Five Questions: Gordon Millar

Q1: How long have you been with EMS Aviation (formerly EMS SATCOM) and what is your background?

I have been with EMS for almost two years now. I graduated from Leeds University in the UK with a Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng) honors degree in Communication Systems. I also completed a Masters level degree program at Helsinki University of Technology in Finland covering Process Control and Production Management.

I have more than 16 years of experience in the Telecom sector. I started my professional career in 1994 at KTL, a Telecommunication Test Laboratory in the UK, where I specialized in X.25/ISDN/PDH/SDH/SONET product compliance testing. Fate was fortunate to give me the opportunity to move to Canada in 1997, with a mandate to develop, train and supervise the European testing service at KTL/Nemko Canada. From 2004, I worked in contract manufacturing for both Solectron and Flextronics, where I held a variety of roles starting as a technical writer, to design validation centre (DVC) documentation manager to project engineer to Alcatel-Lucent lab account manager and delegate to the laboratory operations manager.

From an early age I have been exposed to travel and different cultures, so it doesn’t surprise me that I now find myself living in Canada. As a child I spent two years living in Freetown capital of Sierra Leone, West Africa, if this sounds familiar its where the movie Blood Diamond was set. I’ve also travelled by ship from the UK, across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in a single “trip”, which took us through the legendary and impressive Panama Canal, a stop at Hawaii then final destination Tokyo. In my twenties I spent two years living and working in Helsinki, Finland where I learned about saunas, vodka and snow.

Q2: What do you feel is the most important skill you bring to your work?

There are a number of important skills required for proposal management to be successful; multi-tasking is key; absorbing a large amount of data and making sense of it quickly is always useful; communication and people skills are a must, as well as project management and organizational skills. I’d say the most important skill for me is my positive attitude and ability to stay calm in rough waters. Oh and let’s not forget a sense of humor.

Q3: What is the most significant trend you've seen in your field?

Without a doubt the most significant and impacting trend I’ve seen globally, is what I’d describe as a techno-social trend. I think customers expectation levels are now so immediate and so demanding, that everything is expected in seconds and minutes rather than days, weeks or months. Ironically I blame the Internet and advances in mobile communication technology. I think that this “Globalization” isn’t all bad though, it can be a boon too, by bridging social and cultural chasms and opening up opportunities on a worldwide perspective.

In terms of the aeronautical Satcom market, whether it is natural evolution or economically imposed due to the recent global recession the trend seems to be for smaller, lighter and cheaper product with increased functionality.

Q4: What's a typical day like for you?

I’m sure it’s been said before, but one of the things I really like about my job is that there is no typical day. For me a day can range from gathering business intelligence and updating and improving business and performance metrics and procedures, to attending sales and product update meetings. You might also find me facilitating senior management approval meetings or delivering—at short notice—a proposal on deadline. Depending on the level of proposal response, I can be involved with every facet of our organization, from business development, contracts, documentation, operations, product management, project management, quality assurance and sales.

It’s not all work. I also try to squeeze in soccer practice during my lunch break. After work in the summer I play for the EMS Spartans soccer team and I was part of the squad that brought the Presidents Cup home to EMS last season.

Q5: If you weren't working with EMS Aviation (formerly EMS SATCOM), what would you be doing and why?

You mean aside from reading a good book and focusing on family time? I would start my own business, probably in a Web-based creative field. In 2001 I took two years away from the local hi-tech scene and embarked on a quest to develop the right hemisphere of my brain. I think it felt neglected. So I fed it a traditional animation diploma pie from Algonquin College, narrowly avoiding indigestion, it eventually gave birth to a professional art portfolio, which I can now call my very own, containing life drawing technique, character and layout design and animation method.