With its global center for software engineering in Romania, Plastic Omnium stands for innovative lighting systems to meet the needs of modern mobility concepts for the automotive industry. Together with its team of motivated software developers from Iași, Plastic Omnium pursues its vision of turning every journey into a unique lighting experience.
By combining lighting technology with electronics and software, Plastic Omnium develops intelligent lighting solutions – ranging from classic areas such as headlights and signal lighting to smart, high-performance products – for connected, safe, personalized and sustainable mobility of the future. Plastic Omnium also covers key areas such as front lighting, interior lighting, projection, and body shell lighting applications – accelerated by the megatrends of style, safety, and electrification.
As the global center for software engineering for all of Plastic Omnium’s projects, the company site in Iași is fundamental to its business. Site manager Ciprian Lapa and his colleague Mihai Luca answer key questions about the daily work at Plastic Omnium and the exciting technologies that they are developing.
What exactly is the role of smart software in the development of mobility lighting?
Ciprian Lapa: We develop intelligent solutions for the future of mobility lighting, thus software is the key. The evolution from halogen to xenon and then to LED has vastly expanded the potential of vehicle lighting. Individual control of modern headlamps at LED level takes precision, light distribution and efficiency to new heights. In conjunction with intelligent software and control electronics, light becomes an assistant in all driving situations. Adverse weather conditions, narrow lanes, twisting roads, bumps and dips all make the driver’s life difficult, but adaptive, intelligent vehicle lighting can greatly reduce the burden.
What additional benefits do end customers derive from intelligent software?
Ciprian Lapa: The software we develop in Iași enables, for example, our new interior and exterior projection solutions to deliver fully individualized welcome and goodbye scenarios and create a personalized driving experience for passengers. Our digital projection systems offer numerous options for displaying individual content – from static motifs and patterns to fully dynamic videos – both inside and outside the vehicle, turning it into a canvas. In addition, our digital projection solutions can be used to supplement important safety functions outside the vehicle. For example, the modules can project a carpet of light in front of the driver and passenger doors to make it easier to get in and out of the vehicle, especially in the dark or with poor visibility. Beyond that, the technology is capable of displaying warning symbols next to the vehicle or even communicate warning signals to other road users in the immediate environment. Digital projections are therefore not only a means of design, but can also contribute to greater safety. Here, too, the basis for their capabilities is the software we develop in Iași.
At what point in the development do you step in?
Ciprian Lapa: We support our colleagues along the entire development process, from quotation until industrialization: Our development activities start right at the beginning of the project by supporting our quotation teams with technical expertise for the solutions they quote towards our customers. Once the project has been awarded, the responsibility for project development passes to us – to our R&D team in Iași. We then develop the project further according to all automotive standards and customer requests. At the end of this process, when the project is finished, we hand it over to our colleagues from the Plastic Omnium plants and we offer them support during industrialization and maintenance phases.
What has Plastic Omnium to offer for software developers in Iași?
Mihai Luca: Our Plastic Omnium software developers in Iași work with a motivated customer and project team and, take full responsibility of the assigned functionality, including design, code, module, and integration tests. The activities will be related to the integration of the AUTOSAR stacks, development and integration of drivers, as well as solutions for manufacturing support. Another task for our new colleagues will be to analyse performance and stability issues in systems as well as the memory usage and checking against the requirements. As a software developer at Plastic Omnium you will raise detailed change requests and problem reports. In addition, you will cooperate in the global software community to maintain and improve a robust, extensible and scalable software architecture, that supports multiple solution trains.
What skills do applicants must bring in for this position?
Mihai Luca: We are searching for applicants with a bachelor’s degree in related engineering fields, physics, mathematics, or computer science. Along with several years of professional experience in AUTOSAR, specifically with the RTE and the commonly used tools, applicants should have gained a good know-how in change and problem resolution management as well as software development process and engineering skills. In order to analyse performance or stability issues, good comprehension and an analytical way of thinking is required.
Would you enjoy playing an active role in developing innovative lighting solutions? To join Plastic Omnium in Romania feel free to contact career.romania@plasticomnium.com or visit https://lighting.plasticomnium.com/career to learn more about their open positions.
