Engine Management / ECU Developers in York?
Discussion
A friend of mine contacted me today to say he has heard of a job which might be in my line; developing software and hardware for a new design of Engine Control Unit. Unhelpfully he seems to have lost the details! All he could remember was that it was supposedly with a "major group" (sounds like agencyspeak) and in York.
Now, I have scratched my head and can't think of any businesses in York who do automotive electronics or software development. Google can't find anything either, nor can Applegate or Yell.
Rather than spam it to the main groups, I thought I would try the local Forum first. Anyone got a clue for me to beat Google around the head with?
Cheers folks
Mike
Thanks guys! Most puzzling but I think we are getting there. I had a dig into all the tenants' lists but nothing likely seemed to appear. DTA appear to be in Salford now. I couldn't find Northern Real Time Systems, but Northern Real Time Applications and northern Real-Time Technology exist (or have in the recent past).
Northern Real-Time Technology (founded 1995), spun-off VolcanoAutomotive.com (now Borged into Mentor.com), the founders went on to start LiveDevices.com, who were bought by ETAS (April 2003) and still appear to have an office in York. So LiveDevices/ETAS seem to be the most likely people at the moment, although they don't appear to have any vacancies in the UK. Ironically, these real-time companies do seem rather ephemeral!
I have some additional info, it's definitely in York:
"Skills: Embedded C Software Engineers. York. Embedded C, RTOS, DSP,
Serial Comms, Device Drivers. This prestigious York client who are part
of a major Group, are looking for experienced Embedded C Software
Engineers with c2 years commercial Embedded C RTOS development
experience. You will develop infrastructure software and operating
system software for ECUs and automotive bespoke products over the full
project life cycle. You will enhance product developments and customise
existing product offerings...
Location: York, North Yorkshire"
(It's via an agency, and they may well think all YO postcodes are in York. I am reluctant to go through the agency if I can approach them directly, as I have had previous dealings with that particular Agency. "Arse" and "Elbow" come into it.)
Northern Real-Time Technology (founded 1995), spun-off VolcanoAutomotive.com (now Borged into Mentor.com), the founders went on to start LiveDevices.com, who were bought by ETAS (April 2003) and still appear to have an office in York. So LiveDevices/ETAS seem to be the most likely people at the moment, although they don't appear to have any vacancies in the UK. Ironically, these real-time companies do seem rather ephemeral!
I have some additional info, it's definitely in York:
"Skills: Embedded C Software Engineers. York. Embedded C, RTOS, DSP,
Serial Comms, Device Drivers. This prestigious York client who are part
of a major Group, are looking for experienced Embedded C Software
Engineers with c2 years commercial Embedded C RTOS development
experience. You will develop infrastructure software and operating
system software for ECUs and automotive bespoke products over the full
project life cycle. You will enhance product developments and customise
existing product offerings...
Location: York, North Yorkshire"
(It's via an agency, and they may well think all YO postcodes are in York. I am reluctant to go through the agency if I can approach them directly, as I have had previous dealings with that particular Agency. "Arse" and "Elbow" come into it.)
First of all, hello Pete and welcome to PistonHeads!
I knew PH would come up with an answer, it has a slightly spooky habit of doing that. I get the feeling that if someone wanted to know Ayrton Senna's roll bar settings for the 1992 Monaco GP, not only would someone have the settings, but 5 minutes later the engineer himself would appear and tell everyone how it wasn't quite like that.
Anyway, back to LiveDevices. It's a good job they are recruiting at a more junior level then, otherwise I'd not stand a chance. Still, I don't have much CANbus experience so I won't waste their time applying. It sounds like I would miss their targets in several areas.
I had hoped it would be a hardware/software development house but the Yorkshire electronics development community is fairly small and I know most of the employers, which is why I was baffled when this came up. I generally work with embedded systems, both on the hardware and software side (plus RF, analogue, PSUs and stuff too convoluted to go into here). This is good for small/medium sized companies, which tend to integrate several functions in a smallish facility, but the larger blue-chips prefer people to specialise in tiny little areas. I had envisaged a company that perhaps built management systems for industrial power units or similar.
Being of the generation that was brought up assembler on ZX81s I know a fair few processors (of various sizes ) to a uselessly stupid degree, but can probably be outgeeked by most of the employees. I imagine my concept of a real time OS would be laughed down the road by them too. Big-company politics is one of the big reasons I work for myself, I find politics futile and a waste of energy. There are some things worth stressing about in life, but office politics isn't one of them.
My BSc.(Hons.) is in I.T., unfortunately I.T. has changed meaning since I got it in the early 90s. Now it is usually taken to mean business systems but back then (jeez, I'm feeling old!) it was much more broad based. The M.Sc.(Eng.) is in Radio Comms, which is much more self explanitory. No PhD alas. The "robust" culture seems rather ominous. I'm used to professional engineers being honest and objective, it sounds rather cliquey.
I have C and various assembler coming out of my ears (and messy it is too) but little C++ and Java. I also suspect 2 years of German I did nearly 20 years ago probably wouldn't be quite enough! Eccentric salaries seem to be endemic in the industry. Pace Electronics in Saltaire have one, as do Filtronic next door. Both based more on how much you get on with your manager than your ability. Come to think of it, it does sound quite a lot like Filtronic in several ways. Over the years I have been for 3 interviews there, each time I was interrogated on the PhD engineer's specific subject rather than anything in the job spec, and 3 times I came away feeling less than useless (University spinoffs do seem to be like this). Needless to say I don't apply for jobs there any more (or Pace - similar reasons). No wonder the jobs lists and recruitment companies are forever advertising them.
This is probably getting a bit like a personal waffle now, so if you want to followup it is probably best to email me (it should be in my profile - if not then pester me).
Cheers,
Mike
I knew PH would come up with an answer, it has a slightly spooky habit of doing that. I get the feeling that if someone wanted to know Ayrton Senna's roll bar settings for the 1992 Monaco GP, not only would someone have the settings, but 5 minutes later the engineer himself would appear and tell everyone how it wasn't quite like that.
Anyway, back to LiveDevices. It's a good job they are recruiting at a more junior level then, otherwise I'd not stand a chance. Still, I don't have much CANbus experience so I won't waste their time applying. It sounds like I would miss their targets in several areas.
I had hoped it would be a hardware/software development house but the Yorkshire electronics development community is fairly small and I know most of the employers, which is why I was baffled when this came up. I generally work with embedded systems, both on the hardware and software side (plus RF, analogue, PSUs and stuff too convoluted to go into here). This is good for small/medium sized companies, which tend to integrate several functions in a smallish facility, but the larger blue-chips prefer people to specialise in tiny little areas. I had envisaged a company that perhaps built management systems for industrial power units or similar.
Being of the generation that was brought up assembler on ZX81s I know a fair few processors (of various sizes ) to a uselessly stupid degree, but can probably be outgeeked by most of the employees. I imagine my concept of a real time OS would be laughed down the road by them too. Big-company politics is one of the big reasons I work for myself, I find politics futile and a waste of energy. There are some things worth stressing about in life, but office politics isn't one of them.
My BSc.(Hons.) is in I.T., unfortunately I.T. has changed meaning since I got it in the early 90s. Now it is usually taken to mean business systems but back then (jeez, I'm feeling old!) it was much more broad based. The M.Sc.(Eng.) is in Radio Comms, which is much more self explanitory. No PhD alas. The "robust" culture seems rather ominous. I'm used to professional engineers being honest and objective, it sounds rather cliquey.
I have C and various assembler coming out of my ears (and messy it is too) but little C++ and Java. I also suspect 2 years of German I did nearly 20 years ago probably wouldn't be quite enough! Eccentric salaries seem to be endemic in the industry. Pace Electronics in Saltaire have one, as do Filtronic next door. Both based more on how much you get on with your manager than your ability. Come to think of it, it does sound quite a lot like Filtronic in several ways. Over the years I have been for 3 interviews there, each time I was interrogated on the PhD engineer's specific subject rather than anything in the job spec, and 3 times I came away feeling less than useless (University spinoffs do seem to be like this). Needless to say I don't apply for jobs there any more (or Pace - similar reasons). No wonder the jobs lists and recruitment companies are forever advertising them.
This is probably getting a bit like a personal waffle now, so if you want to followup it is probably best to email me (it should be in my profile - if not then pester me).
Cheers,
Mike
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