It was a long process of job hunting, but when I met my future colleagues at the Renesas Electronics job fair booth, I knew immediately that I wanted to join the company. I was amazed! They were very nice people, and looked extremely happy. I thought to myself, I really want to work there.

Back in Sudan, I had been involved in my country’s first project to launch a cube satellite into space. But as the research and resources in this field were still lacking, after around a year and a half, I decided to further pursue my studies in satellite and space systems by applying for a scholarship to study in Japan.

I admit my fascination with Japan began long before I realized it. When as a child, I watched Arabic dubbed versions of some popular Japanese anime such as Chibi Maruko Chan. At the time, I did not realize those animations were made in Japan, and I only found that out years later. Of course, Japan also boasts trailblazing research in space systems. I joined the University of Tokyo and spent five years completing a Master’s degree in aerospace engineering.

My Master’s research project was about mass properties identification for a debris removing satellite. For my Bachelor’s, I researched on the attitude determination and control system of cube satellites.

My plan to return to Sudan and work on the space satellite project fell through as the funding of the project was terminated. So, I decided to stay in Tokyo and find work.

I decided that perhaps space is not where I should be focusing on, and since I have a background in engineering, I thought I should get some experience in business, learn about the market and how companies work. That’s when I started job hunting, and it was a very long process. My Japanese is not that great, and I think most companies require a certain level of business Japanese.

As an electrical and electronic engineering student I have closely carried out projects using ICs and microcontrollers. So, during job hunting, technology and IoT companies were top on my list. Renesas Electronics is one of the largest semiconductor manufacturers with advanced technological capabilities and I thought I wanted to be part of the wheel that is steering the future innovations in the industry. Workplace culture, environment and work-life balance were some of my biggest concerns at that time. Meeting Renesas employees at one job fair and seeing how comfortable and motivated they were working at the company made me realize this is the kind of place I would like to work. Moreover, they were okay with just a conversational level of Japanese which was a great relief to me.

I love cycling, walking, and solving puzzles even outside of work. I was a little concerned that working hours may be long, but now I finish work before 6pm and I don’t really have strict deadlines.

Work-life balance is very important for me. The environment as well; the type of people around me can affect my performance. If the people are uptight or not nice or if the environment is toxic, it is not worth it! Such an environment will increase my stress and anxiety and degrade my mental health greatly! I am glad that here, at Renesas, I don’t have to worry about such stress.

If I’m struggling, it’s ok to take more time as I’m a new hire, and I’m not working on projects with high priorities or strict deadlines, right now.

As for one of my career goals, I would like to help create positive impact, supporting the customers in realizing their own goals, and improving peoples’ lives through improving Renesas products.

However, given the fact that I have just joined the company this year, I still have a long way to go to learn and gain new skills and experiences. I think that the FGIC market is flourishing due to the impact of Covid-19. It means many people work remotely using laptop PCs, and that trend will probably continue to grow. So, I would like to deepen my knowledge of FGIC products, their hardware and software development. I also want to know more about the market and the new trends and technologies. Since I am interested in AI, I would like to get engaged in something related to this technology, if I find the opportunity.

My advice to jobseekers is this. If you want to have a good learning experience, a good workplace, a good work-life balance, along with a supportive environment then Renesas Electronics is a good place to work.

Last but not least, one other aspect that I like about my work is the casual dress code. I don’t have to wear suits. I can wear what I’m comfortable in, so that’s great too.