Employee Spotlight: Dana Pascalni, Verification Engineer

From tinkering to office dogs, Dana chats to us about her life at Pod Point and gives her words of encouragement to aspiring female engineers.

Hi Dana! What made Pod Point the company you wanted to be a part of?

I wasn't actually looking for a job when I was approached by someone in the recruitment team. I really like the vision and mission of the company, and the goal that the company is working towards. This industry is completely different from what I've done before because I used to work in product repairs, so I was dealing with computers, laptops, and stuff like that.

Starting at Pod Point was new and exciting because I've never dealt with anything so complex. I haven’t worked in such a high standard industry before, with such brilliant people that have an amazing way of thinking in regard to EV charging evolution.

Tell us about your role at Pod Point.

I mostly do hardware verification, making sure that our chargers are operating correctly and that we are within regulations. For example, I test compatibility with different cars which is done through metrics testing, as well as other things like documentation, improving the testing system and a lot of investigation.

If we come across any problems, I open an investigation into that and do a root cause analysis, understand what's happening and how we can fix it, and improve it for the future.

As a female engineer, what advice would you give to other women wanting to work in the same field as you?

I would say to never give up and be confident in what you are doing, even if you’re in a company or a situation where you aren’t recognised for your skills and therefore open to fewer opportunities than your male colleagues despite your knowledge - keep pushing forward.

If one thing doesn’t work then move on, find somewhere that appreciates you and your work because there is a place for you. If you know you’re brilliant, then you’re brilliant, and that’s the right mindset to have. Believe in yourself and don’t give up!

I would say [to aspiring female engineers] to never give up and be confident in what you are doing…If you know you’re brilliant, then you’re brilliant, and that’s the right mindset to have.

What is your favourite thing about working at Pod Point?

My favourite thing is the fact that I get to tinker with things as I like to investigate something by taking it apart and seeing what's wrong, what isn't working and how can I make it better.

My second favourite thing would be the occasional Pod Point puppy we get to see in the office, which we don’t get to see now we are remote, but it’s something I look forward to when I am in the office. And of course, everyone shares pictures of their pets all the time which I love to see.

What makes the Pod Point culture unique?

I guess the fact that everybody is so laid back and informal, and everyone has something nice to say. Even people that you've never talked to before will greet you with a smile and they always have something interesting to share. It's just the way that everybody is coming together, it’s very different from what I've seen before.

I’ve never worked in a large company here in this country, but back in Romania the company I used to work for was nothing like this. The warmth you get from everyone here makes you enjoy coming here in the mornings, and you're not stressed about another day at the office.

Has your job differed since working remotely, and how has Pod Point supported you through this?

I’ve been fortunate enough that my job hasn’t really had to change at all since moving to remote first as everything I do can be done from home. But I guess I had to get a little bit better at time management, especially because there are more distractions at home such as my two cats! But apart from that, it was quite a smooth transition.

For me personally it didn't really affect me; if anything, it gave me the opportunity to spend more time with my family and actually put more time into work because I used to commute for nearly 2 hours every day back and forth.

I’ve been fortunate enough that my job hasn’t really had to change at all since moving to remote first as everything I do can be done from home.

Amazing! Now it’s time for the fun stuff. We’d like to know:

Do you have a bucket list? If so, what’s on it?

If money didn’t matter the first thing I would like to do is go to space. I love space and I think it would be amazing if I could live in a time where we would be so technologically advanced that we could actually explore space.

What are your hobbies/interests?

I like gaming, so I try to play as much as I can when I have time. I also spend a lot of time playing with my cats as I'm an animal enthusiast, and I like to learn about anatomy. Finally, I’m a very outdoorsy person, but since the pandemic that’s been pushed to the bottom of my hobbies, I can’t wait to do fun things outdoors again.

If you had to pick one, which EV would you be and why?

My favourite car is the 1969 Mustang which they haven't officially made an electric version of yet, but I know people have tweaked it to be electric. So I would say that if they brought it out as an EV.

And there you have it! If you’d like to join Dana and our other female engineering superheroes, we’re constantly growing our company with talented people like yourself. To find your future role, head over to our careers page and browse our current vacancies. We look forward to working with you soon!

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