Getting different systems to communicate efficiently with each other: it's a challenging adventure. Fortunately, Calculus can count on a lot of strapping employees who daily pull out all the stops to make monitoring run smoothly and to turn innovative ideas into reality. In the blog series 'Calculus Power' we like to put them in the spotlight. Michiel Smeets looks back on his student days, when his career at Calculus got off to a flying start.
"I started here when I was doing a student job at Forwrd, the company that is actually the forerunner of Calculus," Michiel says. "That's how I got into it, because afterwards I did an internship here and was offered a permanent contract." The internship he talks about took place as part of an Applied Computer Science course with a major in Application Development, but even after Michiel was officially hired as a software developer, he came into contact with many different aspects of the organization. "Meanwhile, I mainly do project management," he proclaims cheerfully.
From student job to so much more
"As a student, my first task was to develop software for a project at the Tomorrowland campsite. I had seen the job posting for that assignment come up online and wanted to gain some experience in my spare time. That's how I ended up here. I didn't know anyone yet, but just applied and they liked me," he laughs. It was the start of a career with a lot of variety.
I do enjoy the privilege of being able to visit our clients on location.
"A number of colleagues here don't really like to make phone calls, whereas I don't mind making calls," Michiel reveals. "So initially I helped customers further by transferring their calls. I didn't know everything myself yet, but I gradually rolled into a role with a lot more contact with them," he remembers. "My range of duties is now quite broad. For example, I help ensure that all gateway devices are assembled and given the necessary software. Then I create online projects for the customers on our platform and provide them with all the information they need. Often this can be done via e-mail, but I also regularly provide training on how our platform works. I do enjoy the privilege of visiting our customers on site. This way you hear from the people themselves what is going well and what is not. We then try to capitalize on that."
Customer contact with impact
"I find the contact with clients to be the nicest aspect of my job," Michiel exclaims convincingly. "Being away from the desk once in a while is something I like. It makes for a lot more variety than when you're programming from morning to evening. I like that."
For him, the most enjoyable projects are those where the same customer requests several, new integrations of different systems. "That way you get to know the technical staff involved very well and you can learn from each other. It's also fun to come into contact with different machines each time. That way you do almost the same thing every day, but it also varies all the time. Almost every day I read data from chillers, heaters or other devices. I didn't know anything about that before. So I learned all that here, on-the-job."
"I grew with Calculus, just not in that which I studied for."
The fact that he can make a difference in this way makes it all the more perfect for Michiel: "I find the concept of Calculus enormously interesting. The whole IoT thing, the collection of data in the field and the difference that that data makes for our customers. Because of the information they can get from our platform, they have to send a lot fewer crews out and they can solve a lot of things remotely."
"I never thought as a student that I would be doing what I'm doing today," he adds. "In a way, I grew with Calculus. Just not in what I studied for, but in countless other areas."
Computing power wanted!
Since Calculus itself is also always looking for innovation, optimization and ways to keep growing, all computing power is welcome.
Would you like to work as a frontend developer, backend developer or - like Michiel - as a multi-deployable enthusiast? Take a look at onze jobpagina!
