What is it like to move to Germany as a Health Tech Field Service Engineer?After over a decade of professional experience in India, working first with Allengers Medical Systems for six years and then Siemens Healthineers for another six, Varun's journey took a new turn in April 2023 when he relocated to Germany. It was a major decision as it was moving not just his career, but his entire life across continents. What followed has been a whirlwind of change, learning, and growth.A Career Shift Across Borders from India with move to GermanyVarun's first job after his move to Germany was with Medser GmbH in Frankfurt, a role that, unfortunately, didn’t turn out as expected. While the company had potential, the fit wasn’t right. But rather than seeing it as a failure, he took it as a stepping stone. Soon after, he moved to the beautiful city of Friedrichshafen, in the south of Germany, nestled near Lake Constance. Here, he found a more fulfilling role as a Production and Service Engineer and now Product Manager for SternMed GmbH. In this role, he currently contributes to both assembly and technical support for medical equipment.His move to Germany from India came with its fair share of culture shock. In India, workplace interactions are often warm, informal, and relationship driven. In Germany, things are more structured, punctual, and direct. It took time to adjust, but over time he has grown to appreciate the efficiency, clarity, and work-life balance that the German system offers.What surprised him the most about his move to Germany? Shops closing at 8 PM, Sundays being completely closed (even grocery stores!), and how quiet the streets get in the evenings. It’s peaceful, yes, but very different from the 24/7 buzz of Indian cities.
Joe Deater CBET AAMI GE Biomed of the Year 2025 Healthcare Technologies Management meets Charlie AppsAAMI & GE Healthcare BMET of the YearHealthcare technology management (HTM) leader and advocate Joe Deater, CBET, is the 2025 AAMI & GE Healthcare BMET of the Year. Deater is an Air Force Veteran who has worked at Munson Medical Center in Traverse City, Michigan for more than 27 years.“Receiving this award lets me know that even though I feel as the majority of HTM professionals across the country do I do not deserve this recognition for doing my job, that others feel like I am making a difference in this world," Deater said. "That is humbling and also makes me proud to be a biomed.”Since 2017, Deater has served as an Adjunct Biomedical Technologies Instructor at Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City. He developed a new two-semester course from scratch and has since graduated four cohorts of students. All of his students who have pursued careers in HTM have secured jobs in HTM. Deater also continually attends career events and job fairs. Why? “I want to get HTM off the ‘top 5 best jobs you have never heard of’ list!”Joe Deater say, "Currently working as a BMET III at Munson Healthcare. I also am an Adjunct Instructor of Biomed at Northwestern Michigan College, both here in Traverse City Michigan. I have been in the field of Biomed or Healthcare Technologies Management (HTM) for over 30 years now and celebrated 27 years at Munson. I work hard at promoting this little-known field of work and try to encourage students and others to get into this great career field. I am often visiting and presenting about HTM to High Schools, Middle Schools and other Career fairs to get the word out".
Kim Araman LinkedIn Top Voice Career and Leadership Coach meets Guy Eid. Kim is based in Dubai in the UAE. In 2024 she was one of two career coaches to make the top 200, most influential people in the UAE. Kim offers some tips on how you can tap into the invisible job market, and network for career success using LinkedIn.
Field Engineer leaders Charlie Apps, Guy Eid, Bruce Breeden,Kevin Mace, and Maurizio de Poli in discussion about employee engagement.During the roundtable discussion, they discuss engagement, leadership,management, retention of employees, how to handle a merger, and how to leadmultigenerational teams. There are lots of examples from their own experienceas FSEs and as managers and team leaders.
Poonam Gupta Lead Evangelist Qbit Labs discusses her career working in Semiconductor Tech in India. Poonam discusses her career with Synopsys, Wipro, Larsen & Toubro and working with other organisations and groups. She also explains how more women can be encouraged into engineering and particularly into semiconductor engineering.
Charlie Apps meets Jason Jackman Regional Service Manager Miele UKJason Jackman discusses his background and his journey from the Army, to field service technician to regional service manager. Jason explains how the industry has changed over time and so their recruitment strategy has changed to reflect that. It's much harder to recruit from similar companies or competitors, so they also look for people with transferable skills or with the right attitude and aptitude. Jason highlights the importance of strong communication skills and also a 'can do' attitude.
Caroline Gregory, The Field Engineer Community Manager discusses her career with Guy Eid and Charlie Apps, both team leaders and managers. Caroline is also an intercultural trainer and coach and runs Intercultural Success.The Field EngineerThe aim of the community is to support engineers through their careers. To help them to network, learn, and exchange knowledge with fellow engineers and specialists.We have networking groups which are technology focused, industry sector focused, country specific and job role specific.We also have a Job Board dedicated to vacancies for field-based engineering, and customer support jobs.Intercultural SuccessIntercultural Success offers a unique combination of specialised training, consultancy, coaching, and international human resources services.We have been involved in Skills Training, Intercultural Training, Coaching and Human Resources Management, for over 30 years.If you work internationally and you’d like to discuss the things that are troubling you, arrange an initial consultation using Zoom or Teams.Our clients are from a wide variety of professions, sectors and countries. We offer a whole range of training courses, coaching, and consultancy as well as specialised workshops.Who do we work with?Intercultural Success works with any company with people who work across cultures, from new recruits to directors.We work with people from every culture and language group.From all over the world.Public and private sectors.From multinationals to start ups.Our services are all personalised to individual needs. What we design is inherently practical and has immediate impact on the individuals and organisations involved.
Charlie Apps meets Chris Tidy who is the Founder of Hard Hat Awareness Week. In this interview Chris explains why a proper hard hat is important and vital protection.Do you wear a helmet when riding a motorcycle or bicycle? Do you wear a hard hat at work?In many countries wearing a helmet at work in certain jobs is compulsory under health and safety at work legislation, but it's not mandatory for riding a motorbike home from work. So, someone can spend all day wearing a hard hat at work, leave the hard hat in their locker, and then jump on their motorbike that might be capable of 130mph without a helmet!"In 2024, an estimated 30,000 people died in India due to road accidents while riding two-wheelers, with a significant portion of these deaths occurring among those not wearing helmets."In the interview Chris Tidy explains why a proper hard hat is important and vital protection, across all field of activity where head injury is a possibility, both in work and leisure.Chris also discusses the amazing life of Hugh Cairns who led the growth of helmet use for motorcycle despatch riders during the Second World War.Now the standards like EN397, EN12492, ISO 3873 offer a guarantee of a certain level of head protection in an accident. That is if you wear the helmet!
Tino Jongwe is a Biomedical Engineer from Zimbabwe who has already worked in three overseas locations, Canada, Australia, and the USA. Tino discusses his experience of working as a biomedical engineer, BMET, in hospitals in Canada. He compares the roles of working full time in hospitals in a BMET role, with being a Field Service Engineer for medical equipment for Elekta. The regular hours of a BMET, compared to the travel and variety of being a Field Service Engineer. Tino worked as a Solutions Service Engineer in Australia, and he is now a Field Service Engineer for Elekta in the USA. Guy Eid interviews Tino Jongwe and gives a masterclass in letting the interviewee do the talking.
Part three. The final section of our Field Service Engineering Leaders Roundtable Mastermind Discussion.Topics include, instruments, customization, customisation, patches, software, firmware, hardware, training, AI, augmented reality, AR, artificial reality, scheduling, escalation and escalations, downtime, maintenance. The importance of the field service engineer who is at this moment in front of the customer.Service Level Agreements, and the importance of staffing correctly to fulfil SLAs - headcount and budgets.Managing field service teams, ,managing, management, hierarchy, communication, two way communication.Featuring Bruce Breeden Chief Service Officer at Michelli Weighing & Measurement, Jerry Varvaro Head of BPS Service - Americas at Sartorius , Maurizio De Poli Global Service Manager at Nanion Technologies. Hosted by The Field Engineer volunteer Advisory Team Members, Charlie Apps former Global Technical Support Manager at CMR Surgical, and Guy Eid former National Field Service Manager bioMérieux.
Part 2. of the Field Service Engineering leaders roundtable mastermind discussion discusses leadership, hiring, onboarding, and KPIs.
Part one of Field Service Engineering Leaders Roundtable Mastermind Discussion about Servant Leadership.
Featuring Bruce Breeden Chief Service Officer at Michelli Weighing & Measurement, Jerry Varvaro Head of BPS Service - Americas at Sartorius , Maurizio De Poli Global Service Manager at Nanion Technologies. Hosted by The Field Engineer volunteer Advisory Team Members, Charlie Apps former Global Technical Support Manager at CMR Surgical, and Guy Eid former National Field Service Manager bioMérieux.
A short clip of Bruce Breeden discussing leadership, from the Field Service Engineering Leaders Roundtable Mastermind Discussion.
https://youtube.com/shorts/D98zrQnvSbk
Guy Eid shows us round his apartment in Montreal where he records some of our YouTube interviews.Behind the scenes at Guy Eid's apartment in Montreal. Dans les coulisses de l'appartement de Guy Eid à Montréal.
Tim Robertson Founder and CEO of The Field Engineer, discusses his vision for The Field Engineer community with community members and field service leadership veterans, Charlie Apps and Guy Eid."I just recorded an interview with Charlie Apps and Guy Eid, members of The Field Engineer community who have also become good friends and volunteers supporting our goals. I hope the interview answers some of your questions about the birth of The Field Engineer, and why I created a global community for engineers who work in the field. We have plans to make this a huge global community".
The Field Engineer is proud to support and share news of the annual event, "Hard Hat Awareness Week," which runs from the 9th to the 15th of June.
The event was created by Chris Tidy.
"Hi, I'm Chris Tidy and I'm the founder of Hard Hat Awareness Week. So what is Hard Hat Awareness Week? So Hard Hat Awareness Week was actually born back in June of 2020, but like so many other things that year it actually took a back seat to the Covid pandemic that had taken grip of the UK and Europe and plunged most of us into compulsory lockdown. So the week was actually pushed back to September and proved to be quite successful. With participants as far afield as Dubai and the USA. As well as plenty of active activity of course in the UK and Europe. So the 2021 event was even bigger and better as industries actually got together for the cause and made it a very successful event although the Covid effect was still sort of quite apparent, and most Industries at the time were obviously focusing on respiratory protection of course. So the event was originally designed to highlight the need for industrial workers to wear head protection. So through my own sort of personal experience, I'd seen sort of time and time again instances where the worker would not wear their head protection or had worn it incorrectly. But this was not the only issue. As workers didn't actually realize that their head protection had an expiry date, and they didn't know that when it wasn't being used that it should be really sort of stored correctly in a, you know, a dry sort of safe core space. So over a period of time other issues surfaced. So workers would mark their head protection perhaps with a pen or maybe with stickers, and both of these which you know, if you don't know you you don't know, but both of these could affect the crystalline structure of the head protection and may cause an issue with the Integrity of the shell. One thing. Just one thing that struck me was the fact that workers and some companies would pay upward of 60, 70, sometimes even 80 pounds for a pair of branded safety boots, but it when it came to protecting their head they were against paying more than six pounds. So our heads contain our brain which powers the rest of our body and without that working properly, due to maybe a head injury our life would not be the same.So the week was also designed to cover off things like training, wear and care, we also had companies that conducted audits during that time as well, of all of their hard hats. But most of those initiatives were actually aimed at raising awareness of head injuries and to try to get people to understand that if you damage your head you could sustain a head injury, that you could sustain could be very more devastating and have a profound effect on your life and those around you. So during the week we work very closely with our partners and supporters to raise awareness of impacts, and it's really important to, you know, know and raise awareness of things like concussion which can occur after an impact. Even if you're wearing a helmet you can still sustain a concussion, because concussion is only a symptom of something that's actually happened. And it's always obviously good to seek advice afterwards. So that's sort of pretty much it really. That's Hard Hat Awareness Week. What it's all about. Hard Hat Awareness Week is this year obviously, as it is every single year, it's 9th to the 15th of June, and we'd like as many companies, people, Industries, to join us by conducting some sort of activity. Perhaps doing some training during the week around head injuries, perhaps just auditing their hard hats, perhaps personally it's you're one man band, one woman band, and you just want to take that week to just check your hard hat is in date, and check that everything is there that needs to be there for your hard hat to function properly. So that's pretty much me, Chris Tidy, and thanks very much for listening I appreciate it".
Guy Eid and Charlie Apps discuss The Field Engineer Community Coach on Call Service.They also discuss their experience of coaching others, and being coached themselves.The service is available to The Field Engineer Community Members.You can join The Field Engineer Community by registering here. https://thefieldengineer.com/register/Once you have registered you can access the Coach on Call form on this page,https://thefieldengineer.com/coach-on-call-2/
Guy Eid meets Slava Gorovoy, former Aftermarket Business Manager - APAC for The Toro Company. As an Aftermarket Business & Operations Manager for the APAC region, he spearheaded initiatives to drive aftermarket sales, market expansion, supply chain optimization, and customer-centric strategies. His leadership and strategic focus resulted in measurable growth, operational excellence, and enhanced customer satisfaction across diverse markets. Slava has previous experience as Head of Service Operations ANZ for Techtronic Industries, Bosch Power Tools & Accessories, and Atlas Copco.Slava thrives at the intersection of technology, business growth, and customer success, leveraging AI, digital transformation, and strategic leadership to create value in the industrial, manufacturing, heavy equipment, and aftermarket sectors. With 15+ years of experience leading regional operations, sales, and service optimization, he specialises in enhancing business performance, unlocking new revenue streams, and fostering high-performing teams.
Rosemary Coates and Charlie Apps discuss the importance of Global Supply Chains in the success of global field service and support.They also discuss the important role Field Service has on a company's success when the Field Service department is managed correctly within the wider organisation.Rosemary Coates has been awarded one of 100 Most Influential Women in Silicon Valley 2024. She is President and Founder, Management Consultant, Blue Silk Consulting.Founder, Executive Director, Chairman of the Board, The Reshoring Institute.Rosemary has more than 30 years of experience in supply chain, reshoring, and nearshoring. Rosemary is the co-author with Jim Reily of the book 42 Rules for Superior Field Service. She is the author of 42 Rules for Sourcing and Manufacturing in China, and the Reshoring Guidebook.The Reshoring Institute is a 501c3 non-profit and non-partisan organization with a dual mission: to help companies bring manufacturing back to the US and to teach graduate student interns about global manufacturing.Rosemary is Member of the Board - Supply Chain Management Institute at the University of San Diego.
Guy Eid who mentored Marc Yvan WABO FOTSO with his move to Canada, discusses the challenges of relocating to Canada after having worked as an Automation Engineer from Cameroon, working for BB Lomé S.A., in Lomé Togo. He has Sidel and Krones bottling production line, and palletising equipment experience. He previously worked for Boissons du Cameroun in Cameroon.Wabo has a Masters' degree from Institut Universitaire Catholique Saint Jerome De Douala.WABO FOTSO Marc Yvan shared his experience as an automation specialist in the brewery industry in our blog. He's now moved to Canada to work and has written about his experience so far in a new country and shared it with The Field Engineer community.We felt we should share his story with here on YouTube too. Moving to Canada and starting a new job with a new companyThis interview shares Marc's experience as a new immigrant in Canada and the impact of The Field Engineer community in his integration process. Perhaps, it could be helpful for some of you our viewers and listeners.
