"My goal was always to be a project manager of a large-scale international science consortium, and S[&]T has given me that path to grow." 

As Jeanette finished her PhD, she received a note from an S[&]T account manager, saying that her CV looked interesting. After checking out the types of scientific projects she could be a part of at S[&]T, she jumped onboard, and started working during the last phase of her PhD. Her first role was as a software developer for the ShortWave InfraRed (SWIR) Earth Observation instrument onboard Sentinel 5 precursor. She quickly became an instrumentation scientist in the calibration team for SWIR, looking into measurements both on ground and in flight. With this knowledge and some help from S[&]T management, including space systems engineering coursework and extra coaching, she developed into project manager for calibration of the SWIR range of the spectrometer. 

Jeanette is now project manager with Astron for developments on the Square Kilometer Array, which aims to be largest radio telescope ever built. She also acts as project manager for the Netherlands China Lo-frequency Explorer (NCLE), a predecessor for future telescope and astronomy missions supporting exploration on and beyond the Moon.

"I’ve had the chance to travel to several universities and academic institutions and have high-level discussions with experts in cutting edge scientific arenas. The experience has been very enriching and I’ve also tried to share that knowledge to inspire people back home in El Salvador to do more than they realize they are capable of."

Napoleon first got in touch with S[&]T while doing his thesis on the DelfiNext satellite at the faculty of Aerospace at TU Delft. Christina, a fellow TU Delft graduate who now also runs S[&]T's Norway office,  sent in his CV.  He was shocked that in the middle of an economic crisis he already had a job before graduating from his Masters. He hadn’t really planned to stay in the Netherlands, but decided, 'why not give it a shot?'. He has valued the chance to work on very interesting projects from nuclear reactors to satellite missions. When asked what  he values the most, he says he loves having had the chance to learn from very smart people. 

Not only is it nice to be part of a team with such knowledgable people, Napoleon finds it gratifying to transfer some knowledge back home to El Salvador. His connection home has always been strong, and he was given the chance to go back for a year on sabbatical in order to spend time with family and do some research on artificial intelligence. Now Napoleon is back and is a core part of the S[&]T project team. He became a Dutch citizen in 2015, and used the active social events S[&]T hosts to practice and refine his Dutch skills in a safe environment. In the end, Napoleon chose The Netherlands because it is a good environment for space and science in general, which matches his future career perspective and goals.

"Now I am happier than ever. I am working on advanced algorithm intelligence with deep mathematical design and insights. I am the technical lead on Intelligent Software Applications, so I get to focus on topics I'm passionate about, like advanced machine learning." 

Erwin is an algorithm Engineer, with a PhD in mathematics, and a passion for scientific applications. Half Brazilian half Dutch, he plays football and computer games, and likes to nerd out about mathematics with anyone who is up for it. First in touch with S[&]T via a friend, Erwin came in for an interview, and was immediately brought to a client meeting with S[&]T director, Carina. Though that first project didn't work out, he still remembered the experience fondly and stayed in touch until the match was made to join the R&D section of ASML as an alignment algorithm specialist for advanced optical systems.

After a while the travel became a bit too much of a burden, so he asked to be moved to a different location. After careful consideration by himself and the STEP team, Erwin was moved to a position in the Hague with more match to the content that he liked. 

Most recently, the internal project team has brought Erwin onboard to take on advanced algorithmic challenges in a variety of projects. Not only does he enjoy the technical content, he is also learning to be a thought-leader on S[&]T's specialised topics like System Health Management and Image Recognition, among others.

"At S[&]T, I particularly like the fact that there's a diverse and enthusiastic group of people. I love the work I do and also find that S[&]T supports my joy of inventing, creating and building new technology"

Elfi was finishing her master's degree when an S[&]T account manager found her CV on LinkedIn and called her to fill a position at the TNO Semicon group. She had been there a few weeks beforehand for a tour in that department and had been very impressed with their cool home-built hardware. Elfi was very happy to join the group, and at TNO was able to make the switch from hardware to process engineering; this move both broadened her knowledge and simultaneously gave her more depth.

After a couple of years she moved to Australia and later to Belgium. She could not find very challenging projects in Belgium and therefore thought of S[&]T. The recruitment team very rapidly found work for her at the nano-instrumentation group at TNO, supporting QuTech in quantum technology developments. This way, she could move back to the Netherlands. Elfi is currently delighted that she can work in one of the world's best high-tech environments.

"When I first agreed to join S[&]T for a maritime safety project, I had no idea where that opportunity would lead me. I took that first step into the team, then followed a transition into a satellite instrument calibration campaign, and since then a whole world of Earth Observation data has opened up to me."

Bouwe is a Performance and Simulation Engineer responsible for validaing two types of data packages currently being delivered by Sentinel 3 as part of Europe's Copernicus Programme. He has a background in astronomy, and a double Masters degree. Bouwe first sent an open application because he had heard that we were a nice company to work with. 

Bouwe was first brought into the S[&]T team to work on internal projects, and his first contributions were to a sensor fusion system S[&]T created to automatically detect and alert around man-overboard situations on large nautical vessels. He was then brought into KNMI's scientific validation team for TROPOMI's integration campaign that readied the spectrometer for integration into the Sentinel 5p satellite. Part way through the campaign, his skillset was needed in the Earth Observation directorate at the European Space Agency (ESA), with a bit of flexibility and maneuvering, Bouwe now works onsite in Noordwijk. He contributes to the Sentinel 3 satellite mission which launched in 2016, and he managed the scientific outputs for two of the instruments during initial flight phase. 

Bouwe is very happy at ESA, and now works 4 days a week in order to have more time with his young daughter, Bobby. A true Amsterdammer, Bouwe still lives in Amsterdam, and is happy that he chose S[&]T as the place to take on his first professional role, as he has been able to both grow, and balance a growing family!