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ACE Ingenieurs & Adviesbureau is once again a partner in the ‘TU/e Contest 2017’, an innovative competition organized by the Technical University Eindhoven. During this competition, students will present an innovative idea or prototype to the TU/e and several companies, and will be given the opportunity further develop this idea. This will give students the opportunity to expand their innovative ideas, concepts or prototypes. Frank Steeghs and Arthur de Goor, account manager and creative engineer at ACE, are going to support the ambitious students during the contest. They particularly stimulate the ingeniousness of students in their development process, which is an important core value of ACE. The adventure of the TU/e Contest starts with just an idea, but there is a lot more involved.

Creativity and grand ideas
Frank and Arthur are both experienced in coaching students during the TU/e Contest. This year will be their third consecutive year. Frank: ‘’The enthusiasm and passion of students is amazing, which makes it well worth it.’’

Arthur about the strength of students: ‘’As an experienced engineer, you unconsciously tend to create a rigid framework, which limits your ‘out of the box’ thinking. Students are still open-minded and ingenuous, which is why their ideas are often ambitious and creative. These qualities can also be a pitfall for them, because you eventually need to be able to transform your idea into a relevant product suitable for the market.’’ ACE uses a pragmatic approach; the success of a client is always their starting point. During the TU/e Contest, students become more familiar with this pragmatic approach, they immerse themselves in customer demand and they will transform their raw ideas into a prototype.

A broad perspective
A broader perspective is indispensable for a product developer. Arthur: ‘’It is essential to look at your product from different angles, so you know what the current market trends are, and what problems you will be looking to solve.’’ Paying attention to the entire development process is a distinctive feature of ACE. Arthur: ''Not specializing in one thing, is the actual specialty of a product developer. ''

Get out of your comfort zone
If you want to create a successful product, you need to explore. Get out of your comfort zone and take initiative. Frank: ‘’Without feedback and research, you will not make it. Allow others to hold up a mirror and engage in self-reflection, this is essential in discovering your strengths and weaknesses.

Therefore, it is necessary to work together with other people and disciplines, because you generally don’t possess all the required skills. By surrounding yourself with the right parties and people, you will considerably increase the likelihood of your product’s success.’’

Communication problems
Working together requires clear communication. You are dependent on each other in a design process, so understanding each other is crucial. Frank: '' Within meetings, miscommunications often arise because partners have different images in their minds for the same concept. Therefore, before starting a discussion, it is important to discuss and clarify your terminology.’’

Communication is important in the relationship with your customers as well, therefore ACE engages the customer in the design process early. Arthur: '' We visualize our ideas at an early stage and present it to the client. This allows us to refine the design continually, whereby the final product always meets the expectations of our customer.’’

Take initiative
According to Frank, your career at ACE depends entirely on your own initiative: ''Our organization has a flat structure, which results in many opportunities to develop yourself and to profile yourself internally. Do not hesitate, demonstrate your skills and highlight reasons why you can do something. Taking initiative, self-reflection and clear communication are essential skills.

ACE gives employees quite a lot of responsibilities, even in a starting position. Arthur: '' This helps you feel more involved and you will learn from your mistakes sooner. The Beauty of ACE? There are numerous possibilities, but you will have to work for it.’’