Designing advanced AV/IT systems: The story of Joppe Schuurmans
A nice bike ride to work and designing hardware and software for luxury superyachts once he’s there, Joppe Schuurmans has been doing it for about four and a half years now. He has never been bored even for a single day. ‘I'm usually in the office, but I also go on board as well,’ he says.
Joppe Schuurmans is an applications engineer and a member of the AV/IT team at Alewijnse. ‘We design and programme both hardware and software. In our case, we integrate audio, video and IT into single systems.'
What I really like, is the mix of hardware and software that has to work together. And this is exactly what I am doing now at Alewijnse. Getting this job was like getting a winning lottery ticket.
Joppe Schuurmans, Application Engineer
Joppe studied MBO electrical engineering at the ROC in Nijmegen and did an internship at Alewijnse. He then moved on to HBO. ‘I went to study embedded systems engineering at the HAN. There was a lot of programming, which I didn't like that much. What I really liked, and still like, is the mix of hardware and software that has to work together. And this is exactly what I am doing now at Alewijnse. Getting that job was like getting a winning lottery ticket. In principle, it works just like a system in a house where you can control the lights, the fridge, the microwave, the television and audio, etc. with a single device. We design systems like this, but much more extensive, for luxury yachts.’
One push of a button
‘For the yachts, we design integrated systems in which everything works perfectly together and you can operate it all with an iPad. For example, we design lighting that allows you to change the look and feel of a ship with one push of a button. Think of party lighting, underwater lighting or the lights in the cinema on board. The lighting is in turn integrated with all the other systems on board, such as the audio, video and IT systems for entertainment like TV, cinema, music, gaming and clubbing. And, of course, office applications, 4G data connections and Wi-Fi.’
Discovery
‘We first design the entire system and then make a test setup. The crew of the yacht then comes to us to test whether everything works. Once everything is perfect, the system then goes to the ship where an Alewijnse team installs it all. Finally, I go there with colleagues to check everything before handing it over to the client. It's great to see that.’
‘Systems like these have to meet a lot of requirements in terms of functionality and design. Anyone who can afford a luxury yacht also wants the latest in AV/IT technology. It has to look flashy, of course, and it has to be easy for the user to operate. All things that we, as designers, take very much into account. Each design is a voyage of discovery that ends on board a luxury yacht. That is really cool.’
At Alewijnse, we not only connect people and technology, but we also connect colleagues with each other and with their passions. Would you like to be part of the Alewijnse team? Check out our vacancies or send us an open application.
This article was written by Huub Luijten for TechGelderland.
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