What position do you hold on the Velco team?
I am an embedded software engineer, I develop the firmwares that run on the microcontrollers located in the Wink Bar and Nuotrax handlebars. This is what makes it possible to retrieve information from the handlebars (accelerometer, GPS position…), from the electric bike (battery status, engine…) and to transmit them to the Velco servers.
I wanted to join Velco because I wanted to join a company on a human scale, with values on sustainable development and soft mobility.
How would you describe the team that makes up Velco?
We all form a small multicultural and multidisciplinary team, and it’s motivating to work together, where we complement each other and share our knowledge in a good atmosphere.
What is your greatest achievement at Velco?
When I arrived at Velco, the development of the on-board software was at a standstill on the Wink Bar handlebar, and it was essential to finish it and get the product into production. I had to learn very quickly about Velco’s culture, the context of the project and the project itself. It was a great challenge, and I thank my colleagues for integrating, helping and supporting me during this period.
What is your vision of tomorrow’s urban mobility?
In my opinion, we need to rethink the place of the car in the city. Because if it is an effective means of getting closer to urban transport, tomorrow’s mobility will not use just one means of transport. It will therefore have to mix and combine different modes : bus, tramway, bicycle, scooter, pedestrian…
What is the challenge you would like to take up this year at Velco?
Since my arrival 18 months ago, the Velco team has been growing, and I hope that with the increase in team sizes, we will be able to maintain this working atmosphere.
You’re one of those people who come to work by bike. In your opinion, what are the obstacles and above all the solutions to get everyone to adopt this reflex?
In order for everyone to adopt the soft mobility reflex, there are several points to be improved :
– The first is infrastructure. While there are many cycle paths in Nantes, there is still room for improvement; continue to develop the area to include bicycle/scooter traffic; better protect the cycle path from cars; improve safety at major crossroads.
– The second is the training of drivers, whether motor vehicle or soft mobility. The rules, while they may seem limiting from an individual point of view, allow everyone to use and share the infrastructure while being safe.
The third one is his own apprehension about the daily use of the bicycle. It’s very easy to make excuses for not doing it : it’s longer, the sky is grey, there’s a bit of wind, it might rain during the day … But these excuses are deceptive, and you have to look at the advantages as well. For my part, I put the same time in the car as on a bike. As the car park is further away, the weather actually has little influence. Also, that allows me to do a little bit of sport every day !