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Meet the team:
Erik Brooks, Regional Support Engineer, OxTS US

Blogs August 2, 2021

OxTS provides precision measurement systems used by the world’s leading automotive manufacturers and test facilities, and accurate and reliable georeferencing solutions for land, air and marine applications used by survey and mapping professionals worldwide. We enhance OEM products with our core expertise of sensor fusion with inertial technology to power new product development and integrated solutions. We are open to working with companies both large and small, and to playing a role in your success. Supporting our customers with their widely varied needs is our OxTS Support Team. Here Erik Brooks, OxTS’ Regional Support Engineer in the US, shares a ‘day in his life’:

 

OxTS regional support, USA1. When did you join OxTS, and what appealed to you about working for the Company?

I joined OxTS in April 2019, excited in the opportunity to play a part in advancing the automotive experience through safety and convenience.

I’d previously worked with data measuring equipment less sophisticated than OxTS’ devices, so I was familiar with similar technologies, but on joining the company, I was immediately impressed with OxTS’ equipment and ease of software use.

 

2. What’s a ‘typical’ day at work for you, as Regional Support Engineer for OxTS, US?

On a day-to-day basis, for the most part I have the opportunity to work with our North American customers in the automotive industry who develop and test some of the more sophisticated driver assistance vehicle features. My part in this is (providing guidance in the use of) supporting the product that provides the key measurement used in development and validation for those customers, as they’re working on cutting edge driving safety and convenience features.

Typically, it is a busy day of answering customers’ questions – ranging from product or software functionality, to assistance through the coordination of test layout for optimal test outcome with use of our equipment. Although currently the majority of my time is spent in vehicle testing, I also support our rapidly growing survey and mapping customer community.

 

3. What energises you at work?

As a person who has spent countless hours on test tracks myself, I find it energising to take customer calls from the test track where I know that the RT3000 v3 unit that they have just received and might be using for the first time, and/or their first use of the RT-Range software, is tied to critical release timing. These are always pressure filled times where the end user just needs their measurement equipment to work. And they want it to work in a manner that can be quickly understood and consumed.

Understanding those pressures motivates me to deliver high quality solutions for them, as fast as possible.

 

4. What’s the most challenging thing about being OxTS’ Regional Support Engineer, and how do you manage this?

At times when a customer first contacts OxTS support, it can be challenging to develop an understanding of the environment that our products are being asked to perform in, and what realistic desired outcomes are.

I lean on my test track and vehicle data acquisition experience to try and put myself in the customer’s ‘shoes’. Through my experience with our products, I have come to trust that the data is correct. When set up properly, our OxTS equipment consistently produces precise and accurate data. It is often understanding something unexpected in the environment that helps to resolve challenging customer issues. This is made easier with good communication with knowledgeable customers and colleagues, backed by trust in good products.

When Covid restrictions can safely be lifted, resuming face-to-face demonstrations and support for customers also helps to overcome the environment challenges, and I will be pleased when we are able to offer more of this again. For the time being, the OxTS support team regularly provides live support step-by-step walkthroughs and more via webinars. We make these free to attend and to watch back, to help customers to get the most from their OxTS products. You can find links to the latest webinars in the OxTS Resources Hub.

 

5. What’s the best thing about being part of the OxTS team?

Being part of a supportive and dedicated organisation like OxTS does not make all issues easy to resolve, but it is personally reinforcing to know that the organisation supports my efforts and backs me with teams of knowledge when needed.

As a regional support engineer based in Detroit, Michigan, keeping in touch with my colleagues in the OxTS head offices in Oxford, UK, via regular team meetings, virtual coffees and such also ensures I continue to feel part of the team socially as well as professionally. I’m also looking forward to the next face-to-face ‘all hands’ company sales conference when pandemic restrictions enable that to safely go ahead.

 

6. What’s next for you in your role at OxTS?

With being in this role for just over two years, I feel that I have been around just long enough to know what I don’t know. I look forward to further expanding my depth of knowledge not only to improve efficiency in customer interactions, but also to become the ‘go to’ person within our organisation in as many product application areas as time will allow.

It’s an enjoyable ongoing challenge because of course OxTS doesn’t stand still and we add new applications, new products, and enhancements frequently, so there’s always more to learn. Upcoming for me is to learn about indoor testing, for example, because our latest work means we’re now able to provide customers with accurate position, orientation, and dynamics data via ultra-wideband (UWB) technology in environments where GNSS is not possible.

 

 

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