Day in the life of
Applications Engineer – Kurt Dudek
I’m an applications engineer at Realtime Robotics, a provider of motion control and collision avoidance software for industrial robots:
My typical day
I don’t really have a ‘typical day.’ My main responsibility is to be a customer-facing contact at Realtime Robotics. Customers select our robotic control technology and then I work directly with them to fine-tune their use of our technology in their specific environments and applications. I take them from initial training to the next stage of their implementation. To be successful, I need to be well-versed in how our product works – and what they need for their business. For example, sometimes robotic arms have to be positioned or configured in a specific way to handle certain types of goods or certain weights. I need to know that, recognize the situation and make adjustments with our customer, so they’re successful. I also work to troubleshoot any difficulties they may be having along the way.
Robots are used for many types of applications from palletizing to movie stunt doubles, and for that reason, a person’s mindset is more important than their industry background. Robots mimic human nature, so critical thinking is a very important skill to have when determining how to automate a motion or task.
There are almost always multiple ways to solve the problem, so thinking ahead and assessing the full scope of decisions will ultimately lead to the most efficient solution.
As a customer-facing applications engineer, it is also important for me to share insights and feedback with the internal development and engineering teams at Realtime Robotics. Sometimes we learn that customers need the product tweaked in a certain way for it to work better, or that they’d really prefer if the product allowed them to do a certain task. We can help the team enhance the current features and define new features and functionality that will make for a better overall product – and a better customer experience. Similar to this, as an applications engineer who is so close to the customers and the product, I often play a role with the sales team, helping them to scope out new offerings that will resonate with existing and prospective customers.
At times, I also am the voice of the customer within our organization. I help engineers test certain examples of how to run a task or implement a function, sharing my point-of-view on what the customer base would find most useful.
Another skill that you wouldn’t necessarily think of for this type of role is the ability to create graphics and slides in a visually engaging way. You can have great technical skills, but also need to effectively communicate technical information in a clear and accessible way to non-technical audiences. This skillset is crucial for getting buy-in from management on a project, to make the case for a purchase, or to showcase success.
Pros
- Good mix of hardware and software tasks
- You gain meaningful experience working with customers on complex automated systems
- Great opportunity to learn and observe how everyday items are manufactured at scale and get an understanding of the scale at which items are produced
- You’ll expand and grow the end user knowledge around new technologies within automation
- You’re exposed to various project’s from design to deployment that you wouldn’t get to see from one company alone
- Different tasks from day to day
Cons
- Can include significant travel (pro or con depending on your personality)
- Supporting multiple projects at once can be logistically challenging
- Often not able to dedicate focus on a single project
Advice to students interested in the robotics career path
The robotics field has a mix of both hardware and software at its core. If you have a specialty in one of those focal areas, an understanding and appreciation of the other will be greatly beneficial. A degree in mechanical, computer, or electrical engineering helps with the electromechanical side of robotics, and a computer science degree would be helpful for the software-oriented side. Those skills are useful for the development of robotics.
Since robotics are generally used to automate certain tasks, anyone with a specialty in a particular field can provide great value. Someone who understands how a process is accomplished can identify pain points and work collaboratively with a team to figure out a way to incorporate robotics. Robotic applications are team efforts that bring in people with all types of backgrounds in order to solve the problem from different angles. It is good to expose yourself to as many aspects of the industry as possible, as you often play a role bridging between the customer and the development team.
