A day at the desk with PBK!

Today at the Malmö studio, we spent some time at the desk of product creator, Peter Bach Knudsen. He shared some interesting stories about his life and travels, his passion for creation and what led him to Frankly.

Peter Bach Knudsen, Product Creator.

Hey Peter, can you tell us what you were doing before you came to work at Frankly?
Well, my first job after I graduated as an engineer was in a small Danish electronic component manufacture in Helsingør but part of a large US corporation — AMP. I was “yield improvement engineer” and was more or less a “detective” trying to figure out why products didn’t work to spec. My career really kicked of when I moved to Nokia in Copenhagen in 1999 where I worked on mobile phone programs, mechanical concepting, display technology and finally Nokia design as a technologist among industrial designers.

In 2007 the first iPhone hit the market. We all knew it was coming and had in fact made something very similar to push touch screen technology inside Nokia. When the second iPhone came in the summer of 2008, many of us began to feel the end of the dominante Nokia era so when I was contacted by the Hong Kong based company CN Innovation and asked to help develop a new and truly innovative touch screen technology I jumped. After 8 years at Nokia and having reached most of my goals I felt it was time to move on.
 The job at CN Innovations brought me and my family to Shenzhen, China and later to Silicon Valley. It was a really good experience for both my family and I, but as my job function shifted from technology development to business development I quickly began to feel the urge to “get my hands dirty” and design things! That is what I truly thrive for.

So, in early 2011 I took the job as Technology manager at the Danish smartphone developer Lumigon in Copenhagen. Lumigon had already released their first smartphone but the quality didn’t quite measure up to the Lumigon brand. Also development had be going on too long, leaving the phone outdated before it was production ready. We started the design of a new phone — totally from scratch. At the same time Nokia ended their activities in Copenhagen and Frankly was born form the ashes. This was our luck because we needed good resources to help develop the new phone — fast! I knew Rasmus was amongst the very best mechanical designers at Nokia so it was a no-brainer to hire Frankly to do the mechanical design. I got to know Claes and Christian during the project and was amazed by the speed and quality of their work! I was truly stunned by the result.

What is your job title and what does your role at Frankly entail?
 I got so fascinated by the Frankly spirit and drive that I decided to apply for a job and in late 2013 I was offered the role as Senior Product Development Consultant. A move I do not regret! Back in late 2013 the Frankly team was still pretty small and my role was (as everyone else’s) very versatile, spanding from hands-on CAD design, electronics, audio and even solder work to project management. Since then, the team has grown much bigger and the studio is now buzzing with agile young people from all major fields of engineering and my role focuses more in the area of project management. I still get to enjoy the thrill of diving into cutting edge concept work and design details with makes Frankly such a great place to be. Always something new and amazing going on and the excitement of highly driven colleagues is always very noticeable. Makes it very easy to get up in the morning and worth the long commute from my home in Copenhagen.

What’s something you can’t live without on your desk every day, that contributes to your job?
Absolutely Batman.

What do you find to be an important factor in your work environment and the biggest difference in your daily experience now since working at Frankly?
 Working in this big open studio space, right on the Malmö harbour there is no shortage of high-five’s, hugs, loud music and of course the best-in-class engineers and staff! Adding our great electronic and mechanics labs, we have shaped an environment thats makes a solid foundation for creating real things that bring us all together as one big happy Frankly family! We think, design and DO! but we also have a lot of fun together and that makes me very proud to part of this great team! Frankly.