Meet Alejandro, who has been an Electronic System Engineer at ALTEN Belgium for more than 6 years!
My name is Alejandro Jimenez, I’m from Colombia. I first obtained a diploma as an Electronic Engineer in Colombia and then did a master’s in mechatronics in France.
What does it mean to be an Electronic System Engineer in Engineering?
An Electronic System Engineer works on systems that are a mix of different layers or components that interact together. A component could be a hardware, mechanical, or software layer, and the interaction between them gives a purpose to the system. Every system has different layers.
As a developer, every engineer is responsible for the installing, maintenance, configuration, testing, software applications, and system management components.
As an engineer, my role is to ensure that the communication between devices and applications is in line with the system requirements. I have to test that the mix of all layers meets the system specifications.
Which skills are needed for this job position?
For this position, I would say that the required skills are:
- Knowledge on electronics components and on how to read an electronic plan (and understand its functionality)
- Embedded programming language as C, C++, Python
- Knowledge about critical systems norms DO-178 for instance
- Testing methodologies as agile, or in a critical environment, a testing answer to requirement.
What does an average day in the life of an Electronic System Engineer look like?
In the first step, I receive the requests to work on (for example, a change on a map, or a modification of some connections…). The analysis of one request can take hours, sometimes days, and even weeks. It depends on the complexity of the task.
Once the task is executed, the next step is to have it checked by a peer to see if everything works. A report is then made to confirm that the request has been carried out and is working.
Then I move on to another task.
What do you like about your job?
What I like the most is the level of analysis required to develop, test, and implement the different systems specified. Every system is a new challenge, and that requires some level of analysis that avoids boredom in the performance of the work.
How can you develop your skills & experience at ALTEN?
In ALTEN, we can follow trainings in specific subjects. In my case, I followed a session in embedded Linux and microcontrollers.
What do you like about working at ALTEN?
I like the different opportunities for our career advancement, trainings, and communications with business managers which has always been good.
Where do you see yourself in your future career?
I want to further my career as a consultant and become a technical expert. And why not lead a development team!
According to you, why should candidates apply to this vacancy?
Personally, I think it is enriching for a professional to learn and go deeper into technological issues. It is an exciting job, and it is easy to find yourself realizing and understanding systems that can be complex at first. For example, to understand the electronic system of an airplane, or a helicopter. To get an insight into these systems and understand how they work is incredible. That’s why I consider it a very knowledgeable and interesting position.
> > > Are you interested in a job as an Electronic System Engineer? Then click here !
> > > Discover the testimonial of Siav , also Electronic System Engineer at ALTEN.
