A Dedication Deeply Embedded
Remember the pandemic? Chances are you do, and the vast majority are happy to be out of it and back to the new normal – but if you’re working with Semiconductors, you’re still dealing with the repercussions. Get to know Victor Amoedo, Embedded Electronics Engineer at ALTEN in Gothenburg.
The global chip shortage is still an issue, even three years later after the covid-19 pandemic broke out. Specifically, it’s a shortage on semiconductors, “the brains of modern electronics”. The reason is as simple to understand as it is hard to solve: The demand heavily outweighs the supply. At this point, it’s turned into an outright crisis: Companies struggle to get a hold of highly valuable parts, which halts production and impacts entire organizations.
Now, imagine it’s your job to find solutions related to the semiconductor crisis. How do you solve that which depends not only on your own performance, but on the unpredictable nature of global shipments? Victor Amoedo, currently Semiconductor Task Force Leader at Volvo Group and consultant at ALTEN, has every reason to be more invested in the matter than most of us.
An Offer He Couldn’t Refuse
Victor was an Embedded Electronics Project Leader in a project with Hewlett-Packard in his home country of Brazil when the chance to join ALTEN arose. He’d always wanted to work abroad, but also had a job which he really appreciated. He felt uncertain whether or not to move on from what he enjoyed doing – do you stay with what you know or take a leap of faith? Eventually, the opportunity seemed too enticing. As the contact with ALTEN increased and intriguing opportunities came along, the long-lasting dream seemed closer and closer, which helped him make the important decision to go for it.
— I now have the opportunity to work in a wide range of projects, with many different companies and to develop a huge quantity of new competences. A huge thing was also that I felt my managers was 100% committed to support my development as a professional, always giving to me the assistance I needed. Their energy really helped set up a smooth transition from Brazil to Sweden. Looking back, I’m so glad I took the opportunity to go for it!
“It’s as the saying goes: ‘If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together’. At the end of the day, the most fun part of my job is to work with people from so many different backgrounds and cultures.”
As previously stated, he’s working as a Semiconductor Task Force Leader, managing and handling the Semiconductor shortage within the Electrical & Electronics Powertrain Engineering Department at Volvo Group. His tasks include making sure the right people have the right information and guarantee that everything will be done in the right time. Lately, he’s also been highly involved in Sustainability topics, developing strategies and coordinating the hardware team, in the Powertrain Department within E&E.
— It’s obviously challenging and it can seem daunting, as a critical issue could stop the production. But it’s also a lot of fun and really rewarding. It requires hard work and determination when we have a critical issue. We work together as a team to present a solution in a short amount of time. The combination makes everyone feel valuable and more passionate.
— It’s as the saying goes: “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together”. At the end of the day, the most fun part of my job is to work with people from so many different backgrounds and cultures. Working cross-functionally to find solutions on a weekly basis is truly inspiring, sharing challenges with your team.
An Eventful Future where Semiconductors meet Sustainability
When talking Semiconductors, there are several challenges that lies ahead – but also opportunities. Victor sees a lot of potential in the crossroads where semiconductors and sustainability meet.
— I believe big changes will come regarding the semiconductor field and sustainability. Because of the semiconductor crisis, the big players are already doing huge investments to improve their delivery capacity, but also to diverse the production location in order to not be dependent on single markets.
— The biggest impact on CO2 footprint today when speaking about electronics, is the manufacturing and assembling process which are centralized. However, the environmental footprint that comes from this is obviously bigger due to the delivery distance. My guess is that the companies will start looking with more attention to this topic soon.
“I felt my managers was 100% committed to support my development as a professional, always giving to me the assistance I needed. Looking back, I’m so glad I took the opportunity to go for it!”
Embedded, Embedded, Embedded
So Victor has done a lot of things within Embedded, from designing to now reviewing and coordinating. He’s happy with what he’s done and with that he’s currently doing — and to no one’s surprise, he knows what he wants to do more of in the future.
— I’m really excited about learning more and more about the Embedded Electronics business and everything that goes into it. For me, it’s the most interesting area, as you can work in so many different fields, such as automotive, developing medical equipment, IoT, satellites etc. The list goes on!
For Victor, his background in Hardware has served him well to help in his current role. And to continue to improve, skills acquired from work isn’t everything.
— In my case, the background in Hardware Engineering is important, as well as understanding of the development and production process. But obviously, there are other things that are important, such as developing the right soft skills and getting an understanding of the business you’re in.
— My experiences with sports and music really changed my life in many ways. I do think these experiences out of the corporative world really improves our soft skills for the job as well as life. Always be open to learn from other people and keep being curious. The world is changing fast, so I’d say that you should try to do new things as well to not “stay behind”.
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