Super Seven #27 Vitor Ribeiro
In our 27th Super Seven Series we profile our Senior Network Engineer, Vitor Ribeiro. Vitor joined us in August 2022 bringing with him a wealth of experience. Find out more about Vitor below …
1. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I was born in Aveiro, Portugal and spent most of my childhood in a village called Cacia, whose main attraction was a paper pulp factory placed just in the centre of the village. I used to play football in a field of goats just metres away from my house and had the responsibility of watching the chickens that we had in the backyard to check when they were close to delivering an egg.
A lot of my time I enjoyed spending with the elderly people of my family. When I left school, I went to University of Aveiro to study Physics Engineering; however, I did not enjoy it much, dropped the course and went to work as a private security guard for about four years.
After a period of reflection, I decided to restart studying and enrolled back in the University of Aveiro to study an Electronics and Telecommunications Engineering Course; one of the best such courses in the country. After finishing my Masters, I was awarded a PhD grant by the Portuguese Funding Agency for Science and Technology, competing with other candidates throughout the country. Later I went to Sweden for two years and then to the UK for five years, three of them in a Postdoctoral Marie Curie Fellowship. I am grateful for the people who cross my path, including supervisors, managers, colleagues and of course my parents and girlfriend.
2. What do you do in KETS?
I am a Network Engineer at KETS. I “connect stuff”. Some of my time is spent designing hardware to fit the purpose of reusing the network infrastructure already deployed by most telecom companies to fit quantum technologies there in an elegant and infallible secure manner with KETS’ premium quantum security solutions.
3. What’s the most enjoyable part of your job?
The most enjoyable part of my job is problem solving. The fast pace of industry sometimes does not allow enough time to get optimum solutions, and at the early stages of the development they are likely not needed. So, we have to ensure we get the best out of everything with the resources we have available, of which time is the most important.
4. What inspires you?
There is nothing that I can say that really inspires me, other than trying my best to be the best version of myself, even if sometimes that is not enough. I have to say I spend some time reading the bible and some other religious books, and without being attached to any specific religion I consider Jesus Christ an inspirational figure. Likely Mohammed and Buddha are also inspirational figures, however, I do not know them as well. But I have met some inspirational people throughout my life -my father & mother who taught me honesty and integrity, as well as some other career mentors.
5. What advice would you give someone wanting to get into Network Engineering?
I think there is no specific advice to succeed in Network Engineering relative to succeeding in any other job. Difficult times will come in any job, for several reasons. Some are in your control, some do not. Just focus on what you can control and keep riding the bicycle, no matter what happens. The chances to get where you want are high and if it does not happen you can always use what you have learned to achieve greater happiness doing other things. Do not spend time regretting.
6. What do you do when you’re not in work?
We (my girlfriend and I) like museums and we have already visited what we think are the best museums in the UK. We like dining out, visiting beaches and most of the time when there is not much to do we just watch TV (portuguese TV). I like cinema (when I can find the time), and especially reading books, focussing on books that can give me insight about the world that we live in.
7. Where’s the last restaurant you went to?
I’ve been to a restaurant in Aveiro, which serves traditional food from tras-os-montes, which is northeast of Portugal. For 20 Euros you get two infamously good dishes, i.e.,duck rice and feijoada à transmontana (google it), served with wine from the region. Aveiro is currently running to be European Capital of Culture in 2027 and it is currently a very beautiful place to visit.
To get in touch with Vitor, drop us an email at enquiry@kets-quantum.com