Thomas Dhaenens Email & Phone Number

Ghent, BE

St-Niklaas, Flemish Region, Belgium

• Acting as the primary contact for data center-related inquiries for the Belgian data centers, overseeing rack planning, spatial arrangements (taking various limitations and dependencies in mind), and ensuring the.
• Managing a power-saving initiative, by developing an automated system for optimal power management of lab equipment, significantly cutting costs by reducing energy consumption, aiding in disaster recovery and revealing.
• Responsible for calibrating devices to ensure accuracy for customer-facing reports and detailed measurements, critical for maintaining trust and credibility.
• Conduct in-depth site tours for customers, showcasing data center operations and technology, enhancing customer engagement and trust.
• Ensure data center standards are aligned with ISO9001, ISO14001, and ISO27001 certifications, maintaining high-quality management, environmental stewardship, and information security protocols.
• Implement industry best practices and efficiency optimizations in data center operations to improve performance and reduce operational costs.

St-Niklaas, Flemish Region, Belgium

• Managed the fiscal year budget allocation and proposition for on-site data centers and the extensive European QRE team (Quality and Release Engineering).
• Initiated the innovative project of incorporating two new data centers housed in shipping containers, due to office space constraints (same solution used by CERN's supercollider). Justified the need based on available.
• Launched a power-saving initiative, due to surging electricity prices in Europe, by developing an automated system for optimal power management of lab equipment, significantly reducing energy consumption, aiding in.
• Closed the communication gap between engineering, purchasing, logistics and facilities by serving as the go-to person for interdepartmental operations, ensuring optimized processes.
• Proactively ensured the engineering team had access to adequate resources for development activities, aligning with roadmaps and taking preemptive steps to mitigate potential resource constraints.
• Set up a data center operations team in line with the Scrum methodology (Agile).

St-Niklaas, Flemish Region, Belgium

• Developed a reservation tool/system to monitor test asset statuses and manage utilization effectively.
• Created the architectural design for test setups used by the engineering department, encompassing hardware selection, Bill of Materials (BoM), layout and cabling diagrams.
• Procurement of hardware, including follow up and delivery notice (via SAP).
• Managed and coordinated work with on-site technicians, ensuring efficient and timely project execution and resource allocation.
• Deployment of a power management platform (OpenMotics) across all on-site data centers.
• Implemented and oversaw a contingency plan for all on-site data centers, actively supervising environmental conditions to avoid project impact due to emergencies (e.g. AC malfunctions).

St-Niklaas, Flemish Region, Belgium

• Gained extensive insight into satellite communication systems, focused on identifying and resolving critical bugs (Jira) by actively pursuing colleagues (interdepartmental collaboration) and became a specialist for.
• Served as the mobility domain expert, focusing on satellite IP connectivity for moving vehicles (e.g. ships, airplanes, trains, oil rigs and news vans).
• Broadened my knowledge with state-of-the-art technologies, industry-standard software, and best practices across multiple domains, including: software, programming (Python, Bash), hardware, interfaces (REST API, MQTT.
• Contributed to the development of the most efficient satellite return technology in the world, ST Engineering iDirect's MxDMA MRC technology, and its compatibility with products and mobility solutions for flagship.
• Collaborated with ESA (European Space Agency) on the PACIS-5 project for dynamic satellite capability sharing, achieving the rare accomplishment of submitting a report with no RIDs.
• Advanced my skills in software build tooling and automated repetitive and time-intensive tasks via scripting and the use of tools (e.g. Jenkins).

Lake Forest, California, United States

• Panasonic Avionics Corp (PAC), based in Lake Forest, CA, USA, is a global leader in in-flight connectivity and infotainment systems for airlines. It's one of iDirect's flagship customers in the mobility sector.In.
• PAC operators' insufficient software knowledge → Conducted training to enhance their understanding and debugging skills of our software, including the creation of a cheat sheet for system analysis.
• Unidentified bugs with prolonged detection/resolution times → Collaborated with PAC's Tiger Team to gather metrics, flight information, and conduct real-time debugging, utilizing tools (PowerBI & Splunk) for faster bug.
• Scalability challenges within our software (back then), highlighted by PAC's extensive network → Implemented best practices: avoid significant changes on Fridays and EoB, test changes before bringing to production and.
• Held daily meetings with PAC's C-level executives to report on issues, responses and resolutions from the previous day, often providing immediate resolution.
• Navigated critical scenarios with swift actions to mitigate network-wide disruptions, avoiding millions in potential losses and enhancing customer satisfaction.

Master Of Science (Msc), Electronics (+ Advanced Communication Technologies)

Bachelor Of Science (Bsc), Electronics

Industrial Sciences