Thomas Opsomer

Thomas Opsomer Email and Phone Number

Homo universalis - putting people & planet before profit @ iFixit
san luis obispo, california, united states
Thomas Opsomer's Location
Brussels Region, Belgium, Belgium
Thomas Opsomer's Contact Details

Thomas Opsomer work email

Thomas Opsomer personal email

n/a
About Thomas Opsomer

Having been eager to learn for as long as I can remember and interested in just about any subject ranging from carpentry to poetry, I've had a fairly meandering career so far.At first, I was a 'homo faber' in my spare time while studying Classical literature during the daytime, which culminated in a doctorate in Latin poetry. However I quickly realized that as skills go, being able to use a micrometer was more sought after than knowing how to scan a hexameter...I decided to explore my hobby professionally and I ended up working for Makita for nearly a decade. As a product specialist, I tested tools and their applications, maintained the multilingual product database, and provided technical support and product training for employees and customers both nationally and abroad. Basically, I was paid to be a powertool freak.After a change in management, I decided to move on. Deeply convinced that current global crises such as climate change, loss of biodiversity and social inequality require us to urgently rethink not only the way we live but also the way we do business, I was looking for an opportunity that would allow me to extend my personal beliefs into my professional life. After a stint in social economy, I started working as a Right to Repair advocate for iFixit. I’m involved in research projects, ecodesign, ecolabelling, standardisation, consumer legislation and similar policy tools related to product repairability.Still feeling the need to get my hands dirty, I also do more hands-on projects in parallel. As an independent contractor, I provide training, consultancy and similar services in various areas that I have acquired expertise in. As a volunteer, I’m involved with grassroots organisations such as the local Repair Café and the Brussels tool library, which I co-founded. I repair and restore electric appliances, tools and small engines. I also teach woodturning and safe use of the chainsaw. I still love getting covered in wood chips as much as the first day!

Thomas Opsomer's Current Company Details
iFixit

Ifixit

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Homo universalis - putting people & planet before profit
san luis obispo, california, united states
Website:
ifixit.com
Employees:
142
Thomas Opsomer Work Experience Details
  • Ifixit
    Repair Policy Engineer
    Ifixit May 2015 - Present
    Brussels Area, Belgium
    iFixit is a founding member of the EU Right to Repair campaign (www.repair.eu). In this context, I engage with European institutions and organisations to promote both durable product design and a repair-based economy, with a view to getting these concepts firmly embedded in EU policy. This includes product policy (such as various Ecodesign regulations, the Batteries Directive or the French Indice de réparabilité), consumer policy (such as the Common Rules to Promote the Repair of Goods) and standardisation work (such as EN50614 and EN45554, see below).Besides this advocacy work, I've also been involved in research projects such as CloseWEEE (www.step-initiative.org/closeweee.html), Sustainably Smart (www.sustainably-smart.eu) and PROMPT (www.prompt-project.eu). Quantifying repairability is one of the focal points of my research and policy work.
  • Tournevie
    Steering Group Member - Tool Procurement - Service & Repair - Training & Technical Support
    Tournevie Nov 2014 - Present
    Brussels, Brussels Region, Belgium
    Tournevie is a non-profit tool library located in Brussels town centre.In exchange for a small annual membership fee, users get unlimited access to a wide range of quality tools. This makes sense from a financial as well as an environmental point of view. In the long run, it is both cheaper and more resource-friendly to share a pool of professional quality tools than to individually buy DIY-grade tools that are less efficient and shorter lived.Tournevie currenty has close to 800 members sharing roughly 3000 items, including over 500 power tools and several hundreds of hand tools and accessories.After generally helping the project along in the startup phase, negotiating with suppliers and establishing the tool collection, I'm now mainly responsible for maintaining and expanding that collection. This includes sourcing used tools as part of our sustainable procurement policy as well as servicing and repairing tools when needed - which is pretty often. I also provide training and technical support, and I'm part of the steering group ensuring day-to-day operation.For more information, please visit www.tournevie.be.
  • Ecos
    Reparability And Reusability Standardisation Expert
    Ecos Jul 2015 - Present
    The Environmental Coalition on Standards (ECOS) is an umbrella organisation representing 56 environmental NGOs from 29 countries in the development process of European standards and technical product policies.On their behalf, I represent the environmental interests in the development of material efficiency standards such as EN50614:2020 (Requirements for the preparing for re-use of waste electrical and electronic equipment) and EN45554:2020 (General methods for the assessment of the ability to repair, reuse and upgrade energy-related products).Currently I'm also involved in the development of DIN SPEC 91519: Product Carbon Footprints (PCF) für Power Tools.
  • Inverde
    Chainsaw Instructor
    Inverde May 2023 - Present
    Liedekerke, Flemish Region, Belgium
    Inverde is Belgium's leading provider of training for forestry work and nature management, and the national secretariat for the European Forestry and Environmental Skills Council (www.efesc.org). As an external trainer, I run several courses for them including two-day courses teaching people how to safely and efficiently use a chainsaw and prepare for certification (ECS level 1), as well as one-day courses on brushcutters or hedgetrimmes, and both basic and advanced courses on the operation, maintenance and repair of small engines and electric machines.I also develop new training content and custom-made teaching props. Finding new ways of making complex subjects easily understandable to a diverse audience is a challenge that I enjoy, and I find it immensely satisfying to see people grow confident in their abilities as their skills progress.
  • Toppunt
    Independent Consultant
    Toppunt Oct 2020 - Present
    Brussels, Brussels Region, Belgium
    Under the brand name Toppunt, I provide a variety of services related to training and consultancy, tools and repair, trees and wood - subjects that I am passionate about and have gained expertise in during half a lifetime of tinkering.These projects range from hands-on contract work building or repairing stuff, over customised professional training programmes, to consulting activities in support of policy work, especially at the intersection of two or more of the aforementioned subjects (e.g. repair policy, technical training, creating teaching props,...). The above-mentioned work for ECOS and Inverde also fits under this umbrella.I am happy to discuss any type of project or collaboration that seems worthwhile; my principal criterion for accepting work in this context is that I find it interesting and relevant. I favour a not-for-profit clientele but am open to work with businesses as well.
  • Atelier Groot Eiland
    Coordinator Woodshop “Klimop”
    Atelier Groot Eiland Nov 2014 - Mar 2015
    Brussels Area, Belgium
    Vzw Atelier Groot Eiland (www.ateliergrooteiland.be) is a social profit organization offering work and professional education to people who have a hard time finding a job through the regular employment circuit.Klimop is one of the four workshops at Atelier Groot Eiland. The target audience learns how to work wood safely and efficiently while working on real projects, building all sorts of custom furniture and interior finishing projects such as tables and chairs, office and kitchen furniture as well as windows and doors, stairs and flooring. Klimop's clientèle includes private customers, architects, businesses and non-profit organizations. Working on real projects for real customers teaches the workers to deal with real-life aspects of commercial woodworking such as planning ahead, meeting deadlines and satisfying customer expectations.After six to twelve months at Klimop, workers are encouraged to move on and find a regular job with the assistance of career coaches.
  • Makita Belgium / Makita International Europe
    Product Specialist
    Makita Belgium / Makita International Europe Jun 2005 - May 2014
    Vilvoorde / Kortenberg
    Makita is one of the world's leading manufacturers of professional power tools. The product range, which is far more extensive than that of most competitors, covers not only battery- and mains-powered tools but also pneumatic and petrol-operated tools. Core products include woodworking tools, cordless drill-drivers and rotary hammers. These tools are distributed mainly through hardware stores in a B2B sales model relying heavily on after sales service and technical assistance.My job included various aspects of product management such as:- Testing tools and their applications, including competitors' products;- Technical copywriting and maintaining the bilingual online product database that served as a basis for the Belgian website and catalogues;- Providing multilingual product training for Makita employees (Belgium + EU subsidiaries);- Providing third line technical support in case of questions and problems.One might say that I served as the 'missing link' between Makita's Japan-based R&D dept. and local sales teams.
  • Research Foundation Flanders - Fwo
    Aspirant Researcher
    Research Foundation Flanders - Fwo 2000 - 2004
    Leuven
    My main research interests were the Latin love poets and the (at the time) largely uncharted Anthologia Latina, on which I wrote my Ph.D. dissertation. Besides a more traditional scholarly approach, I used relational databases as a textual inventory tool and for semi-automatic retrieval of verbal parallels.The essence of my research is to be found in the following publications:♦ 'Referre aliter saepe solebat idem: The Relation Between Ovid's Amores and Ars Amatoria', in Carl Deroux (Ed.), Studies in Latin Literature and Roman History XI, Collection Latomus 272 (Bruxelles, Latomus, 2003), pp. 313-350.♦ Companion to the Latin Anthology, with a Commentary on the Peiper-Libellus (AL 90-197R) (Brussel, 2004) (VI, 333 p. + CD-ROM).♦ 'Excusez la matière insensée: Catulle et les élégiaques latins dans l'Anthologie latine', in Rémy Poignault (Ed.), Présence de Catulle et des élégiaques latins. Actes du colloque tenu à Tours (28-30 novembre 2002). A Raymond Chevallier in memoriam, Caesarodunum 36-37 bis (Clairmont-Ferrand, Centre de Recherches André Piganiol - Présence de l'Antiquité, 2005), pp. 235-254.
  • Ku Leuven Faculty Of Arts
    Assistant In Latin Philology & Researcher
    Ku Leuven Faculty Of Arts 1999 - 2000
    Leuven

Thomas Opsomer Education Details

Frequently Asked Questions about Thomas Opsomer

What company does Thomas Opsomer work for?

Thomas Opsomer works for Ifixit

What is Thomas Opsomer's role at the current company?

Thomas Opsomer's current role is Homo universalis - putting people & planet before profit.

What is Thomas Opsomer's email address?

Thomas Opsomer's email address is th****@****xit.com

What schools did Thomas Opsomer attend?

Thomas Opsomer attended Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Erasmushogeschool Brussel, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

Who are Thomas Opsomer's colleagues?

Thomas Opsomer's colleagues are Johnny Matthys, Ahmed Benhamza, Kemal Rejal, Mohamed Salek, Juan Sanchez Hernandez, Emerson Trout, Curtis Li.

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