Since 2013, Alexander has travelled to 33 countries The daily life of an OMICRON Application Engineer is more than just packing and unpacking testing equipment, performing measurements and leaving. OMICRONs eight-member primary testing team often faces various challenges that range from minor to major incidents. Some of them involve pleasant environmental conditions, while others are more harsh. It’s a job that can be predictable or contain unexpected surprises. Two of our colleagues Stefan Böhler and Alexander Herrera, gave us a brief, lighthearted glimpse into their daily routines. Stefan began working for OMICRON in the generator testing field in 2013. He’s also a father of four who’s worked as a part-time professor at HTL in Bregenz since 2023. Alexander specializes in circuit breaker testing and also began working at OMICRON in 2013. He’s originally from Guatemala, and love drew him and his family to Austria – more specifically, his love of performing electrical diagnostic tests. Application engineers are usually called when there’s an emergency. Ideally, they should be called before a situation becomes an emergency, but with 170 worldwide customers, there are more opportunities for critical situations to occur, and support may be required on short notice. Alexander remembers an unusual call he received on short notice that went something like this: “Hey Alex, how would you like to take a trip to Estonia?” – “Ummm, okay, that sounds great. When?” – “Now. A taxi will be there in one hour to pick you up.” So, as WHEN SOMEONE GOES ON A JOURNEY, THEY HAVE A STORY TO TELL Insights into the life of an Application Engineer at OMICRON Since 2013, Stefan has travelled to 37 countries you can see, besides possessing extensive technical knowledge, being able to react spontaneously to situations and remaining flexible are some other characteristics application engineers require. Sometimes, improvisational skills may even be necessary: After the CIBANO 500 launch took place a few years ago, Alexander was summoned to Norway “for a switchgear measurement.” It resulted in performing daily measurements at different substations over a five day period in harsh winter weather. However, the intense technical exchange was rewarding, and even led to a lifelong partnership with the colleague there. The device was robust and reliable, just as promised. However, with constant temperatures of –15 °C / 5 °F, and little opportunity for any exercise to stay warm, the human factor proved to be more of a struggle. “In addition to that,” adds Stefan, “it often leads to unconventional setups or facilities that aren’t always easy to access.” An experience that highlighted this point for him occurred during a customer’s project at a bank in Hong Kong: An entire generator test setup that consisted of a CPC 100, a CP TD1, and an MPD 600 system was spread out between the coffee machine, dishwasher, and kitchen appliances in the break room. On top of that, the only access to the generator we needed to test was through a narrow doorway. 22
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