Smir Group recently strengthened its management team with the employment of Ingolf Martin Salen. Ingolf is employed as COO and will have a central role in strengthening our delivery processes.
How would you describe your first month at Smir Group?
It has been very good, and I feel I have been well received. I have mainly used the time to get to know new colleagues and our solutions, and I have also visited a couple of sites to have a look at our systems.
What made you want to join the company?
To me, Smir seemed like a well-established company, even though it is relatively young. The size of the company also means that you have to get involved and contribute on several fronts, which will develop your skill set. I find that very rewarding.
The company also operates within a very important and interesting industry that will be in great development for many years to come, which I find exciting.
What have you done earlier in your career?
I started my career by receiving certificate as an electrician at Ulstein Yard, where I spent many hours hauling cables. Then I had the opportunity to move a little more towards land and industrial installation. After the military service, I wanted to get an education where I spent three years on the Automation line at the University of Ålesund, before I took a Master`s degree in Technical Cybernetics at NTNU in Trondheim.
After finishing education, it has been the maritime sector that has been my arena. I got the opportunity to work in a small entrepreneurial company called ICD AS, where we made control systems for the maritime part of the offshore industry. There was most focus on various variants of the wave compensation system, the so-called Heave compensation system. There I was a software developer and project manager, and eventually product manager. The solutions I worked on the most were a roll-compensated helicopter deck and motion-compensated walkway for access to offshore wind turbines for Uptime International AS. The latter was a completely new solution that we created in 2014. Today it has become a great commercial success and has established itself as an industry standard within the offshore wind industry (Walk-2 Work).
In recent years I have worked in Cflow. There I was responsible for the engineering departments; mechanical, automation, electrical and system, as well as a group of technical coordinators. There, my main focus was administration, system, employment and personnel. I gained a lot of non-technical experience there.
In what way can you help make a difference for our customers?
I want to contribute to creating safety for our customers, so that they can trust what we say and deliver. We must be flexible, but at the same time orderly in what we do so that Smir Group becomes a partner that our customers prefer.
What does aquaculture mean to you, and what engages you?
Aquaculture is an important industry for Norway, and especially for coastal Norway. It is an industry that generates large ripple effects. The ripple effects give companies like us the opportunity to develop solutions to the problems they face. This creates concrete jobs along the coast and in our surrounding environment.
What often engages me is solving problems. I like to find the root cause and get to the bottom of problems.
What future thoughts do you have on behalf of Smir Group and the aquaculture industry?
I think Smir is in the right place at the right time, especially in relation to the issues facing the fish farming industry today. And I am absolutely certain that we will grow and that we need more skilled employees both in the short and long term. It is also exciting that we combine different types of companies in the group, which I think gives us an advantage.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
In my spare time, I like to do small projects at home. A year ago, we moved into a new house. The building project lasted two years and it has been a demanding process, and most of the time has been spent on it. We still have a lot to do before we are «finished». We have three children of different ages, so the time is mostly spent on family, in addition to completing the house project. I also like good drums and plays drums a bit.
