Ricardo has been working as a consultant at ALTEN Mechatronics since 2016. Ricardo was born and raised in Portugal, but decided in 2015 to study in the Netherlands and to stay here. He found a job at ALTEN.

“Working at ALTEN allows me to improve myself both personally and technically, while helping some of the most important players in the industry to successfully complete their projects. ALTEN provides me with space to grow and to pursue my interests in a very productive yet friendly environment. Working as a consultant, ALTEN has allowed me to acquire an extensive work experience by collaborating with different clients in varied projects, and facing different challenges.

When I was graduating in Delft, there was a control and simulation work fair organised by the student association of my faculty. I attended it, and ALTEN was there as well. They caught my eye immediately because they brought along this cool robot that was trying to balance on a ball – it seemed an interesting control challenge. I talked to some nice people, and kind of made the decision on the spot to come work at ALTEN.

They are one of the biggest players in Engineering Consultancy, which opens the doors for its consultants to work with the biggest and most exciting innovators in the field. This, combined with the friendly atmosphere and strong knowledge culture, makes for a rare and desirable combination.

I’m currently working in the field of robotics, helping develop robotic applications for the packaging industry that are meant to work side-by-side with their fellow human colleagues. This is in itself a challenge, as the robot interface needs to be simple to understand, the robots need to be as fast as possible while being safe to be around while working. Working on a small team in this project makes it even more interesting, as roles within the team are not fixed, and so new challenges are always coming my way.”