Maurice Lemmens - VDL ETG T&D

Maurice (50) has quite a lot of experience in the high-tech industry. After working for Océ for 23 years, he felt it was time for a new challenge. “I've been working at VDL ETG for more than six months now. I enjoy the managing role but I also love to be involved into the technical side. And because I’m a system architect, I can do just that.”

Module owner
“Right now, I’m responsible for the realisation of a module design. You need to manage that process. It’s a substantive role and you're the technical conscience of that project. You have to keep a close eye on function, time and quality. We’re designing a new module for ASML’s wafer handler. I work in a small multidisciplinary team of mechanical, mechatronic, electrical and software engineers. The fun bit is that the module we're designing has a lot of interaction with other modules of the machine. That means I’m in contact with other people outside my own team. It also requires a lot of meetings and persuasiveness to enthuse others for your design, making them deliver what's needed. Arranging things and convincing people, I love it!”

Vacuum environment
The module that Maurice is designing is an interim station that is used to speed up the transfer of the wafer handler from an atmospheric environment to a vacuum environment and vice versa. This makes providing service a lot easier. Maurice: “It’s a technically challenging project because the module has a complex function, with a lot of aspects and a lot of interaction. It involves all sorts, such as vacuum, pumping out, adding hydrogen gas, and also safety. But also how the interim module reacts with the other modules it is connected to.”

Writing EPS
“And I now have a new project. Because the module has entered a new phase, I had a bit of time to do something else too, which I pointed out and which was noted. I’m now writing an EPS, an element performance system. Coming up with requirements for a quality tool for the entire wafer handler. Once the wafer handler is finished, we really would like to test it in a complete ASML machine, of course. But that’s impossible due to high costs and also because the machines are sent straight to the customer. That's why we’re going to build a tool in order to simulate the situation as well as possible, so we can test if the wafer handler is doing what it's supposed to do. So that’s the system I’ll be developing. It's an exciting challenge! And I’m grateful for being given the opportunity to continue to develop.”

A wonderful company with plenty of opportunities
“VDL ETG is a wonderful company. The people show a real interest in you. You’re given plenty of opportunities to continue to develop. My manager looks at my strengths and how I can expand them further. My ambition is to manage bigger projects in the future. I prefer to look at the bigger scope. VDL ETG supports this ambition and gives me plenty of opportunity to follow the necessary courses. At VDL ETG, you can also work on a wide range of challenging projects in the high-tech industry. I’m currently working on an ASML project but six months down the line, we may have another customer in the semiconductor industry, with completely different demands. ‘Work hard, play hard’, is very appropriate here. We work hard but we also celebrate our successes. Since I've been working here, I’ve been to three parties and we have a drinks party or a reception at the Atrium almost every week!”