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Bosch in China

Chasing Innovation and Fulfillment through Cross-Team Collaboration, Empowering Sensor Advancements

Zhao Emma

Zhao Emma

With Ten Years at Bosch, Achieving a Solid Transition from Technology to Management

Bosch SensorTec, which I work for, is dedicated to the field of consumer electronics and offers sensors and solutions based on micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). I am a member of the Software & Solution team that supports our sensor customers, and I work as a Senior Product Owner. My team includes software engineers, algorithm engineers, and others. I am mainly responsible for the project management of customer software support according to customer needs, as well as the management of local innovation solutions and product development. For me, Bosch is an ideal platform, where I have broadened my horizons, gained exposure to different groups of people, and reaped numerous benefits.

I joined Bosch shortly after I completed my master’s degree. My first job at Bosch was as a software engineer, and my main responsibility was developing drivers and debugging algorithms for environmental sensors. In 2018, I briefly left Bosch to work for another company, but soon returned to Bosch through the recommendation of my former manager. I then accepted my current position as a Product Owner and began getting involved in project management and cross-departmental collaboration. Since 2013, I have been at Bosch for almost ten years, completing the transition from a technical position to a management position in the sensor field.

As a software engineer, I used to immerse myself in my own technical world and rarely stepped out of my comfort zone. Therefore, when I transitioned to a management position, I was initially uncertain whether I could successfully adapt to it. However, I soon discovered that being a Product Owner involved communicating and collaborating with different people from various departments, networking, and building a good reputation, which were all in line with my personal interest. Additionally, I enjoy the process of realizing a product from 0 to 1 and providing it for customers. When I discuss solution designs with the team, receive feedback from customers and validate related solutions, witnessing an intricately entwined chain and gradually revisiting stories will bring me a greater sense of achievement than ever before.

Zhao Emma

Throughout my decade of experience in the industry, I have been responsible for a variety of sensor development projects, ranging from mobile phones and earbuds to smartwatches. Each project has helped me accumulate a lot of project experience as well as industry knowledge required in the sensor field, enabling me to gain solid professional skills and management experience. Currently, I am most excited about the prospect of working on larger projects than before, which will allow me to further develop my core competencies in the sensor field and ensure that every aspect of the projects is completed to the best of my abilities. Initially, the main reason I chose Bosch was that it is a Fortune 500 company, but now I continue to choose Bosch because of its company culture and my passion for what I do. In the future, I will continue to delve deeper into the project management field.

Innovation and a sense of achievement will always be my driving force for advance

One of the key aspects of sensor development is innovation. Sensors act as the link between the analog and digital worlds, and they’re used in all sorts of products, from mobile phones to wearables to the IoT. I work on the customer support team, and we’re involved in lots of innovative projects, like inertial navigation algorithms for mobile phones, pedometers for watches, posture recognition, swimming and fitness detection, and spatial sound effects for headphones. For me, the constantly evolving knowledge and experience gained from each project are invaluable. After decades of experience, I have developed my project management and cross-departmental collaboration skills. Each completed project makes me feel fulfilled and allows me to continue to leverage my strengths in the sensor field.

My sense of achievement comes from successfully developing solutions that meet customer needs. For example, in 2020, our local team started working on a smart lock solution independently. We completed the IG/QG process with high quality and successfully applied the solution to the lock products of multiple customers. Up to now, we’ve produced a second-generation solution. Debugging was a bit stressful, but we eventually achieved great results and even won the Best Team Innovation Award.

Zhao Emma

As a local team based in China, we discovered through market research that customers needed to accurately detect the door closing angle and confirm the open and closed status. We saw that there was a blank market for these needs, so we decided to start this project. Our development team in Shanghai wasn’t fully staffed at the time, so it was a bit of a challenge. But we pulled together and completed the project with limited manpower and time. After the product was launched, it sold well, and we even upgraded it to a second-generation product. It was like our own exploration and discovery of a new scenario, trying to meet customer needs, and successfully creating a new product by incorporating our independently developed sensor. It has filled a market gap and is still evolving.

Unlike the approach of discovering customer needs from the German headquarters and implementing projects in China, our team focuses on exploring and planning innovation projects that cater to our local customers’ specific application scenarios. We take the lead in the entire project process and develop new products. This sense of achievement is difficult to describe but is a significant milestone in my career.

Efficient Cross-Team Collaboration Drives Project Management

Bosch Semiconductor covers the entire supply chain, and owns two local wafer fabs, as well as multiple design and development centers and packaging and testing bases worldwide. It is an integrated device manufacturer (IDM) that integrates R&D, design, front-end production, back-end manufacturing and sales service. Bosch has a complete semiconductor product portfolio, including application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) sensors, and silicon carbide power semiconductors. As a pioneer and market leader in the MEMS sensor field, Bosch has produced and sold over 18 billion MEMS sensors in 2022. More than half of the smartphones worldwide are equipped with Bosch’s sensing technology. The MEMS sensor market remains hot and has a vast future potential, especially in the field of artificial intelligence.

Zhao Emma

The extensive knowledge required for R&D in the sensor field means frequent cross-team collaboration and high requirements for communication. Through my experience in various necessary cross-team collaborations, I’ve learned the importance of clearly defining expectations, details, and processes. Especially for customers from different countries, individual communication habits and cultural differences must be taken into account. In a diversified collaborative environment, it’s crucial to clarify expectations and requirements ahead of time, as this affects the details of project design in later stages. Many communication efficiency problems can be solved from a process perspective, so as to reduce communication and validation costs. Through efficient communication, a project manager can also build personal and team reputation, enhance professional skills, and create networking opportunities, which is very beneficial to the company, the team and the individual.

Young People and R&D Investment Inject Vitality into Innovation

Our team has both experienced engineers and new blood, with several colleagues born after 1995 growing and progressing with us. One of the most significant characteristics of the younger team members is their heightened enthusiasm when new customer cases are received. While experienced teams are more likely to achieve self-management, younger colleagues have a stronger desire to explore new things, more initiative to learn, and stronger drive for innovation. This passionate atmosphere also infects other team members. For example, for some new projects, younger colleagues often proactively request joining the brainstorming meeting, offer their own ideas, or directly inquire about difficulties in the project’s progress and try to overcome them. This heightened passion and proactive attitude bring significant vitality to the entire team, helping to drive the R&D process forward and injecting a continuous stream of innovation into the project.

Zhao Emma

Currently, the sensor field in China is developing rapidly, with the market expanding and competition intensifying. Bosch has been deeply involved in the sensor industry for many years, with a complete pre-sales and after-sales service system and a rigorous and longstanding production process. Not only does Bosch have a good reputation in terms of shipment volume and speed, but it also has exceptional product stability and after-sales service. Moreover, Bosch greatly values the innovation field, vigorously supports the development and implementation of various innovative projects, and continuously invests in R&D, ensuring the continuity of the R&D cycle, consolidating its technological advantages and thus enhancing its unique market competitiveness in the sensor field. As a Product Owner, I hope that with its rich R&D experience and highly mature service system, Bosch can maintain its leading position in the MEMS sensor field and constantly innovate. And l hope that our team can also stay active and innovative and provide more innovative support solutions in various projects.