“Recently I was driving home when I spotted a truck with eight Corvette C8s on it. I said to my wife: ‘look, there goes my software!’”

As a Consulting Senior Software Engineer at TMC, based in Belgium, Miguel Dewaele has been deeply involved in the development of dual-clutch transmission systems. “This uses two separate clutches, one for odd and one for even gears. As a driver, you can switch faster between gears, which is especially beneficial in sports cars, like the Corvette C8, Ford Mustang GT500 and Maserati MC20.”

Flawless and secure

Since he joined TMC as an employeneur in 2016, Miguel has been working on projects for TREMEC, a manufacturer of transfer solutions, including transmission, gears, shafts and clutches. TREMEC's development department, based in Zedelgem, Belgium, is staffed by approximately 180 dedicated employees. Their manufacturing facilities are located in Queretaro, Mexico, and Michigan, United States, to effectively meet the demands of their global customers.

“The software consists of two layers: the base software, which is more or less the operating system, and applications that are built on top of this. My role is to maintain the base software. Which is quite a responsibility, actually; it is quite complex, but needs to function flawlessly, and in a secure way.”

His role has grown a lot over the years: “My original focus was on the communication of the system with the vehicle, later I took over responsibility for sensors and actuators: in order to function properly, the system needs to process a lot of signals from the vehicle, like velocity and temperature.”

Steep learning curve

Due to the expanding scope of his role, Miguel has had a steep learning curve throughout the project: “What I like most about it: I have learned so much about hardware. I have a background in software engineering, but really enjoy the hardware side of work. For example, at the moment we are working on transmission systems for electrical vehicles, we are figuring out the best way to measure the voltage in a car battery. The sensors that we use can only measure a voltage between 0 and 5 Volt, while most car batteries have a voltage between 400 to 800 Volt. That is quite a challenge, that requires creative solutions; not just in coding but also in hardware.”

Innovation Award

Miguel recently won the Tremec Innovation Award. Some of the customer feedback that triggered the nomination:

Miguel is a brilliant and excellent problem-solver. He is very attentive and always tries to find and propose a better solution. His creative work solves many other manual tasks.

The award came unexpectedly for Miguel: “But of course, it is always great to know that your work is appreciated. In my role, I always try to find a way to make things better. For example, I have specialized in drawing technical overviews of software. Initially I did it for myself, because I needed to have an overview in one image. It turned out, however, that colleagues really appreciated these graphical representations as well. Also, I have developed an application in Python that automatically generates code. A lot of software code is standard, with this application developers can use building blocks when developing software, which not only increases speed, but also quality of the code.”

Developed into an allrounder

The finest hour in his career so far: “I would say the moment I was asked to develop the software for a new generation of controller transmission. Why? Because it needed to be developed from scratch. It is quite a responsibility and I received a lot of freedom, both of which I enjoy a lot. Before joining TMC I worked at Philips, where I was part of a large team that developed software for TVs, and was only responsible for a small piece. Because I have developed into an allrounder, I notice that people in the organization know where to find me when they have an issue. I think it is safe to say that I know the most about this system, which is quite unusual for a consultant.”