Lucas, Embedded Software Engineer in automotive

On the blog today we discover the career path of Lucas, Embedded Software engineer in the automotive industry.

Hello Lucas, can you introduce yourself in a few words?

Hi everyone, my name is Lucas and I was born and raised in Brazil.

I feel lucky to have had had the opportunity to study in many different parts of the world: Brazil, Canada, France, England.

Finishing my mechanical engineering studies in England, I wanted to find another destination and decided move to where I have now lived for 10 years: Gotheburg, Sweden.

From 2012 I started as a mechanical engineering consultant. I performed strength calculation in many industries: offshore, automotive, civil engineering projects and more.

I have always been passionate about software development and became a self taught software developer. Armed with that skill I have always been eager to use software to automate pretty much any computer tasks. The software development took over the mechanical engineering step by step and now I develop software full time.

What brought you into the engineering world? Was it something you always considered to be your professional path?

When I was younger, I was a very good student and so was given many options for the future. I had two main options: becoming a doctor or an engineer.

To be honest, I thought it would be easier to understand machines rather than humans 😊

I had a gut feeling about following the engineering path. It is a choice that to this day I really do not regret at all as it gave me incredible opportunities to study abroad and opened so many doors for me.

In your opinion, what are the main qualities necessary to succeed as an engineer?

To have passion and having fun with it!

How did you got in touch with MCA Sweden? How did the recruitment process went?

A happy coincidence happened: I was looking for new opportunities to distance myself from the mechanical engineering assignments that I was performing, and at the same time my recruiter from MCA Sweden reached out with exciting assignment opportunities. I jumped onboard!

When starting at MCA, I shared with them my desire swerve away from the mechanical engineering field to evolve as a software engineer.

My manager fully supported my ambitions and helped me rebuild my CV showcasing my personal skills. Shortly after, I was offered an assignment for a major automotive manufacturer, which were interested in my Python programming skills.

So in 2018, I officially started as a software developer with this company. I was super thrilled about it.

What is your current project, in which industry?

To sum it up, I am working on the next generation of my client. To be honest, I cannot go into too much details as it is quite a confidential project 😊

Let’s just say that I work on the software inside the cars and how to make their communication more efficient.

What do you like the most about your project, and what do you find challenging?

I really enjoy the fact that as it is a brand new project: my client has never done it before, so everything is new for everyone. We are really breaking new ground in the automotive world, and this is super exciting!

But of course as it is creating new technologies, we always have the doubt that it will not succeed at the end.

How do you see yourself evolving within the industry, and MCA?

I want to carry on working in the automotive as it provides very nice opportunities to expand my skills in software development.

In a longer term, why not move to some more “niche” projects with startups, targeted sectors… We shall see.

What do you appreciate the most about working at MCA?

For sure the openness to talk, share your goals with colleagues and management. You can always share your ambitions and be sure to be listened to and taken in consideration. This is so important as a consultant. For that matter, I highly recommend joining MCA.

Any advice for some new engineers stepping into his career?

Don’t worry , everyone is still learning!