What is it like to work as a Hardware Installation Engineer? Revathi Krishna has a degree in Biomedical/Medical Engineering. She is part of the installation engineering team at Varian Medical Systems and instals Linear Accelerators used in the treatment of cancer. Revathi is the first woman hardware installation engineer to work for Varian in India.

Hardware installation engineer – what is the work life like?

Background

Did understanding how things work interest you as a child?
My interest started with medicine. During my childhood days, I was in love with physiology and anatomy (or I can say biology during that time). However later in my science college days, my interest moved to biomedical equipment. I was not aware of this branch of engineering until I attended the selection process of engineering for graduation. After that, I checked with friends and searched the internet to find out more about this type of engineering and became fascinated with it. My favourite machine was a ventilator and now it is a linear accelerator.
What was the first thing you remember taking apart or mending?
As I was growing up as a girl in a middle-class traditional family in the Indian culture, I didn’t get a chance to do hands-on repairs during my childhood days. However, when I look back and think about it, I realise that I was observing, and my mind and brain were absorbing the various activities of repairs and maintenance happening around me. My first actual repair was an ECG machine during my internship days.
Were there any toys which you can now think led you towards engineering?
I remember that I didn’t play with toys which were typically engineering-based like cars or electronic systems. However, I can say I loved playing with my doctor’s kit – the stethoscope, thermometer, etc.

Inspirations

Was there anyone who guided you towards working as an engineer?
My principal guided me into applying for biomedical engineering. However, her thinking was that qualified engineers work in a factory or an in-house biomedical engineering department in a hospital. This is because, field service and field installation are still taboo in India for girls. Field service work, especially field installation work means long hours/emergency work as well as sometimes late-night/weekend work etc. Women in India are not encouraged towards this sort of work. The cultural angle is always a factor in restricting women from applying for field engineering jobs.

An example

Has there been a particular person who has inspired you?
A key inspiration for me is one of the field service engineers I met during the initial days of my career.
I was doing an internship in the biomedical engineering department of a hospital and saw the importance of skills and precision needed to repair the machine with quality and accuracy and with a quick turnover time. People welcomed the service engineer like “a God”. I also saw the impact of field engineering on the patients, their relatives, society, and the healthcare industry. The passion of the field service engineer I met for his job was amazing. His skills, dedication, and passion as well as his smooth workflow, time management, and organisation of tools and spare parts inspired me. It was like a magical hand, with great hand, eye, ear, and brain coordination like an artist.
It was a smooth, easy and quick fix for us as interns but over the period I understood that there were skills gained by hard work behind the smooth, easy and quick fix. I have also realised when I look back, the immense dedication and passion of that engineer towards his job. He inspired many of us including stakeholders at the customer site. By working as he did, he not only inspired the people around him but also created respect for field engineers and field engineering jobs.

Engineers as inspirations

Who do you consider to be a great engineer from the past?
I think field service or installation engineering is thought of as a blue-collar job. Many times, field service engineers (FSEs) are the unsung heroes; they work behind screens and so their stories don’t get published. I and many of us do not know the history or legacy of field service engineers. So, I do not know the great field service or installation engineers from the past. There is no way to get any information or read about the great heroes of field installation and service engineers.
It is not recorded anywhere but now people like you at The Field Engineer with your forum of field engineers are creating records for history and legacy. It will give a chance for new generations to read and understand the great heroes who are field service engineers.

Armin Steiner

I have read some of the articles in your blog, and I can say, in the recent past that Armin Steiner was a great field installation engineer. I can identify with what he wrote in his article. As we are working in the same hardware installation department, it is great to read about his ups and downs in his journey from intern to director in the field of hardware installations. I started a similar journey a couple of years ago, so I am experiencing some of his experiences.

Ganesh Kurkure

Another engineer to mention is Ganesh Kurkure, our team leader in installation, and my mentor in Varian. His work is in the past but also in the present, as he is presently installing systems across the world and also gives remote support globally to many engineers. He is a great complete system engineer, and I am learning from him and admire his work. I would like to become a complete system engineer like him so I can do hardware as well as software installation. This is one goal as well as climbing the ladder in professional life like Armin.

Working as a Hardware Installation Engineer

You moved from working as a Customer Support Engineer to working as a Hardware Installation Engineer. Why did you make this move?
I was working in field service/customer support for ventilators and my territory was for two states in India.
Generally, for small medical devices, I saw field service engineers also do the installations. Only complex and high-technology machines like linear accelerators, MRIs, etc. have a dedicated installation department with hardware and software installation.
Again, a separate installation department was a new concept for me. The chance to do installations across India as well as a few installations in other parts of the world attracted me to this type of work. Being based at one location for three weeks and completing an entire installation in one go is a thrilling activity for me.
As well, another advantage for me in moving to field installations was getting a chance to work on linear accelerators. A linear accelerator is a complex piece of medical equipment, as it is a blend of mechanical, electrical, electronics and software engineering and nowadays AI has also been added. I was aware that this job would enhance my experience, and I would learn on all fronts something beyond my imagination. During the interview, I got to know that I would be one of the first few women field hardware installation engineers of Varian India. All these factors attracted me and pushed me to move to an installation role.

Skillset needed for hardware installation engineering work

Why do you think an engineer with your skillset was offered the role?
I think there were three key reasons: my travel experience, my technical skills and my communication skills.

Travel component when working as an engineer in hardware installation

Firstly, the travel component and to be based away from home for three weeks as an installation engineer in Varian is crucial. I saw many people get homesick when away from home for three weeks. Working alone at the site and handling complex and big machines like a linear accelerator, needs a strong mindset. I feel that few more things are essential for a hardware field installation engineer’s role compared to a field service engineer. Technical skills are important for a hardware installation engineer but additionally a few more things are needed.
In many companies and industries, field service engineers are local, and this is the same in Varian and Siemens. So, the engineers attend breakdown calls or do the maintenance. They go to the site in the morning and return home in the evening or they may travel for a couple of days to other territories. However, their work is mostly home based.
I think, Varian management saw my experience of travel and my work away from home for more than three weeks during Covid. I worked in the ICUs of various hospitals and installed between twenty and thirty ventilators alone during COVID-19. As well, I had experience with travel in remote locations in South India which was another thing they considered.

Customer communication and coordination

My communication and technical skills are both decent. Customer communication and coordination with various internal and external stakeholders during that long installation time is important in this role. The linear accelerator is used to treat cancer patients, so accuracy is very important in installation tasks.

Difficult technical situations

We often get difficult technical situations during the long three-week installation time and my answers about my approach towards difficult situations might also have had an impact on the team offering this role to me.

Developing soft skills as a hardware installation engineer

Which soft skills are you learning in your new role?
In this role I am learning the following soft skills from observing senior installation engineers and from my own experience:
Time management
Organised ways of working plus ways to arrange tools and spare parts on the working floor
Software skills
High level of troubleshooting
Maintaining work life balance (time allocation for personal work and life during the break and preparation for the next installation in view of the long period of 3 weeks away from family and friends).

Preparing for an hardware installation as an engineer

What do you do before you leave for an installation?
My preparation starts when I am about to finish the current installation. I check my break time and align personal appointments with family and friends. As well, I plan some responsibilities for my parents. Always, I check and prepare my schedule for study/exams of my ongoing courses. If needed, I book vacation or personal leave for exams or study or other commitments.
A couple of days before the start of travel for the next install, I check the configuration of the machine I am going to install. In addition, I check all licenses are available correctly, check the rigging reports and their comments/problems, and sometimes talk with the customer on the phone and explain the schedule/plan.
I check my personal installer’s tools, book the flight and hotel, and check all logistics movements like the delivery of required common tool kits. Finally, I complete all emails and clear other stuff like online mandatory training, some admin tasks etc. Then I check the iSIR (Integrated Technical Documents Browser) as this is key for us.
After that, I research on the internet for some good locations in the city where I am going to install the system. Then, I can visit places during the weekends or in the evening to get a flavour of some local culture. India is a big country and culture changes every mile. I have always liked to learn about different cultures in India and across the world.

Support from within the company and family during an installation

Which other parts of the company support you?
Varian’s policies are good and supportive for travel, hotels, food, training, skill enhancement, IT infrastructure, and insurance.
We have ERP systems like Salesforce, SAP, Digital form management, as well as sophisticated tools like Isotuner, and online tools like ViDA.
There are various departments like hardware installation, software installation, installation specialist team, logistics, install operations, project managers, rigging teams, regulatory team, service engineers, and HR officials. They are all supportive and work together like a family.

Why is family key to any field installation engineer?
Support from the organisation is important for all people working in the role of a field installation engineer. However, family support is also important in this job due to the nature of the the work we do.
In my case, I have great support from my parents, and they are my backbone in every aspect of my life. I follow their teaching during difficult situations. If they feel a lack of confidence in me specifically in complex situations, they always stand by me and guide me in finding my own way.

How much longer does hardware installation take compared with software installation?
Typically, hardware installation takes three weeks on the client site. Whereas software installation is completed in five days.

Typical week during a hardware installation

Can you describe how an installation starts and progresses?
A hardware installation is a complex process and so I can only summarise it here.
The sales manager sells the machine, and then the project manager checks the site readiness. Next, the rigging team prepare the set up and make sure equipment is in place, and then the installation engineer takes a handover from the riggers.
As installers, we check electrical connections and overall site readiness, plus we talk with the customer and explain the plan for the installation and its execution. As well, we check the functioning of third-party vendor items like:
Chiller,
UPS,
Last Man Out Switch,
Warning Lights, etc.
and coordinate with them if there are any issues.
Then, Power ON processing the machine with various steps as per the manual, troubleshooting, various calibrations, Isocentre alignment, Beam ON, and a Radiation Survey with the customer. As well as, fixing the lasers and other peripheral devices, beam tuning, mechanical, water tank and beam acceptance tests with the customer, we also provide an operational overview to the customer if they are new to our system. After the installation is completed, the application and education team conducts the onsite and online training with the customer.
It is difficult to describe and explain the three-week procedure in one article. It is really interesting, and I would love to recommend every engineer to watch it at least once. However, recommendation and invitations to outsiders to watch/observe the process for three weeks is difficult. But if you get the chance, then do so. I would like to strongly recommend that candidates interested in being a field installation engineer visit a site or hospital near to you.

The importance of accuracy and attention to detail

This machine is used for the treatment of cancer patients and so accuracy of treatment is very important for this machine and all these accuracies of treatment are dependent on installation. It is less than a millimetre for some of the parameters. The installation is like “a permanent line on the stone”, so it is a beautiful process to experience. Check within your network and do a visit during an install if you can.
It is a highly regulated field due to radiation generation, so we are required to complete many documents related to installation and radiation. It gets audited also. Sometimes we need to coordinate with the regulatory team also if there are abnormalities in the radiation survey. We use radiation safety equipment like an electronic pocket dosimeter (EPD) and thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) throughout the installation. We need to coordinate with the water tank engineer also during the acceptance phase. At the end we handover the machine to the local service engineer and they cover the breakdowns and regular maintenance, etc. The training and education team coordinates with the customer for various onsite and online training.

Liaison with Varian and the client during a hardware installation

How many people do you work with, from Varian? From the client?
From the Varian side, I work with a project manager, riggers, installation manager/team leader, installation specialist team, sometimes with sales manager, software installers, regulatory team and training and education team.
Then, from the client and customer side, I work with electricians, plumbers, maintenance staff, HVAC technicians, Radiation Safety Officer, Physicist, and Technologists. Sometimes I also work with oncologists, and third-party suppliers like radiation frequency analyser (water tank) engineers, chiller engineers, uninterrupted power supply (UPS) engineers, etc.

The challenges of a hardware installation

What do you find most challenging when you are working – technical side or people/customers?
My answer to this question is going to focus on India, as I do not have experience of installation in other countries.

Site readiness

Site readiness is a big challenge in India. The customer’s stakeholders like civil, electrical HVAC contractors are still not educated to prepare a Radiotherapy Department in the hospital. The linear accelerator is a very special machine for cancer treatment and needs special infrastructure.
Site readiness issues are those related to power supply, temperature, humidity, air changes that sometimes go out of specification. Electrical work like cable connections, cabling, cable marking, are not up to requirements, etc. Our project management and marketing teams run a few programmes on education and upskilling/uplifting of those stakeholders.
The owner or hospital management cannot check into the details of this work. Sometimes they do not have a speciality for this work. So, our project management team try to improve their knowledge, skills, and expertise, but there is a long way to go. Sometimes old customers work with old mindsets. So, their old techniques do not fit with the new technology so adoption of new technology on the customer side is also sometimes challenging.
I expect that it will change over time, but we do have a long road ahead.

Gender in the field as a hardware installation engineer

Some of the technical issues of the machine are very challenging. High-level troubleshooting is challenging for me. Sometimes physicists (our end users) in India are surprised when they see a woman working as a field installation engineer. So, they hesitate to talk in the same way as they would to a male field engineer, and it becomes a barrier.
As men are the majority in the field, often customers have never seen a woman working as an installation engineer. Therefore, we need to give time to them and then end users’/customers’ mindsets will slowly change as women engineers increase in field service/installation jobs.

Handling difficult technical problems

What are your techniques for handling a difficult technical problem?
Our manuals are quite good for tackling difficult technical problems. We have Unity Knowledge Base Articles (KBA) to check the solution for problems. Worldwide engineers put their comments and create KBA whenever they face strange issues with the machine. For some issues, if I am stuck, I contact my mentor or senior installers within our internal group.
Apart from this, we have a three-tier support system when we work as hardware installation engineers. We raise a Assistance Request (AR) for support.
On Tier-1, Installation Technical Specialists (ITS), they support us remotely and sometimes at the site (they travel to the site) for major technical issues and very high-level troubleshooting or parts replacement.
Tier-2 is the SDS (Service Delivery and Support) team.
Then Tier-3, is the PLCS (Product Life Cycle Service) team.
Some of the difficult problems get sorted if we take small breaks or check with a calm mind. Sometimes as engineers, we just need to calm and cool down and breathe, then the solution comes automatically. Sometimes I just need to go to the hotel, take a shower, have a good dinner and a little walk around in the market. Then I have a fresh start the next morning and solve the problem in a few minutes.

Working away from your home base as a hardware installation engineer

During an installation, you are away from home for three weeks. How do you keep a work life balance even though you are not at home?
Firstly, I check my break time/period and align personal appointments with family and friends as well as planning some responsibilities of parents. I check and prepare my schedule for study/exams of my ongoing courses. In addition, I always book vacation in advance or personal leave for exams or study or personal work/commitments. As well, I keep some time for hobbies during the break period.
Nowadays due to video calls, we can stay connected with family and friends virtually.
If there is any emergency in the family, Varian gives me full authority to fly immediately. So, in the case of an emergency like a medical emergency or accident in the family, etc. the installation engineer and installation manager talk with the customer, and the engineer can then fly immediately. The installation manager makes an alternative arrangement for the ongoing installation.
What advice would you give to other engineers transitioning to working away from home?
Working away is fun, learning, enhancing your experience, getting to know the various cultures. It enhances your capacity, your capabilities, makes the mind strong and you get used to dealing with challenging situations.
Your human network becomes wider. You get the flavour of the land, food, and people. It is a fantastic, enriching, and educational experience. It allows you to explore new places, learn about different cultures, and gain new perspectives. Your mind gets broadened. Reading will help you to understand the world but travelling and being based for three weeks away from home will not only give you real experiences, but you will look at the world all together in a different manner.

Positives of working as an engineer on an entire hardware installation

What are the positives of being involved on an entire installation?
This is not a simple medical device; it is a complex machine with a blend of various technologies and concepts of physics. It gives an accuracy of less than a mm during treatment. It gives a second life to the patients and in some cancer patients additional years of life. Most of the things related to the treatment delivery of this machine are dependent on the installation. Most of the working period during installation is solo work, and traveling and staying is like solo traveling, which I love. Your name as an installer (Installation Engineer) remains there throughout the life of the machine.

The machine life is 10-15 years, and so once the machine is installed, the machine remains there for 10-15 years and your name as well. Many data and readings taken during installations are the reference points for the service team and the customer’s physicist team throughout the life of the machine. It gives an engineer a proud feeling when people talk in conferences or meetings after 3 or 5 or 8 years about the amazing accuracy or smooth/trouble free functioning of the machine due to the installer. Even during the dismantling of old machines, the customer and surrounding people talk about the installer and their installation process. What a great feeling this gives to register an engineer’s name in history and people’s minds/lives. This is an amazing feature of the installation job.

Women in engineering

What advice do you give to other women starting their careers in field engineering?
It is a beautiful career. I can say specifically that being a hardware installation engineer (installer) of linear accelerators is an amazing profession. It is a very specialised job. This is a profession to enhance your capabilities, to see the world, go out of your shell, and check and experience things that are beyond your imagination. It is equivalent to working in combat. It will give you a thrilling experience. As well, it will make your mindset strong, and you will become strong physically as well.
Nowadays women are leading and participating in field service and installation and also many industries (including combat units of soldiers) and working shoulder to shoulder with men. However, field service is a little behind and still somewhat of a taboo in India.
Traveling and being based at one location for three weeks, and working solo are not barriers, but are opportunities to spread your wings, and to have a flavour of these jobs in the modern world. Women are changing the world and changing the world order in professional and personal lives, but it needs to spread to all corners of life and professions.
Various organisations, multinationals, and governments are also supporting this change or in other words, they are encouraging women’s empowerment.

Increasing the number of women in engineering

The number of women working as engineers is increasing. How can this be helped? (you could answer this for India or globally)
I can say, women are increasing in the field service and field installation domains. However, the speed of increase is slow in India and for field installation engineering is very slow even more so for machines like linear accelerators. Awareness at ground level in colleges and universities is essential. Even at the global level we are also behind. When I look at our team of hardware installers, I only found a couple of women installers in the USA. We do not have any women hardware installers in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

Further reading

Advice For Women Engineers Working in Gender Imbalanced Teams
A gender-neutral field service engineering workforce