Nils' lifelong interest in cars has been a key component in his career at Tieto. As a result, he’s making cars safer, day by day.
He is part of a test team at the Tieto office in Karlstad, where they have simulated a mobile telecoms network.
It’s ideal for automotive manufacturers who want to test anything from the infotainment system to safety systems using mobile networks.
- With our tests we simulate what will happen in the real world, says Nils. We can check anything from border crossings and corner cases and run automatic testing both at night and during the weekends.
New code is released continuously, so the CI-team runs various tests every night.
- It can be a new feature in the app that for example sets off the heater in the car or the GPS-based crash system (eCall) that reveals where the car is after a crash.
Nils and his team use Jenkins, Python and robot framework to develop automated tests. They have built up an in-house ci environment based on a mqtt architecture to allow colleagues to work remotely and between offices.
Following his passion for cars into a career in automotive testing
Nils has always had a special interest in cars, it’s been a hobby of his since childhood. It accelerated at university.
- I was part of a yearly project at my university where we had the task of building a racing car that competed in the worldwide Formula Student competition. That background helped me land my job at Tieto, as they saw how I could contribute to clients with my combination of technical expertise and automotive interest.
The ability to pursue your own interests is one of the things Nils appreciates the most at Tieto.
- We have an environment where you can raise your hand and show interest in something or perhaps launch an idea, and people will listen to you. You are given the opportunity to pursue your idea or interest. I feel like I’m truly appreciated and valued.
Raising his hand led Nils to the other side of the world.
Hands‑on crash testing experience in China
Nils just returned from a month long stay in China, in the Tianjin province right outside Beijing. It started with him volunteering, raising his hand.
- We were testing and verifying real cars, and my responsibility was the system that sends out signals if the car breaks down or crashes. The way we do that is by actually crashing them to see what happens.
Nils witnessed frontal crashes at 54 km/h, and side impact crashes at 45 km/h. It’s an overwhelming experience.
- The key is to see if we can communicate with the system after the crash, where we should be able to receive info about the number of passengers, locate the car, see if the alarm system button has been set off automatically or by a person and communicate with the passengers via audio. It was quite exciting, I must admit.
Improving automotive safety for hundreds of thousands of drivers
Excitement is one emotion that Nils experiences in his work, another is the sensation of contribution to something important.
- Car safety is paramount, and with our contribution we increase the safety of hundreds of thousands of people around the world. If not millions. It’s pretty neat to think about, it makes me somewhat proud. No doubt about it. I don’t see how I could ask for more – combining my interest in cars with great technology, working for something important alongside great colleagues. What’s not to like?
