When Luminex customers in Europe, the Middle East, India, or Africa need on-site technical support, the man overseeing the situation is most likely Vincent de Koning, Senior Manager of Technical Operations, EMEIA. He joined Luminex in 2012 and earned his degrees in electrical and electronics engineering.
Q: What are your responsibilities at Luminex?
A: I manage a group of field service engineers located in The Netherlands, the UK, and Germany. These brave hearts spend their days in front of our customers to install, maintain, and repair the Luminex instruments. I do this in close cooperation with our global tech support organization.
Q: How did you get started on this career path?
A: In the late ’80s and ’90s my skills and education were in technology, so I became a field service engineer. Eventually, I came to a crossroads where I had to choose whether to take on an even more specialized technical role or become a manager. I decided to go for the managerial path and became a supervisor, where my focus was making sure that the people I hired could do their jobs well, resulting in customer loyalty.
Q: What drew you to Luminex?
A: I had spent 21 years working in service, starting with PerkinElmer, where I was highly involved in the mass spectrometry technology. Recruiters came knocking on my door, but I was never interested. However, one day I realized maybe it’s time for a change. After all those years, I left the product I had worked on all the time, and I joined Luminex. I have never regretted that decision. It’s a smaller organization, where I have the opportunity to work with a lot of nice people. Adding some business responsibility into the role and once in a while some travel with my engineers or to partners and/or distributors, that is a great recipe for enjoying the job and life.
Q: If you could solve any clinical or genetic challenge, what would it be?
A: That is an easy one for me, as my dad is not doing very well now. He is 93 years old and suffering from diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Curing those diseases would be a great step forward in making life a little bit better. Unfortunately, for him, it will be too late.
Q: If you weren’t at Luminex, where would you be?
A: I’m an audiophile. If I could redo my entire career, including my education, I would go back and become a sound engineer in a high-end recording studio working on all kinds of classical, electronic music and jazz.
Q: What is something about you that no one at Luminex knows?
A: I like to surprise people by telling them that when I was young, I was heavily involved in ballet. Everybody who knows me thinks that cannot be true, but it is — when I was in school and in my internship, I worked for the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague where I outfitted all their ballet studios with new audio equipment. That was the extent of it. I never walked around in a tutu, and I never will!
Q: What is your favorite thing to do on the weekend?
A: Relaxing with my wife and family. We love to go hiking and cycling, and at home, I spend some serious time listening to great music on a high-end audio set. I’ll give you a glimpse of what I like; check out Patricia Barber, Nils Frahm, or Tale of Us!
