HAN Student Alexe Streamlines Digital Transition to Keep Allego Charging Stations Running Smoothly

The Moldovan HAN student in Electrical and Electronic Engineering helped that accelerate the testing procedures to ensure everything operated correctly. Together with his internship supervisor, Marco Teunissen, he shares his experience.

When you plug your car into an Allego charging station and scan your charging pass, a hidden world comes to life. First, the charging station checks your pass. Is it valid? Then, communication with the car begins. The charging speed is estimated, and factors such as the stability of the power supply are assessed. If everything is fine, charging starts within seconds.

The protocol plays an essential role here: it’s a set of agreements electrical devices follow so they know how to ‘talk’ to each other. Thanks to this protocol, charging stations can send data to their owner's digital environment, such as Allego. Allego has a dashboard that shows all charging stations and indicates when something goes wrong, if everything is functioning correctly, at least.

This was Alexe Harti’s internship assignment. He tested whether everything still functioned correctly during the transition to a new and improved protocol and solved problems to ensure Allego received the correct notifications when an issue arose at a charging station. “Customers should be able to charge their cars without any problems”, says Alex. “If something goes wrong, it must be clear to us what the cause is: Is it the car? The charger? The charging pass? There are many possibilities. So, trouble-free charging is a bigger challenge than customers realize.” Technical Program Manager Marco Teunissen says with a smile: “We suffer without people noticing.”

Testing the system is crucial for charging stations to function correctly and to enable electric driving. Marco: “You could compare a protocol to a language. However, some protocols influence each other, meaning an adjustment in one protocol can also alter another. But you never know for certain if and how it influences things.”

Every minor adjustment requires checking if the entire system still works. “During his internship, Alexe significantly made those tests easier and faster. He did an excellent job.”
 

Alexe did so well that Allego has since offered him a part-time job. Finding new talent is one of the reasons Allego provides internships for students. “But we especially appreciate having young people with fresh technical insights in the company regularly”, says Marco. “I’ve been working at Allego for eight years, and when you're somewhere longer, there's a risk of getting stuck in routines. Fresh blood is very refreshing.”

That’s why Allego pays close attention to its interns. “In most cases, we make internships very practical. Our mantra is learning by doing. Interns truly participate in daily business operations, such as weekly meetings.” Alexe: “It was very informative to see how daily business works inside a company. For example, I learned how to set priorities, in addition to all the technical knowledge I've gained. Working frequently with protocols taught me a lot about their structure, how they work, and their applications.”

The internship added an extra dimension to his time in the Netherlands. Alexe is from Chisinau, the capital of Moldova. After high school, where an ‘amazing’ computer teacher sparked his fascination for computer components and functionalities, he decided to study Computer Science. “But I quickly realized I didn’t want to spend eight hours a day behind a computer changing codes.”

He eventually chose Electrical Engineering Bachelor at HAN. “I chose applied science (HBO) instead of university because of its practical focus. HAN made the best first impression.” The website played an important role — unsurprisingly. “It appealed to me; it’s very clear”, he says with a smile. “And Arnhem is closer to the airport than other options. That also influenced my decision.”

That matters because his parents still live in Moldova. Nevertheless, they encouraged him to study in the Netherlands. “They told me the balance between tuition costs and quality of education here is very good. That’s also why my sister studied in the Netherlands.”

After nearly three years, he feels quite at home. “I didn't experience a culture shock or anything. Everything was much easier than expected, even though it was my first time living independently and having to take care of things like renting an apartment and paying taxes. It also helped that many people here speak good English.”
 

However, this doesn’t mean Alexe plans to stay in the Netherlands after graduating. “My plan is to return to Moldova and start a business there, mainly because of my love for my homeland. But first, I want to continue studying here and gain as much knowledge and experience as possible.”

Until then, Allego is happy to keep him employed as a Charging Solutions Engineer, ensuring the hidden world behind the company’s public charging stations keeps running smoothly, enabling customers to charge their electric cars without a hitch.