Meet Jacques, Test and Validation Engineer at Traxial

04/01/2024
Traxial BV
HR

Jacques lived in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) before taking the leap to explore the world and answering the call of adventure. His life at the RSA was comfortable – he and his wife both had jobs they liked, and he had just purchased a home not long ago. His desire to further challenge himself in his professional career echoed louder, however.

In celebration of Jacques’ first work anniversary at Traxial, we look back fondly on his journey of moving to Belgium and settling in.

Happy work anniversary, Jacques! how’s it been so far?

Coming from a place in my career where I almost felt like a cog in a wheel where I wasn’t challenged anymore, I look back in my first year in Traxial and I must say, realizing how much I have learned in just one year really energizes me. I’m more driven to better myself and how I can further work towards maximizing my strengths with the knowledge base around me.

Working in a deep technology scale-up like Traxial is definitely different than working in a large OEM. It’s more about defining why we do the testing and how it needs to be tested. I love how my role challenges me to learn new things and expand my knowledge. We spend about a third of our time to research new ideas, new ways of doing stuff. The team has built up a lot of expertise and deep knowledge over the years and they have always been there to help in all departments.

How was it like moving to Belgium from RSA for the job?

Moving to Belgium was a very big learning curve, but settling in was quite nice. I remember feeling very accommodated by everyone, and they tried to teach me a lot in the first few months. In adapting to a new country and culture, my wife and I swiftly embraced our surroundings, discovering amicable parallels between the Afrikaans community and the Flemish region that made us feel immediately at ease.

I was also assigned a “buddy” by Traxial, someone who became my point of contact for questions and assistance as I navigated this new environment. For me it was Leonardo, one of our Senior Simulations Engineers, who also moved to Belgium from another country. It was quite comforting to know that I had someone in the company who can point me in the right direction especially when it comes to various practicalities that one has to figure out when moving here.

How do you spend your free time?

Belgium is cycling central, and it’s been super fun. Back home at the Republic of South Africa, I’ve competed and so I’m planning to diving more into that this year by integrating myself further into the cycling community here. Several people in the team are also big on cycling, so it has been great sharing this passion for the sport with them.