Career story Toon Gebruers

Toon, you've been working at ACE for ten years now. How did you end up here?

Toon: I started in March 2015, just after graduating as an industrial engineer in electromechanics. ACE was my first job. In the beginning, I started as a draftsman-designer. That meant a lot of additional learning, because practice always turns out to be slightly different from what you learn at school. The basic knowledge was there, but I really had to master the reality of production, materials and techniques.

Over the years I evolved from draughtsman to designer, and now I work as a senior designer. That means more independence, more responsibility and more space to put my own insights and experience into projects. Today I get the confidence to help define the technical lines of a project, and I love that.

Were you also involved with engineering as a child?

Toon: Absolutely. As a child, I built endlessly with Lego and K'nex. I loved taking structures apart, rebuilding them, and experimenting with movement. At an open house in kindergarten, I built a huge windmill with K'nex; I remember being immensely proud of it. Later came programming Lego robots, and so my interest in mechanics and automation has only grown. Actually, today I am doing professionally what I loved most as a child: inventing things, building them and making them move.

How would you describe your job?

Toon: I see my job as a combination of creative thinking and technical understanding. You have to come up with solutions that are simultaneously smart, efficient and manufacturable. It's not just about how something looks, but more importantly whether it can be produced and used effectively. In doing so, you take into account materials, costs, production techniques and the desired functionality. So you're always balancing between what's possible and what's optimal, and that's just what makes it fascinating.

Do you have a project that stands out for you?

Toon: Definitely. One of the projects I look back on with great satisfaction is a demo machine we developed for a trade show. It was not a standard machine, but a visual eye-catcher, intended to highlight a product. I was given a lot of freedom to think about the look, the symmetry, the finish ... everything had to be right. It was really an exercise in combining form and function. I still regularly see this machine at trade fairs, and that does something.

I have also worked on a variety of projects, from machine construction to automation in sectors such as the food industry and packaging. That variety keeps me on my toes. One project requires millimeter precision and hygienic design, another is robust and focused on high throughput.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Toon: The design process itself. Building a 3D model, choosing the right materials, thinking about assembly and production, and then seeing it work in practice, that remains the best moment for me. You start with a blank screen, and a few weeks or months later you see the result in steel, plastic or aluminum in front of you. That transformation gives me satisfaction every time.

I also closely follow the technological evolution. Everything used to work on the basis of 2D drawings; now 3D models are increasingly being used directly in production. Machines can read those models and work with them, which means fewer errors and higher efficiency. That kind of evolution only makes the work more interesting.

What projects can they wake you up for?

Tone: Give me projects with a lot of motion and short cycle times. I love technical puzzles where you have to tune to the second which actuator performs which movement. That kind of precision work is what I find most challenging. Projects where you start from scratch and have to think everything out, from concept to detailed design, also appeal to me. Then I can really sink my teeth into the whole process.

How do you see your future within ACE?

Toon: I feel good at ACE. The projects are varied, the colleagues think along with me, and there is room to deepen yourself technically. I see myself working as a designer for a long time to come. Not so much in a management role, but really as a technical expert. I want to specialize further in design and realization, and gain more experience with complex constructions, new materials and advanced production techniques.