He literally works ‘behind the scenes’ in the high-tech industry, offering solutions by bringing science and engineering together. He himself calls it making software engineering central in a scientific way. Paul Hiemstra, data analyst and software engineer at S&T, gets his inspiration from helping people who want to improve themselves. ’’I teach people to work with tools where only their imagination is the limit.''
By Berend Henk Huizing
Harmful particles from the sun and from the universe attack the earth daily. A large magnetic field protects us and stops these particles. Without this shield, Earth would have no atmosphere and therefore no life. Scientists have discovered that this protection is weakening. To find out how and why, the European Space Agency launched three satellites simultaneously in 2013. Known as Swarm, they take measurements and collect data for four years. S&T made a system for this that allows the quality of this data to be tested. Hiemstra: ’The operators want to know whether the measurements are going well and that you don't find out only after six months that your data is worthless. Scientists devised reports to check the quality of this data. Our software system brings together all the checks and balances from these reports and gives the operator a grip on the quality of the data the Swarm collects’'.
Due to his scientific background, Hiemstra understands that scientists mainly want to make analyzes of the collected data and do not want to be involved in solutions for a software program that has stalled. “Pure software engineers look at a software solution very differently than a scientist. We have people who are somewhere in the middle. Our employees have done a technical study and, moreover, excessive interest in software. For example, they write their own software. We not only understand what the customer wants, but also express this in professional software. That is a unique skill. This combination of data analysis and software engineering is nowadays also known as data scientist. The big focus today on data science and big data opens doors, for example, when you talk to senior management at Philips, for example.”
,’’The ICD is exposing yourself to opportunities so that something new can emerge.''
In total, S&T employs about 100 people. The northern branch of S&T is still modest, but the company wants to grow. That growth is also possible, according to Hiemstra, because the business is growing. ,,Large companies need us because they want to do more with data. Some are not sure what they want and can do with their own data. They need help and we ask the questions: what do you want to measure, how do you want to measure and what do you want to do with the data? We focus in the Northern Netherlands on the industry with methods to get even more out of data collected by the customer.’’
Hiemstra studied earth science and remote sensing. ’’From a distance, you try to say something about the condition of a forest.’’ In 2011, he earned his doctorate with research on how radioactivity spreads after an accident. ’’How can you provide responsible technical information about weather conditions, for example, for people making decisions?’’ Continuing completely in science didn't appeal to him. After working for two years as a researcher at KNMI, he wanted something else. ,,I couldn't really find something with which I could distinguish myself scientifically, I didn't have a niche. I was born in Friesland and my wife lived in Groningen. I wanted to return to the North if at all possible. S&T was setting up business in the northern Netherlands, and I wanted to be part of that. At Delta Instruments they were looking for someone with scientific experience who could keep up with the technical experts and write software at the same time. Moreover, he had to be able to coach and train people to use special software tools in their daily work. That was right up his alley. In a few days, he built a tool there that could analyze data. ,,Such an analysis used to take a day, now it can be done in a minute. Time is money. With a few mouse clicks, an analysis can now be done over and over again that previously took a lot of time. That is my added value. I find it inspiring that we can help people improve themselves. I teach people to work with a tool where only their imagination is the limit.''
Innovation cluster
Within Innovatiecluster Drachten, Hiemstra has found his niche because there is a great need to do smart things with data. ,,That is exactly what is happening within the business cluster. If you do the specific things that we do, working in the northern Netherlands is difficult, but as a member of the Innovatiecluster Drachten it is completely different. Companies tend to locate in the west of our country, while there is so much potential in the North. I see this in the synergy between the companies within the Innovatiecluster Drachten. Together creating an atmosphere where your employees are familiar with each other and there is a ground to move forward together. I see bottom-up initiatives, that's how great things can emerge. If you are not in the cluster you kind of do your own thing, but as a participant in the Innovatiecluster Drachten you can do things together and get further.’’
S&T
Science & Technology Corporation was formed in Delft in 2000 by three people who worked at research institute TNO who wanted to start for themselves. Their first assignment was for ESA. Of the 100 employees, 50 work on secondment at Philips, ASML, Delta Instruments, Fokker, Astron and other leading clients in aerospace, oil and gas, defense and security and life sciences. Since 2011, S&T has also had an office in Oslo, from which it works for the Norwegian oil and gas industry.