Here at Edinburgh Instruments, we are proud of all our employees for all they do behind the scenes, so we thought it was time to put them in the spotlight. This series does exactly that; you get a sneak peek into what drives, excites and enamours our team. We hope you enjoy it!
Meet Guillermo, Scientific Software Development Engineer here at Edinburgh Instruments. Guillermo’s work is all about keeping our current software running smoothly and developing future releases. This means much of his day is focused on fixing uncooperative software bugs. He also develops software guides designed to make our systems easier to use, while collaborating with the sales and production teams to ensure end users are supported throughout the whole process
I come from Madrid, in Spain, where I lived since I was born all the way to graduating from my bachelor’s degree. I had not done any kind of Erasmus or international studies abroad during my bachelor’s, so I decided to do my master’s away from Spain, which landed me in the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. Here, I completed my master’s and went on to complete an Engineering Doctorate.
I have now been living in Glasgow for more than eight and a half years (at the time of writing this post) and even though summer lasts only for about two weeks, I have come to enjoy what the city has to offer.
I chose Edinburgh Instruments because I felt like my work here would lead to a real impact. The spectrometers developed by Edinburgh Instruments are sold worldwide and help push advances in a wide range of fields, such biology, chemistry, energy, and electronics. I feel that for every bug I fix, for every feature I develop, I will be contributing a bit to those advances.
I just started a month ago and everyone has been so welcoming. The variety of teams and expertise across them makes Edinburgh Instruments such an interesting place to work at.
One of my proudest moments/achievements was when I was part of the University of Strathclyde Handball Team, acting as both player and coach, and we reached the finals of the British Universities and Colleges Championships (BUCS):
After a season undefeated in the Scottish Student League, we set off to London where we competed against the best university teams in the UK. We played against many formidable teams and managed to reach the finals, playing against a team that had a professional player in its rooster. Even though we lost the finals, we got a silver medal which was – and still is – the best result a Scottish university has achieved. I still think back to that season from time to time and feel so proud to have been part of that team.
My interests are mainly divided in two categories: sport and geekiness.
I was an avid handball player for 17 years, but for the past three years (and counting), volleyball is what has me hooked up. You can often see me playing in Glasgow Green during the summer, in the Scottish League during Autumn and Winter with my team, Glasgow International Volleyball Club, or just playing for fun with my other recreational club, the Rainbow Raccoons.
On the geek side of my hobbies, I like to play games of all kinds – videogames, trading card games, boardgames, and tabletop roleplay games, especially D&D. I also read a lot of comics and manga, and you’ll likely see me wearing T-shirts showing some of my favourite games, comics, and movies.
Finally, while I don’t get to do them as often as I would like, I love karaoke and escape rooms and I’m always up for it if the plan is suggested.
I have been told I don’t look the part, but I’m actually a big metal fan! I listen to various types of metal, but my favourites are symphonic, melodic, and power metal. Some of my favourite groups include Amaranthe, Temperance, and Metalite.
One of the perks of living in Glasgow is that I have been able to see many of my favourite bands live here (in fact, all three listed above).
I find it hard to pinpoint just 5 as my top because I have liked so many movies, but these are some of the ones I have particularly loved through my life (no particular order):
If you enjoyed getting to know Guillermo, check out the rest of our People of EI series!
