Time to read: 3 min
Welcome to our first edition of Fictiv Life: a series where we will interview different Fictors (aka Fictiv employees) across various departments to give some insight into our incredible team.
For this edition we zoomed in with Nima Rafibakhsh, Sr. Computational Geometry Software Engineer. Nima has been with the company for five years. He has a B.A. and M.S. in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, as well as a PhD in Mechanical Engineering.
What made you want to work at Fictiv?
Nima: When I was in school I did Automated Assembly Planning for my PhD. I was doing a lot of Computational Geometry, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning. My background was Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, and when it came time to start applying for jobs I wasn’t sure what type of position I should apply for. I came across a job posting from Fictiv that basically described me so I immediately applied and got a call from our CEO, Dave Evans. Dave spoke about the role and Fictiv overall, and I instantly felt like I fit in well with the role and Fictiv’s mission.
Describe a day in the life of your role at Fictiv
Nima: As you may guess from my title, Computational Geometry Engineer, I deal with geometries every day. The Comp-Geo team controls the entire geometry analysis, drawing analysis, automated DFM feedback, lead time and pricing. When I’m working, I’m either working on a new algorithm or I’m maintaining and improving the existing algorithms. Not only do we want to release more new features for our customers, but we also want to make sure the existing ones work perfectly everyday.
What do you find most fulfilling about your work at Fictiv?
Nima: It’s a great feeling to see that our software is being used by our customers every day. Due to the nature of my job — it’s a research and development role — I have the opportunity to work and deal with a lot of new challenging problems. The opportunity to flex my creativity on a daily basis is very fulfilling and satisfying.
Do you feel your work at Fictiv makes a broader impact? If so, how?
Nima: Absolutely! We have customers from many industries: Automotive, Medical, Robotics, Aerospace, and others. Every time an engineer from these companies uses our platform, they’re saving time. Instead of going to a local manufacturer and waiting days to receive a quote and DFM, our customers get those instantly. When these companies save time, it helps them to launch more products into the market faster.
Dave always says “imagine we can build hardware, with the speed of software” and that’s what we’re enabling. When someone builds a cool new robot and Fictiv, our software, our platform was a part of that creation process, that’s what I call the greatest impact of my job.
What has been the most surprising thing about working at Fictiv?
Nima: The most surprising thing about working at Fictiv is the culture. The people that work here are amazing, and we’ve done a fantastic job hiring fabulous people from day one. If you have any problem, there will be multiple people who will jump in to help you; that doesn’t necessarily need to be a work-related issue either, it can be a personal issue as well. Having the support of your coworkers makes the job very enjoyable and comfortable. Fictiv culture was great when I joined five years ago when we had only 20 or 30 people, and it’s still great now with hundreds of employees on board.
