Join the positioning team!

Tell us a bit about you

My name is Peter and I am a senior Software Engineer at u-blox. I joined the company in 2014, working in the Reigate office in UK. I studied Physics at Imperial College London. I first got interested in GPS while working at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) maintaining the UK's national timescale (UTC), as it is used to calibrate atomic clocks at different locations. I decided to do a PhD in Geodesy at University College London, looking at modelling GPS satellite orbits. I gladly joined u-blox to work in the GNSS field.

What is your typical day like?

Our team works on the firmware of the GNSS receivers, looking at the satellite orbits and clocks, which is a really interesting and dynamic field. Typically, we start the day with a short virtual stand-up meeting with my team distributed between the UK, Switzerland and Finland, where we discuss progress and if anyone needs help with their work. We then do a mixture of firmware programming, analysis of results in Matlab or Python, and presenting results to colleagues to get collaborative analysis and conclusions. I especially like working on new features that customers have requested in upcoming products, it is great seeing your work used in real products!

Could you give us some highlights of your work?

Two projects I have worked on that have particularly stood out are the M8P series of chips, which were the first ones the company produced that supported RTK and give positioning at the cm-level. I worked on the code that handles the RTCM messages. The other was a joint project with Robert Bosch in Germany, on driverless car GNSS technology for the Mercedes S-class. Again, this is a first for the company, and will be the world’s first ASIL-B rated GNSS system for driverless cars.

How would you describe the Positioning Center?

Highly innovative, world-leading, collaborative, flexible and fun!

Tell us a bit about yourself

My name is Giovanna, and I am a Software Test Engineer at u-blox. I joined the company in September 2020, working at the Headquarters in Thalwil,Switzerland. I come from Italy, where I graduated in Telecommunications Engineering, writing my master’s thesis on radar signal processing. After a first work experience in Italy, I decided to look for a new role and to expand my search to jobs abroad. I was attracted by the idea of living in another country, meeting different types of cultures, and improving my skills, both technically and personally. I knew u-blox thanks to a friend of mine that I met during PhD courses in the UK and who was working for the company. So, when I found the job advertisement for a role in the field of GNSS test engineering on LinkedIn, I didn’t hesitate and applied. The move to Switzerland meant a big change in my life, but I was so happy to accept that new challenge and to have the opportunity to work on my favorite topic.

What is your typical day like?

We have standup meetings with my team colleagues every day. During the standup we share our progress or our issues with the others. It is a very important part of the day because the team is divided between Switzerland and Finland, making good alignment a necessity. The rest of my day is very dynamic. I work both with software and hardware in the testing lab. I collaborate a lot with different GNSS development teams and usually work closely with the sensor fusion team to create and execute tests for their GNSS algorithms. Every day I get more and more involved in new projects with new responsibilities. I am continuously learning new things and that’s exactly what I was looking for.

Could you give us some highlights of your experience at u-blox so far?

The company culture helped me to start my new life in Switzerland. u-blox supported my relocation and I had the possibility to stay in a temporary furnished accommodation for one month. In addition, the company hosts a “Friday apero” every Friday in Thalwil, a great legacy from its start-up days. It is a good occasion to meet other people that you are not directly in contact with in your daily work and to expand your network. I can say that at u-blox I have found a multicultural and friendly environment, and many colleagues have become good friends.

How would you describe the Positioning Product Center?

A dynamic and international place where I can fulfill my passion!