1. Radu, can you tell us a few things about Arrk Research & Development? When was the company founded?
The company was founded in 1984 in Japan. It now has 4 divisions: Engineering, Tooling, Prototyping and Low Volume Production. The Engineering branch was founded in 1967 in Germany, Munchen, where the focus was first on Aerospace and after that it changed to Computer Aided Engineering. Arrk came to Romania in 2007 and opened office here in Cluj-Napoca.
2. In what other locations do you have offices?
In Romania just in Cluj-Napoca, but worldwide ARRK Engineering (to which we are connected) has the main office in Munchen, Germany. We have other offices in Stuttgart, Ingolstadt, Köln, China, Japan, Malaysia.
Interviewer: Very interesting, I think it is a multicultural environment. Radu Borza: Yes, it is.
3. What is the history of your Cluj office and how many employees are currently working for ARRK Research & Development?
As I said, the office was opened in 2007. I remember I was employed in 2008 when it was quite small sized, around 100 m2 in the Business Incubator of Tetarom Park. Afterwards we moved to a bigger location in the same Bussiness Park. Now we are located in the ICPIAF building, near the train station, and at this moment we are more than 340 employees.
Interviewer: yes, from 100 m2 to 300 employees it is a big jump.
Radu Borza: From the 4th floor to the 8th floor of the ICPIAF building there are just the offices of ARRK.
4. What was your career path?
First I was employed at ARRK R&D in 2008 and I was part of the CAE department, Crash division. I was doing dynamic simulations back then and now we are doing dynamic simulations for automotive, specific road accidents, we are trying to bring into the virtual environment what is happening in reality. I was working on projects like full vehicle crash and passenger’s safety. Around 2011 if I remember correctly, I was promoted to team leader, in the first phase for full vehicle and then I took over a part of occupant safety. From 2017 I have the Group Leader position on Crash, Passive Safety Concepts.
Interviewer: So we can say that the research on which you are working saves lives?
Borza Radu: Yes, I hope so; I believe so.
Interviewer: In the end this is the goal. Correct.
5. If you could tell us what kind of projects you have for the future, both personal and professional and for the company as well.
In the future we want to continue growing in Cluj, to stabilize, to collaborate with as many companies as possible, from both Germany and internationally, especially in the automotive industry. We are trying to offer full packages to our clients, to increase our quality, to be appreciated on the services market. Maybe a personal and professional project: we would like to have bachelors and masters theses with the students form the Technical University, we hope that we can do doctoral theses, but these projects are for the future. Personally I have a garden with fruit trees, not even an orchard, this year I already made some juice.
Interviewer: Excellent, you should have brought some for us to taste it.
6. Why do you like to work at ARRK R & D?
There are several reasons: I like the team, I like to collaborate with the colleagues from Romania, I like to collaborate with the colleagues from Germany, we are a multicultural company. I like to see new colleagues coming after they graduate the university and see them growing, we are growing together. I like the projects, the days are very different and challenging. Almost every day new and attractive things appear, we never get bored, and this is really good from my point of view. I belive and I hope it is the same for my colleagues.
Interviewer: OK Radu, thank you very much for answering our questions and telling us about the technology that ARRK R&D is developing. It is really interesting and it is something that people don't see in many cases when buying a new car: actually not only „Mercedes“ is working on it, but a lot of companies, including ARRK. You are doing Crash Simulations, as you said and these are vital for the drivers and occupant safety.
