From PhD to Domain Expert Engineer in a Tech Company

Name: Marcial Otero (he/him)

PhD: Electrical Engineering, National University of Rio Cuarto, 2022

What was your main area of research?

I studied ways of detecting failures on electrical motors driven by variable frequency drives, by performing analysis of current and voltage signals. Specifically, I developed a high-frequency signal injection technique that allowed me to perform detection and diagnosis of failures in the motor.

What is your current job?

I am the Lead Electrical Signature Analysis Specialist at Samotics B.V. in Leiden, the Netherlands.

I lead a team of specialized engineers (some holding PhDs) performing Research and Development tasks focused on the implementation of innovative signal processing techniques. The main goal of the team is to improve the company's product, which offers a way of detecting failures on electrical motors and rotating driven equipment by processing current and voltages.

My responsibility is to guide the development efforts of the team, to hire new members, and do the annual performance reviews of the team.

Also, I am in charge of R&D collaborations with OEM companies, usually big multinational companies that choose to work on R&D with us. I am also in charge of planning and executing R&D collaborations with academic environments.

The best part is that I get to implement what I learned during my PhD in an industrial setup, now seeing the impact of developments in the field. Also, I enjoy keeping on being up to date with worldwide research, testing new developments to see which ones could be applicable to the company's product.

On top of that, I enjoy the freedom of working 3 days a week from home and 1+ month a year fully remotely from anywhere in the world.

How did you find this position? What were the career steps you took to get to where you are now?

A former professor from Eindhoven University, who works as an advisor for the company I work for, reached out to my former research lab when the company was expanding their team and needed experts in the topic they were building their product around. I received an email highlighting that they were looking for qualified people to enhance their team, I felt curious and applied.

PhD graduate ➡️ domain expert engineer in a tech company

Why did you decide to not pursue a career in academia?

I wanted to try out how the industrial/tech environment deals with Research and Development, in order to understand how to transition research to a product that makes an impact in society. Building that up within the academic environment felt much more challenging than doing it outside of it.

It wasn't difficult as I was always curious about this idea, but the opportunity just showed up without me actively looking for it.

What advice do you have for someone getting their PhD and looking to pursue a career outside of academia?

Try to connect with people in your field of expertise but outside of academia, probably using tools like LinkedIn but also by attending conferences and fairs.
When preparing for an interview, focus on what you know and how valuable that could be for the position you are applying to. Explaining what you have learned, how you learn it, what challenges you have faced and how you have dealt with them, etc, will come naturally as it is past of what you have done, and it will create confidence in the person that is interviewing you.
Try to understand the industry where you want to transition to, learn about the companies, their product, their market, customers and competitors, and also about the way these companies work. Learning about common practices in the industries / job types you are intending to work on can help you better understand how these companies day to day look like, which is quite different from the academic environment.
1. Example: if you intend to join a software company, learn about Agile, Scrum methodologies, etc.

Are there any components of your identity you would like to share, including how they have impacted your journey?

I consider myself a very enthusiastic person, so my personality usually comes by as very driven among the people I work with. This has helped me create a working environment where people enjoy doing what they do and feel valued for the efforts they make.