/jaargang-19-2/images/19_02_08b.jpg "Ben-Al-Lal Ismaël, Elektromechanics engineer of GROUP T and Project Manager with Futech, a company he himself set up.")
Ben-Al-Lal Ismaël, Elektromechanics engineer of Group T and Project Manager with Futech, a company he himself set up. (Foto: Filip Van Loock)
Production leader
The project work in Group T’s engineering program and the adventures of the first Solar Team gave Ismaël and his fellow students the idea to start a new solar team. Ismaël became the production leader of Group T’s second Solar Team and was responsible for the construction of the car. "It offered many interesting contacts with high-tech companies," he remembers."Depending on what a certain part had to look like, it was my task to find the right partners. The subject of my thesis was the suspension for the new solar car.”
Ismaël describes the supplementary learning path with the Solar Team as his best time at Group T. “Unbelievable what we accomplished in a short period. Collecting the required budgets and knowhow, starting from nothing and then resurfacing after a year with a car that could compete against the best teams in the world.”
Never applied for a job
When Ismaël returned from Australia, he still had to finish his thesis. However, this did not prevent two companies from asking him to start working for them. “I never had to apply for a job”, Ismaël says. “As far as that was concerned, nor did most of the other members of the Solar Team. If you add such an ambitious project to your training, you attract the attention of companies looking for engineers with a hands-on approach anyhow.”
Ismaël went on to work for Indupol, a polyester and synthetic fibers manufacturer and one of the sponsors of the Solar Team. Earlier, Ismaël had joined another project, Formula Zero, which set out to build a hydrogen-powered cart. He was named vice-president of the Formula Zero Emission Racing Team that in 2009 became world champion with a self-built cart.
His own engineering firm
Along with Pieter Vangeel, leader of the second Solar Team, he took the initiating step for Futech in December 2008. “We’d been toying with the idea to do something with solar energy ourselves for quite a while and to put our expertise in photovoltaic cells to practice”, Ismaël clarifies.
“More so because we were told repeatedly that the quality of these cells were often substandard compared, for instance, to those produced in Germany. So we started our own engineering firm that was to take control of the management and support of the entire PV project, from design to the installation of solar panels, including yield calculations, financial analysis and mechanical study. An all-in service, in other words, customized to meet the client’s needs.”
Ismaël’s customers are 85% SMEs (small and medium-sized companies), the rest are private individuals. “For companies that apply for investment credits, it is crucial that there is a solid file on the table”, Ismaël states. “In a bank audit, the amateurs are exposed quickly. Usually, we are the only ones that remain. Our motto is a reflection of ‘Stop talking, start acting’.” In 2009 Futech installed more than 30,000 solar panels.
Engineer and entrepreneur
What does it take to become a true engineer/entrepreneur? Ismaël has his answer ready: “For starters, you have to have a strong technological base and you must be equally accomplished at the financial, economic and legal levels. In other words, an engineer/entrepreneur must be an all-rounder. In that respect, we were given an excellent preparation at Group T. We also learned to make-do. And when there is something we don’t know, we use networking to find the right people with the right information so that we can master the art.”
One thing is for sure: Futech raises the stakes. “Our ambition is to be amongst the top Belgian photovoltaic companies next year”, Ismaël confirms. “We are already building many of the largest installations in the country. At the level of knowhow and new technologies, we are aiming at being number one. Not only at the level of solar energy, but also more broadly, wind turbines, for instance. We’re simply interested in anything that has to do with future tech.”
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