Nick Iegorov, hardware engineer of system development: "It is fascinating to have a wide range of projects to work on."

A native of Ukraine, Nick Iegorov is an expert in electrical hardware design, electrical tests and industrial electronics production and services. He joined Skeleton two years ago as a hardware engineer of system development. 

You have joined Skeleton 2 years ago and you had already a lot of experience. Can you tell us more about your previous jobs?

• I grew as an engineer and project lead in Kharkiv, the second largest city of Ukraine. Ukraine is a country with various industries and technologies and my main education came from real work experience. I learned electronics engineering and programming of PLC, automation of big processes like metallurgy and mining, and designing hardware of power converters and soft starters from 0.4 to 10 kV. I am really proud I worked as a part of the R&D team which invented and started the regular production of medium voltage multilevel frequency drive which was the first of that kind in CIS countries. I had started this project from electrical drawings and a lot of prototypes and finally I commissioned several of mass production drives in Ukraine and Russia, even where you get only by helicopter.
  
  

Having worked both in Ukraine and Estonia, how different are the 2 working cultures and what do they have in common?

• After living 6 years in Estonia, I can say Ukrainians have a more southern nature and way of living and thinking. Ukrainians are more emotional, so hearing loud conversations between managers and engineers and even between salespeople and customers is very frequent. On one hand, it helps to avoid unspoken problems but on the other hand it can really harm long-term projects and investments. Estonian people are more pragmatic and know what they want, in both short and long term. In Estonia, I see more success stories in small companies and employees look happier. But Estonians and Ukrainians have in common the fact they share European values and they are focused, hardworking and overachieving people.

What are the best skills you have learnt during your studies at the Kharkiv National University of Radioelectronics that you are still using a lot today?

• At my University, I acquired the very important skills of fundamental approach to solving problems, making decisions and creating technical solutions. The first fundamental rule was: if you haven’t found articles, books and other sources that describe a similar problem, then you did not search well enough. The second fundamental rule was: if your experiment was successful the first time, it was a bad experiment, you should systematically test all system options. These are of course not all the rules I learnt, and I can say that my University gave me the ability to create technical solutions to solve problems.

Can you describe your role at Skeleton?

• I am a hardware engineer of System Development. I integrate and connect our customers with our energy saving technologies. Together with them, we define what sort of ultracapacitor-based systems are needed, then with technical teams and partners we create documentation and launch the production. Finally, I test our systems and make commissioning on sight. It is fascinating to have a wide range of projects to work on: from single enclosure system to enormously big medium voltage banks with hundreds of enclosures.

What motivated you when you applied for this position? What was particularly appealing?

• Before Skeleton, I worked as an industrial engineer and managed production of high tech products with use of complicated machinery. I really missed working as R&D engineer and I was stunned when I saw the job ad from Skeleton Technologies. I didn’t really know that such kind of real futuristic industrial company existed in Estonia. It was delightful for me to see that I could use all my experience in different industries, which I have gained over 12 years of work in Ukraine and Estonia. So, based on my case, I can say that dreams come true.

Skeleton a lot of job openings, including for engineers. What are the main advices you would give to someone applying?

• Skeleton Technologies is a very cozy and friendly company that offers a flexible way of working as a professional or novice engineer. But you should be ready to work with new energy tech emerging markets in a very fast-growing company. So, you should be brave enough to move and try in any situation and be able to make decisions based on your own experience and the experience of your colleagues.