Every month, we are presenting a member of the Amphinicy team, so you will more easily understand what we are doing. We think this is important, and whether you’re a future employee or a business partner, you may benefit from this view on our daily work.
In this second issue, you will meet Antonio Orenda, who works as a Software Engineer in Amphinicy’s Luxembourg office, but who has recently acquired the title of Scrum Master. Nevertheless, there’s more to him than just a job description. So, let’s listen to what he has to say!
Q: Antonio, how long have you been with Amphinicy? And what has inspired you to join our company?
A: Even though it feels like yesterday, it’s been almost 3 years now that I joined Amphinicy. I guess time flies when you’re having fun. A few months before I joined Amphinicy, I decided that it was time for a change. I wasn't feeling as fulfilled as I should in my software engineer role at my previous company, and the idea of working on yet another project consisting of a hundred different forms didn’t seem like something I wanted to do anymore. I wanted a position where I could learn new things and work on something exciting and interesting. As a kid I always dreamed of being an astronaut, thus working for a company in the space industry felt like the closest I could get to my childhood dream. I’ve been following Amphinicy for a long time now, so as soon as I started thinking about a new role, I decided to send an open application and the rest is history.
Q: Can you describe in brief what you do within Amphinicy? What is your daily work, and what exactly are the tasks of a Scrum Master?
A: Initially I joined Amphinicy as a software engineer. In the beginning my work consisted of developing the software in Java, testing that software, and occasionally documenting what I did. From the very beginning of my career, I was working with agile methodologies, and I have always liked the agile values. On the other hand, I also liked managing things and making sure things get done. When within my team the scrum master position opened last year, I decided that it was time to try a different role. Even though I took the scrum master role, I am still a software engineer. I don’t code as much as I used to before, but I code as much as the time allows. As a scrum master, my main role is to coach the team to better understand and apply the Scrum framework. It’s also very important to pay attention to people’s needs: for example, if somebody is blocked in their work it is my job to clear the path so they can do their job. They say a scrum master has done his job properly when the team doesn’t need him anymore. It’s a very dynamic role and it’s not fitting everyone, but that is exactly the reason why I like it so much. I like diversity in my daily work and my day mostly consists of lots of different tasks, so it never gets boring. People usually relate scrum with software development, but it can in fact be used in many different areas. We’re currently in the process of buying and renovating a house and you can pretty much apply the same scrum framework or project management methodologies for that as well.
Q: You’re also a real person, not just some employee, someone who’s only working. There is a life around you. What is your motivation to get up every morning? What drives you? And what do you enjoy when you’re just being Antonio?
A: My goal in life is to stay happy and keep doing what I love. In professional life, that means being challenged, learning new things, and working on interesting projects – which we have plenty of in Amphinicy. I love to work in teams, help others and really see the effect of the things I work on in real life. In my personal life I have many hobbies, but what mostly keeps me busy is traveling and doing sports. I’ve spent the last few years traveling a lot around the globe and that is probably something I enjoy doing most – exploring new places and getting to know different cultures. With the possibility of working remotely, I’ve been traveling more than ever and have probably visited more than 20 countries ever since the beginning of the Covid pandemic. When I’m not traveling, I enjoy doing sports, mostly those that kick your adrenaline. My favorite sport is snowboarding, but it’s unfortunately something I get to do just a few days or weeks per year. I climb on a weekly basis, mostly indoors, but I also climb outside when I get a chance. During the summer months, I enjoy occasional wakeboarding and mountain biking sessions. When I need some time to relax, I like to watch movies and photograph things.
