Henok Fantaye
Safety Tester
Define your role within Nemko.
I currently have a few different positions, but my main one is Safety Tester. I handle safety projects, test equipment, and reports. My second role would be energy testing. My last role would be that I've started doing cybersecurity evaluations. I believe I am the only one in North America that does evaluations of ETSI 303 645 since it is predominantly out of Europe. Finally, I am the local IT Rep, so I do basic IT stuff for the three Canada offices.
How did you choose this career path?
It just happened by accident. I worked for a PCB manufacturing company in Toronto, but it was just very boring, and I lost interest in what I was doing quickly. So, I was looking to move back to Ottawa and find something more hands-on and technical. Someone I knew who worked at Nemko suggested I check them out, and I did, and it has been so much fun.
What do you enjoy most about your job at Nemko?
It's not repetitive; of course, there are some things that we are always going to have to do, but the products we test are always different. You go from one day testing a speaker to medical equipment to a drone. It's constantly changing, and there is always a new challenge. Every time you have a new project, you know you are learning a new schematic and new design. I like that it's always something fresh and new since I tend to get bored quickly, so this keeps me on my toes, so it's great.
Are there any challenges that you've faced during your career that have taught you important lessons?
The project management. We have to be in multiple streams, so you get to a point where you have four or five projects simultaneously. Plus, answering calls to help with an IT situation brings difficulties. So, balancing time and managing all your projects within the set timeline is a challenge I've had to overcome and manage.
What do you think the industry will look like in 20 years?
With electronics, the components are getting smaller, and we are starting to rely more on soft solutions and AI. So, I think the industry will be more dominated by cybersecurity, with more software solutions and software-based testing.
What do you find most rewarding about your role?
The human-to-human communication, getting to work with the people who worked with us, is very engaging and cooperative. As well as the engineers and research people coming to us, we get to learn from them and see many different products. All the time, we are learning about electronics and new technology before they hit the market and get to see the bones of these electronics.
What are some market trends you're keeping an eye on?
Cybersecurity laws are coming into place now, and there is a mandatory regulation coming into Europe in 2024 and a voluntary one for the US in 2025. So, this is the big push everybody has going on right now.
When not working, how do you spend your spare time?
I just recovered from an injury, so I am starting to run again. I used to do a half marathon twice a year for a couple of different races. I usually play in about 2-3 soccer teams a week, so now I'm getting back into that again. I have friends that work for The Boys and Girls Club here in Ottawa, so I restarted volunteering with them because I was injured and couldn't play myself, so I started coaching.
