Michele joined our Bristol team back in May 2020 and, in simple terms (as if algorithms are simple!) ensures our Supercorrelation technology remains highly accurate and truthful. He’s helping us on our mission to improve every positioning solution on the planet; digital maps, in-car sat navs, wearable devices, drones, tracking devices, autonomous vehicles, anything that requires extraordinary positioning and timing.

Here’s a little bit more about Michele and his role here in the team.

What do you do at FocalPoint, Michele?

I am a Senior Algorithms Engineer. I take care of the design, development and implementation of new and existing S-GNSS algorithms, making sure to enhance the capabilities of the S-GNSS system. Part of my job is to ensure correctness and robustness of the software by leveraging synthetic data and real data and crafting simulation tools, while also maintaining and expanding our main Matlab and C++ code bases.

What would you say has been the highlight over the last six months?
I like the technical challenges and contributing to solve them. I have enjoyed taking ownership of an idea, demonstrating it and putting it in practice to solve a real problem. I was happy that some of my code quickly made its way to the code base and delivered to customers.

Where did the interest of PNT come from? (PNT=positioning, navigation & timing)
Part of my PhD focussed on detecting the location and sizes of cracks in construction materials, by exploiting the propagation of mechanical waves, whilst in my primary task in my previous job was locating the main features and the trajectory in time and space of a hand in mid-air, using ultrasonic waves. So positioning and navigation, whether it is of a receiving antenna, a hand or a material defects, have always been part of my professional life.

What makes for a great developer/scientist here at FocalPoint?
An exciting technology, a great and supportive team, the right tools and lots of passion for what you do can take you a long way.

Talk us through what a ‘day in the office’ looks like
I usually get up pretty early (but also go to bed equally early), and I literally don’t function until I had my one or two shots of espresso coffee. A good day would always conclude with a nice workout session (btw, you can do great workouts indoors, even in a small pocket of space!), it helps my mental health more than my physical health.

How have you found working from home?

Despite the constraints and the obvious disadvantages, as not being able to socialise much with colleagues and friends, I am loving it. I can optimise and maximise my time and I found that there is so much more than I can squeeze out of 24 hours.

It’s all about the percolator coffee

Currently, we’re not hiring but we’re always open to receiving speculative CVs – why not drop us a note via the contact form here.