Vossen, over the last few years, product development at Hittech has been undergoing a transition. When the company was founded, the focus was on materials knowledge and construction principles, but now, it’s centered on moving mechanisms and mechatronics, combined with optics, electronics and software. “As a company, we’re offering fully integrated products. But with this transition, we’ve really had to intensify the systems engineering within the group,” expresses Vossen. “This shift meant we needed to adapt and improve our capabilities and I had a number of our engineers requesting to enroll in training courses.”

ROI

Recently, there was such an interest in an EMC training course that Hittech decided to commission a company edition of High Tech Institute’s “EMC for mechatronic engineers”. “When we select training courses, we don’t want a standard, textbook type of course. It’s important for us to find trainings that are taught by people with deep roots and experience in the high-tech domain,” highlights Vossen. “That’s really why we turned to High Tech Institute. Their trainings are designed for the industry by experts in the industry. It gives me a great level of comfort when arranging these kinds of trainings, as I know the content is always reliable.”

A training, however, is meaningless if it doesn’t lead to results, and of course a return on the investment. Though this can sometimes be difficult to quantify, for Vossen, the data is clear. One specific place he’s noticed marked improvements is in the early stages of system design. Vossen: “I’ve seen that our engineers often come back from training with a fresh new perspective. I notice this particularly in the beginning stages of project planning. For example, in the process of setting up error budgets, the engineers are taking more details into account, specifically with an eye to possible EMC-related issues, very early on. In the past, however, they might have missed these potential issues altogether.”

“Another benefit that I attribute to my employees participating in training programs is that it seems to help foster communication. Specifically, between those working in groups that consist of engineers from the various disciplines. They seem to understand each other’s needs better and hence take each other more into account from the start. And while no project is perfect the first time around, the better your specs and conditions are at the beginning of a project, the better and smoother the project is sure to go.”

This article is written by Collin Arocho, tech editor of Bits&Chips.

Driven by the needs of society, Omron has spent nearly 90 years developing innovative technologies to enhance people’s daily lives. According to the company’s European R&D manager Tim Foreman, this takes a commitment to keeping employees challenged and motivated by helping them enhance their skillsets with training. High Tech Institute provided a mixture of its soft skills & leadership trainings.

Perhaps you’re not familiar with Omron, but one thing for certain, you’ve benefitted from its technology. From its first innovation of accurate x-ray control timers, to the magnetic strips on credit cards, early ATMs and digital blood pressure monitors used at doctor’s offices – the company has been at it for more than eight decades. “Our philosophy has always been, to create value based on the needs of society,” describes Omron’s European R&D manager, Tim Foreman. “Society changes, and we’re continuously adapting to find innovative solutions to newfound issues. That’s what keeps us at the leading edge.”

Employing some 40,000 people around the world, Omron has received numerous recognitions, including a spot on the Derwent Top 100 Global Innovators by Clarivate Analytics and a top ranking on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, which uses several indices to track sustainability efforts by publicly traded companies. “To make it on these lists is a great honor for us at Omron,” expresses Foreman. “It shows that not only are we among the innovation leaders in our field, but as a company, we keep our focus on the environment and do it in a smart way.”

Photo by Vincent van den Hoogen.

Tsunagi

Originally known as Tateishi, the Kyoto-based Omron has built its foundation on two key technologies: sensing and control. For instance, remote control devices in automobiles that detect your proximity to your vehicle, before automatically unlocking the doors as you get within a close distance. “It was these electronics components, the switches and relays inside of devices, that really got the business going,” explains Foreman. More recently, as technology has advanced, the company added a third core focus, referred to as “think,” aka machine learning.

The spotlight, however, isn’t simply on developing individual products, it’s about providing outstanding customer service. Behind the core technologies of Omron is for example the service known as Tsunagi – a Japanese word that translates to “filler”. “Tsunagi means that in your house, if you find a crack in the wall, you fill it in and repair it,” illustrates Foreman. “In the electronics business, it’s common to source parts from different vendors. Perhaps you choose Omron’s IPC, but another company offers you a highly specialized sensor that you need. The two parts should be compatible, but sometimes the user will get an error message. Rather than place blame or leave the customer to contact others, at Omron, we look to fill in the cracks. We tell our customers, no matter the issue, call us. We’ve put together some 400 small manuals to make systems work seamlessly and to provide expertise in interoperability – that’s tsunagi.”

Stakeholder management

With a portfolio of more than 200,000 products, Omron’s focus on interoperability and integration is a crucial part of the business. Not everything can be perfectly integrated, and when you’re dealing with different global offices, that can get tricky. An example, a safety sensor developed in Italy needs to work seamlessly with a control device developed in the Netherlands. This relies heavily on the communication abilities between the groups. “If the two sides fail to talk, it becomes immediately clear to our customers,” says Foreman. “That’s why we place a real emphasis on communication during the entire development of new products. When things are seamlessly integrated, our customers can clearly see the benefit of what we offer.”

To achieve enhanced communication between units, Omron’s R&D manager turns to trainings and courses. “We have some incredibly bright employees at Omron, all of them very technically gifted, be it in software, mathematics or electronics. But while their technical skills may shine, it’s a much smaller percentage that also have strong social skills,” clarifies Foreman. “While especially skilled, our engineers sometimes don’t have the tools or experience to effectively convey their message. In the high tech world, that’s an essential piece to the puzzle.”

“You have to know how to sell your story and motivate others on the team. Furthermore, when you know you’ve got a good idea, you need to know how to approach upper management and convince them. It’s all about stakeholder management – a very expensive and very important term,” continues Foreman. “That’s why we turned to High Tech Institute to help us create Omron’s Talent Academy Training. They speak the right language; they understand the ecosystem and help give our boys and girls the tools to greatly improve on these skills and others.”

Motivation

This isn’t the only benefit that Foreman sees with training his employees. “It’s really just a question about how you keep talented workers, especially in the competitive high tech industry. The answer is simple: you’ve got to keep your people motivated. But how do you do that? Of course, you start by giving them a good salary, but that’s not enough. It’s done by giving them interesting challenges that apply to real-world issues and offering them state-of-the-art tools, equipment and training to tackle these issues,” claims Foreman. “It’s about creating a working environment where they can have fun and enhance their personal knowledge and skillsets. When these criteria are met, it shows in the final product and ultimately, improves its popularity on the market. What better motivator is there?”

It’s precisely these efforts to retain its talented workforce that are perhaps more telling than the total number of workers employed by the electronics company. At Omron, there are some workers that have been with the business for more than 30 years already. “These people have spent thousands of hours with their machines. They can be 10 meters away from them, hear an unusual noise and instantly know what the problem is,” boasts Foreman, himself a 26-year employee of the company. “But to be perfectly honest, that’s not a modern practice anymore. Nowadays, employees want to get a variety of experience – to try a little of this and a little of that.”

Omron’s solution: offer its employees broad access to various trainings for individual improvement. At the same time, the company works in-house to develop and apply computer learning models that allow machines to learn from the experienced operators. “The machines can then fill in the gaps and help guide a newer generation of operators,” suggests Foreman. “That’s the sort of technologies we’re currently working to develop at Omron.”

This article is written by Collin Arocho, tech editor of Bits&Chips.

Despite competition from China and the US, the Netherlands continues to play a major role in the world of high tech. Patrick Strating of NTS believes it starts with high-tech companies that have close ties to top-notch technical universities and continues with ambitious workers that thrive on life-long learning through training. NTS organizes the Consultative selling training from time to time.

Roughly five years ago, NTS started on a new mission: to become a leading supplier of machine equipment for the world’s top OEMs. In order to achieve this, the Eindhoven-based company set out on a series of acquisitions to bring in all the necessary expertise and abilities to build high-precision parts, equipment and machines. “Our aim is to function in the state-of-the-art domain and beyond, where technology boundaries are pushed,” explains NTS’ Technology Manager of Development & Engineering, Patrick Strating.

With this ambitious plan, however, comes a unique set of challenges to overcome. As NTS grew, it was composed out of a number of individual satellite locations, each with a different focus and expertise – which can be difficult when trying to build a cohesive team and vision.

“Ours is really a story of integration. NTS has been built up from separate entities. They were suppliers of frames and sheet metal, suppliers of precision metal parts and several engineering units of different kinds,” describes Strating. “To become an integrated equipment supplier, you need to master the complexity of the entire development and manufacturing chain. That requires much more than just skilled people executing supply chain work or doing machining on metal parts; there’s a need for employees who are fully technology-savvy and context-aware, and who can work with complexity while maintaining an eye on what our customer wants.”

Photo by Vincent van den Hoogen.

Proactive

Realizing the task at hand, NTS adopted a two-step solution. First, educate its workers from both the company and customer perspective of the new reality of being a first-tier supplier of specialized systems. Second, look to the labor market to find emerging talent with modern skills. “To understand the complexity of the machines, we needed a gradual buildup of both training of existing people, as well as attracting new people with more advanced multidisciplinary skills and a passion for life-long learning,” highlights Strating.

“At NTS, we offer a robust employee training program with individual coaching, technical mentorships and training. In addition, we have programs to stimulate craftsmanship at our manufacturing sites. We see it as a necessity to offer extensive training because it gives our employees a sort of basis or foundation in technical areas. But our true hope is that it also inspires them to continue broadening their scope, continue learning and to keep moving with our customers. We work with challenging companies like ASML, Philips and Zeiss, so it’s imperative that we’re keeping up to speed with them and even helping guide them with our expertise.”

To establish and preserve their expert knowledge, the workers at NTS often attend technical trainings in optics, mechatronics and systems development. Perhaps somewhat surprising, however, is the benefit the company sees by emphasizing social trainings like soft skills and sales. “Take the consultative selling for technology professionals training. That’s really about understanding your product and how it relates to the customer’s needs and values,” Strating illustrates.

“It’s been a part of NTS’ migration. Five years ago, as a supplier, we were more in a reactive mode. A customer would come to us with an issue and we would spend a lot of time in discussion to fully understand what was needed. Now, we can be more proactive. We go to work with our customers and really trying to elevate knowledge and innovate alongside them. Having a sound systems engineering basis and speaking the same language as our customers allow us to bring our manufacturing expertise to the table. In the end, our customers want critical equipment to be delivered, and our broad-based yet detailed manufacturing expertise is our key asset.”

Would you say that training is a tool for staying ahead of your customers?

“Not necessarily. For some trainings, that might be true. But for the more conventional courses, like mechatronics or systems engineering, what’s really needed is to establish a common base. Our engineers need to speak the same type of language as our customers,” expresses Strating. “You find that there’s this sort of specialized lingo and common approaches to issues in our industry, and this is really where the value is in technical training. But this doesn’t just serve NTS, it serves the entire high tech ecosystem of the region.”

Competitive

Strating believes the Dutch way of working is a real point of differentiation compared to other regional ecosystems. To him, the Netherlands and Belgium are very connected, communicative, competitive and collegial. “More or less, we depend on one another because we all supply each other. Of course, we can be competitive, but in the end, we’re all working with the same customers and they benefit from the cooperation and alignment of their suppliers,” says Strating. “Dutch companies are continually exchanging ideas, best practices and personnel. We find that if we continue to do things better if we share a common language in terms of technology and engineering methods, and if we have common people that demonstrate agility to address gaps within our ecosystem, it helps us compete with larger-market supply chains in China and the US.”

In describing how the culture of Dutch high tech was built, Strating points to the role of the technical schools. “I think the three technical universities form the high tech basis in the Netherlands. They’re responsible for shaping our future innovators and providing them with the common building blocks to succeed in this industry. I think as companies, it’s important that we continue to recognize that, but also work with these institutions in various forms of industrial cooperation,” voices Strating. “That’s one reason we turn to High Tech Institute for training. They have strong roots within these universities and are able to incorporate modern technology approaches in their high-quality, professional and technical trainings. That’s an important criterion for us.”

Flexible

Looking ahead to the next five years, NTS’ ambition is to use its expertise to lead the way in combining high-tech engineering with manufacturing. This will require highly trained workers that can understand not only the customer’s needs and challenges, but also have the ability to go through the engineering cycle and connect customers with their roadmap, all the way to the end-user.

“We want to bring together the worlds of customers, technical people and high-precision equipment. This will require incredibly talented and creative workers that are willing to really stretch technology to bridge the gaps. Those people are not so easily found; they have to be developed and that’s what we believe training and coaching help us achieve,” states Strating. “Training courses are important pieces of the puzzle. They’re instrumental in creating those flexible people that have a technical mindset and want to make a difference by understanding and optimizing this entire chain. That’s where we want to excel. That’s how we will grow the NTS market position as we look to be the best at playing this complicated global game.”

This article is written by Collin Arocho, tech editor of Bits&Chips.

Eight years ago, DSPE started a certification program for training programs in the field of precision engineering. Three years ago, Nikola Vasiljevic was the first to meet the requirements of a bronze certificate. The mechatronics courses he took during his promotion had a great effect on his career.

In 2011, the Dutch Society for Precision Engineering (DSPE) took the initiative for a certification program for postgraduate education. The aim was to strengthen the offer by certifying training courses in precision engineering. The initiative arose when two years earlier, the Philips Centre for Technical Training was discontinued and the educational programs fragmented, partially disappearing. The Dutch high-tech sector could not afford such a loss, according to the industry organization.

Nikola Vasiljevic did his PhD research at the Technical University of Denmark. He designed, developed and tested a mobile, long-distance infrastructure for atmospheric and wind energy research.

DSPE decided to map out the entire range and monitor its quality by setting up a certification program. Candidates can attend certified training courses, for which they earn points (approximately one point per course day). A total of 45 points would yield the title of Certified Precision Engineer (CPE). This was later split into a bronze certificate for 25 points, silver for 35 points and gold for all 45 points.

In 2016, Nikola Vasiljevic was the first to reach the bronze level. The Serbian researcher obtained a PhD at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in the Department of Wind Energy. He designed, developed and tested a mobile, long-distance infrastructure for atmospheric and wind-energy research. His system, known as the Wind scanner, is based on multiple scanning wind lidars used to map the wind flow.

Vasiljevic’s background lies in electrical engineering and computer science. For his PhD project he was looking for a good course that would provide fundamental and practical knowledge about motion control tuning. He felt he lacked knowledge about a number of the practical aspects of his work. By chance, he got to know the mechatronics courses of High Tech Institute.

Travelling to Eindhoven was a long shot

High Tech Institute offers the vast majority of CPE-certified courses. Vasiljevic’s main reason for joining his first course was the way the subject was presented. “For opto mechatronics, there is a lot of literature available, but it is difficult to use it in practice,” he says. “Most of the courses I have taken now have focused on the practical aspects of designing complex opto mechatronics devices. That’s how I always learn, ie by building things and understanding them in practice. For more detailed knowledge I read books and professional literature.”

Because he knew the position of the Eindhoven region in the high-tech industry, Vasiljevic took the gamble and enrolled for the first course at High Tech Institute. “Opto mechatronics in Eindhoven is top notch compared to the rest of the world. Many of my electrical engineering friends from the University of Belgrade came to Eindhoven to obtain a PhD or to work at Philips,” explains Vasiljevic. He thinks the high-tech industry in Eindhoven is very healthy. “You don’t often see such a degree of exchange between different companies. People regularly move between companies within the region, thus contributing to the exchange of knowledge. Despite the competition, there is also a certain degree of openness.”

Balanced

Motion control tuning, the first course Vasiljevic took, was a great experience. “I was amazed at the knowledge I gained in those six days. The course was a balanced mix of theoretical and practical aspects of motion control tuning. That is what led me to go further and look at other courses, such as Advanced motion control tuning,” he describes.

After that first course, Vasiljevic followed a number of additional mechatronics courses. “There were other mechatronics courses that appealed to me, such as Experimental techniques in motion control tuning and Metrology and calibration of mechatronic systems. My background is in measurement techniques, the development of wind sensors and metrology, so almost the entire curriculum applied to my subject,” Vasiljevic highlights.

At his own university in Denmark, Vasiljevic would probably have had to take a full semester course to acquire the necessary knowledge. Moreover, he feels that the practical aspects cannot be taught by ordinary academic professors. “The teachers at High Tech Institute have years of experience in the industry. They have built up practical knowledge, supported by theory.” DTU required Vasiljevic to earn points for the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). “I could use the CPE courses for that.”

The next course Vasiljevic took was the Opto-Mechatronics Summer School. He had just received a grant from the Marie Curie scholarship which offered sufficient funding for five additional courses, covering nearly all the remaining subjects of opto mechatronics, with the exception of software development.

Knowledge and networking

After his promotion, Vasiljevic hoped to create a second generation of the long-distance Wind scanner system. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Nevertheless, the courses have yielded him a lot. Especially in the networking part of the courses. “I became friends with Adrian Rankers and Pieter Nuij, both teachers at High Tech Institute. We keep in touch on a regular basis.”

Vasiljevic about his first training at High Tech Institute: “I was amazed at the knowledge I gained in those six days.”

In total, the investment was comparable to what you would need for an MBA degree. “It’s a fine testament to your abilities.” That being said, Vasiljevic thinks he has not yet managed to make full use of the knowledge he has gained because he has not created the second generation of his tool. “Still, I’ve improved the device with all the knowledge I’ve gained.”

After his promotion Vasiljevic considered looking for a job in Eindhoven, but in the end, he didn’t find a good match. “HR departments like to have standardized people who come to work in their company. Because I do things differently, from software development and optics to control and data science, far beyond the role of a narrow specialist or a system architect, it is difficult to label me and place me in pre-defined business templates,” illustrates Vasilijevic.

Currently, Vasiljevic is still working in the research world. “Being part of a research environment, especially in the field of technology and engineering, requires that you constantly build up new skills and knowledge because it is the only way to survive in a landscape where funding is scarce,” depicts Vasiljevic. “That’s why I think researchers today are more capable and better able to adapt than preformed R&D engineers, who are favored by HR managers.”

European expansion

Vasiljevic finds it difficult to identify a single aspect of CPE certification that is most valuable to him. “I’d say, it’s a mix of everything. Practical knowledge, which is a good basis for continuing to learn. Working in groups of up to twenty people and getting to know the teacher. Networking between colleagues.”

He is convinced that the ECTS credits he received from his CPE training have influenced his career in an extremely positive way. “I’m about to become a senior researcher. Also, in the Wind Energy department, I am considered an optomechatronic and the go-to person for problems with movement systems.”

Looking ahead, Vasiljevic wants to use his experience in opto mechatronics in such a way that one day he will take on a role as system architect and designer of new and exciting opto mechatronics. My main concern is that if I don’t use the knowledge I have gained, it will eventually evaporate,” he expresses. “Maybe one day I will work in Eindhoven, in the heart of the high-tech industry.”

The CPE certification program is currently being extended to the European level. Together with Euspen, the European equivalent of DSPE, some courses from other European countries are now also certified.

This article is written by Jessica Vermeer, tech editor of High-Tech Systems.

In the midst of a tight Dutch labor market, companies are working harder than ever to keep and attract new talent. Thermo Fisher software manager Reinier Perquin believes that providing his employees with training opportunities not only helps bring in new personnel, but it also keeps his people fresh. He organized the ‘Design patterns and emergent architecture‘ training for his team.

Thermo Fisher Scientific, a multinational leader in biotechnology product development, employs more than 70,000 people around the world. But how does a company, with such a large global footprint, manage to keep its workers and continually draw in new employees? According to the software group manager from Thermo Fisher’s Eindhoven offices, Reinier Perquin, the main attraction for engineers is the opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects. An example: using advanced software to help solve the problem of global diseases. To get these talented engineers on board, Perquin says investment in training – both technical and social – is a valuable tool.

As a manager within the Thermo Fisher R&D department in Eindhoven, Perquin is routinely interviewing to bring new faces to the software group. What he’s noticed in these meetings: training budgets are increasingly important to attracting prospective colleagues. “In some interviews, it’s one of the first questions that people will ask. We’re seeing that more and more. While we don’t offer individual training budgets, we understand how important it can be, so we have a group budget specifically to encourage our employees to utilize training opportunities,” explains Perquin.

Photo by Vincent van den Hoogen.

Do you prefer internal or external training?

“We offer both to our employees but getting an outside view can be very helpful and that’s why we encourage external training. Our workers can gain new insights and learn about emerging technologies and cutting-edge methods. In my department, we’re seeing that the whole architecture of software is evolving before our eyes. Before, it was closed off but now you see things happening in the cloud or edge computing. That happens because new technology enables that. In software, you must constantly learn and adjust. So, if you don’t invest in yourself, then, in the end, you stand still. These trainings are a great method to enhance skills and learn about novel solutions.”
The ‘Design patterns and emergent architecture’ training took place in-company.

What’s the greatest benefit of offering your employees training?

“Well, first of all, people are really busy with their day-to-day tasks. Sometimes it’s good to step outside and take a break from thinking only about your work. It gives people the opportunity to not only get a break from their daily challenges but to focus on enhancing their personal skill set,” describes Perquin. “Also, it gives our engineers the opportunity to meet people from other companies and build a social and professional network. If people sit still too long without training – especially externally – they start to think in certain ways within their comfort zones. For some problems, you need to think outside of the box – not in absolutes like, ‘We’ve always done it like this, so we’ll continue to do this like this’. That’s the wrong mentality. Trainings help to disrupt this way of thinking.”

What type of courses are your workers choosing?

“Being in software, we often see our employees opting for training in design patterns in emergent architecture, taught by Onno van Roosmalen at High Tech Institute. In software, you see a repetition of certain patterns. By giving these patterns common names, essentially creating a unified software language, our engineers can better communicate and solve problems. Onno and I have a long history, going back to university, so I know the level of the knowledge that’s being taught and that training is easy to approve for our employees.”

Are there any other trainings you utilize?

“To be honest, we probably spend most of our budget on the soft-skills training – probably more than the technical trainings. Sometimes when people come straight from university, they tend to think that they know everything. Technically, these people can be very strong but often their soft skills are their weakest spot. Everyone wants to believe they’re system architects but I always say, an architect is not a technical person. In that situation, soft skills are more important than the whole technical level. If you already know everything, how will you ever learn something new? Sometimes they don’t realize it and they need time for reflection. That’s something the soft-skills training is incredibly helpful with.”

Do you notice a return on your investment? Does it help output? 

“Absolutely. I don’t see it as we’re losing three days of work; I see it as a worthwhile investment, both for the company and for the individual. I believe it helps in terms of productivity, especially the soft skills. We see very positive changes because people realize that if they want to achieve something, they may need to adopt a different approach. We see that trainees come back communicating ideas more clearly and working better with people and it makes them a far more effective employee. We find that our colleagues come back with new ideas, new energy and new inspiration. It keeps people fresh.”

This article is written by Collin Arocho, tech editor of Bits&Chips.

Two years in a row, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) from Taiwan, invited High Tech Institute to help introduce System Architecting-thinking in their organization. We asked executive vice president Pei-Zen Chang to tell us about ITRI’s ambitions and the role of system architecture in keeping the Taiwanese industry competitive in this age of fierce international competition. This is where the system architect(ing) training comes in.

It was July 2017 when Ger Schoeber arrived at Taipei international airport to lecture his first system architecting training in Taiwan. The next day he arrived at his final destination, the renowned Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) at Chutung in the Hsinchu region. There the Dutchman faced a firing squad. Figuratively, that is.

All began very friendly. ITRI’s former executive vice president Charles Liu kicked off a week of training by introducing Schoeber to sixteen participants, all senior executives and cross-domain project leaders of the Taiwanese institute. Liu told Schoeber with a smile that his colleagues had all prepared well. They had read the material and were actually not so impressed. Some even had asked Liu why they had to clear their agenda for the whole five days for this stuff. “I wish you good luck this week,” Liu pronounced firmly.

Pei-Zen Chang, executive vice president of ITRI: “System architecture knowledge will contribute to value creation across Taiwan’s industry. Photo: ITRI

To Schoeber, Liu’s message was clear. He had to prove that his System Architecting (Sysarch) training was worth the investment for ITRI. Schoeber faced five days of lecturing a group at the level of vice president and higher. At that moment in time, he had to swallow, Schoeber admits two years later.

ITRI and High Tech Institute got acquainted in 2016. Dr. Jonq-Min Liu, at that time president at ITRI, wanted to strengthen the institutes systems thinking knowledge to overcome cross-domain problems. Liu directed that ITRI College should do an assessment and this subsequently evolved into a recommendation to seek cooperation with the High Tech Institute of the Netherlands.

ITRI College identified a system architecting training at High Tech Institute that originated from abundant experience in complex systems development at Philips and ASML. The Dutch institute is a spin off company from Philips since 2010. As the successor of Philips Centre for Technical Training it is active in post academic education for technicians in the open market.

ITRI wanted to introduce the System Architecting course with the goal to train leaders of cross-disciplinary projects. It should help them to handle cross-domain planning, management, communicating and resolving system problems. Edwin Liu, the president of ITRI, firmly believes in a systems approach for his organization: “In addition to continuously deepen scientific and technological innovation and R&D, ITRI must carry out cross-unit and cross-disciplinary cooperation to bring about industrial transformation.”

Ger Schoeber teaching system architecture at ITRI in July 2018. Notice the abundance of paper on the wall, resulting from discussions and learning exercises. At the end of the week usually the whole class room is covered with paper.

ITRI’s role in Taiwan

Industrial transformation, that’s what ITRI is all about. The institute is a nonprofit R&D organization engaging in applied research and technical services. Since its foundation in 1973, ITRI grew to one of the world’s leading technology R&D institutions. It has played a vital role in transforming Taiwan’s economy from a labor-intensive industry to a high-tech industry. “ITRI’s mission is to assist Taiwan’s industrial development,” says Pei-Zen Chang, the executive vice president who is responsible for introducing system thinking at ITRI. “It has been mandated not only to provide assistance in technological development, but also to assist in industrial transformation and development.”

The 2018 System Architecture class with Pei-Zen Chang, the executive vice president of ITRI (sitting 2nd from left) and trainer Ger Schoeber (sitting in the middle).

Taiwan and The Netherlands are similar in size and population. Both countries know: if you are small, you have to be smart. Just like the Dutch, the Taiwanese people have relied on their determination and perseverance in search of optimal economic development models to compete with their larger and stronger neighbors. In this continuous race, the drive to excel in technology has always been a major force for Taiwan, and ITRI is playing a crucial role there. Even an imperative role, says Chang: “In the age of fierce international competition, Taiwan’s industrial structure remained predominantly small. We have a lot of medium-sized enterprises that rely on our innovations.”

The Taiwanese institute has been quite successful since its foundation. It helped incubate over 270 companies, including famous examples like UMC and TSMC. Its 6100 employees – over 80 percent of them hold advanced degrees – produce over a thousand patents annually (accumulated total number of over 27,000). Chang’s message is that ITRI has to continuously help the Taiwanese industry to transform and upgrade –  a role comparable to that of TNO in The Netherlands and Fraunhofer in Germany.

One example is ITRI’s involvement in the fiercely competitive machine tool industry. The R&D-institute developed the controllers that helped Taiwanese manufacturers to upgrade their products, become world-class and rival their German and Japanese competitors. Taiwan is a top-5 player in machine tools, on par with China. This market continues to be challenging, says Chang. “With the support of our Ministry of Economic Affairs, we have established a smart manufacturing demo line for product equipment performance verification and system commissioning in the field. This will keep us up with Industry 4.0 and such facilities are expected to gradually strengthen the entire system’s capabilities.’

 

Smart logistics

Logistics is another example where systems thinking helped ITRI to work with industry on innovative solutions. The institute helped to introduce RFID, automation systems, smart pick-up station, and many more logistics technologies in Taiwan. Chang: “In the logistics industry there are many ways to get things delivered quickly. System engineering analysis enabled us to better understand the needs of the industry. It was evident to us that the identification and classification of various and voluminous items are key factors. Along the way ITRI helped steer Taiwan’s logistics and e-commerce companies towards smart logistics and services.”

Chang points out that value creation is a prime focus for ITRI. “Research provides greater value when the development of technologies, components and modules is based on the needs of the industry.”

That’s where system architecture comes in. Over the last couple of years ITRI invited industry veterans and system innovation experts to Taiwan to give lectures on system architecting. The institute wanted to infuse stronger system architecture thinking into its managers of various cross-disciplinary projects.

The goal was to establish a common language for the project leaders in different fields. Although the focus technologies in ITRI’s focus fields ‘smart living’, ‘quality health’ and ‘sustainable environment’ can lie apart, the Taiwanese were convinced that a shared language among various labs and fields would strengthen innovative R&D cooperation.

Part of ITRI’s strategy to introduce system architecture thinking was High Tech Institute’s system architecting training, a five-day intensive course. Apart from theory, participants spend most of the training working on case studies with in-depth discussion and learning exercises. “Our goal is to gradually build up the system architecture thinking,” says Chang. As a common language the participating students learn to think and talk according to the so-called CAFCR model.

CAFCR is all about moving into the customer’s shoes. It forces system developers to not only look at the technology. The letters C, A, F, C and R represent five viewpoints to look at system architecture. Only two of them are about technology. Three are about the customer’s perspective and that is where the greatest value of the CAFCR framework lies. Most important is the first C, that stands for ‘customer objectives’.

“It is all about the customer,” explains trainer Ger Schoeber. “What exactly is their business? How do they earn their money? What is the living environment of the customer or the colleague who is going to install my subsystem? If you really understand the customer, you will see much clearer what it is that they need in order to do better business. CAFCR forces you to look not only at the technology, but also at the specification and the rationale of the requirements. It allows you to come up with solutions that help customers even more.”

ITRI’s senior executives and various project leaders all attended the entire Sysarch course in 2017. A survey among participants showed that especially the CAFCR model did help project leaders to systematically promote and implement the projects they are responsible for. That convinced ITRI to continue with Sysarch in 2018. Chang: “To keep strengthening the interdisciplinary competence of our labs and nurturing the professional talents for system integration.”

Participants valued the extensive experiences that Schoeber has in system architecting in industry and system innovation, Pei-Zen Chang points out. “Ger talked about the role of the System Architect and its importance in operating a company, and introduced System Architecting with detailed explanations, procedures, key drivers and CAFCR models. Ger has also deepened participants’ understanding of the course content through role-play exercise. Using a hypothetical situation of ‘proposing equipment solutions for bedridden senior people’ over the five day course, he divided the class into four groups, and asked each to present their solutions to a company’s senior executive or angel investors.”

Case studies with in-depth discussion form a large part of the Sysarch training.

This proved an effective way to ensure the participants gained a thorough understanding from the course. “In addition, drawing from his rich practical experiences, Ger provided guidance to each group, so that the participants could correctly use the content and methods learned from the class”, says Chang. With the above-mentioned systematic and professional curriculum and guidance, the course scored 4.97 points out of 5 in July 2018. “A very high satisfaction rating”, smiles Chang.

Program directors that are designated to lead a cross-disciplinary project and have followed the Sysarch course will take the next step in system architecting at ITRI. Chang: “From now on they will effectively implement their newly acquired planning and maintenance skills, and share their experiences and knowledge with colleagues throughout the institute.”

Once the entire ITRI has been ingrained with this market and customer demands oriented mindset, such system thinking and experiences will be disseminated to Taiwan’s industrial sector. “In this way they will help accelerating its transformation and upgrading to create new value,” says Chang.

Close relationship

In the past fifty years, key industries from Taiwan and the Netherlands have forged close relationships. Both countries have been able to carve out unique industrial advantages and flourish internationally. Chang points to the Philips TV factories that were set up decades ago in Taiwan. “This helped upgrade our nation’s production knowhow and cultivate our talents,” he says.

During Sysarch 2018 Ger Schoeber discusses the case ‘equipment solutions for bedridden senior people’ with division director Keh-Ching Huang, who is one of the participants.

In the 1980s Philips bankrolled the creation of TSMC. As the world’s largest semiconductor foundry, TSMC is now one of ASML’s  main customers. Recently ASML acquired Taiwanese Hermes Microvision, a specialist in metrology solutions for chip production.

Chang sees a bright future for the relationship between both countries. He points to the ‘5+2 Industry Innovation Plan’ that the Taiwan government has been promoting in recent years. “This plan encompasses smart machinery, Asian Silicon Valley, green energy technology, biomedical industry, national defense industry, new agriculture, and circular economy,” elaborates Chang. “We reckon that international cooperation is one of the most important means to implement programs as such, and there is no doubt the Netherlands will be an ideal partner for us to work with, given the country’s deep experiences in system development and solid foundation with respect to semiconductor, agriculture, circular economy, green energy, precision machinery and so on.”

ITRI underlined this by opening a physical presence at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven. This office actively promotes scientific cooperation with the Netherlands. Chang: “Since ITRI is expected to take on some of the responsibility for implementing Taiwan’s 5+2 Industrial Innovation Plan, I will spare no efforts to help strengthen the cooperation momentum with the Netherlands, in order to create for both countries high-value technology industries with blue ocean benefits.”

This article is written by René Raaijmakers, tech editor of Bits&Chips.