About us
The core Helicus team : Mikael Shamim, Geert Vanhandenhove, Tim Cleys , Chesney De Bondt, Garo Tombazian and Rik Van Boxem fuse their aviation and Healthcare expertise to create functional solutions based on drone technology. Key is our collaborative approach, that also leverage the capabilities of our partners to provide you with the right solutions.
Team
Mikael Shamim, MSc, MBA, PPL/RPL
Following a remarkable academic track record, Mikael has been fortunate to collaborate with and learn from exceptional professionals throughout his carreer.
Geert Vanhandenhove, BSc, PPL/RPL
Building on his academical education in Applied Communications, he followed a broad range of IT, Project Management and aviation related courses.
The creation of an airline company video during his Communications studies, triggered Geert’s lasting interest in the airline sector. He obtained his Private Pilot License (PPL-A) and joined the Royal Antwerp Aviation Club (RAAC). Currently Geert is member of the board and a pilot ground instructor, teaching navigation to new private pilot students.
Joining the drone age, Geert obtained his RPL-R class 1 license and later converted to EASA A2.
Geert is experienced at developing, implementing and managing solutions for business needs at different levels of complexity. Through analysis and input from all stakeholders he builds and support solutions, new processes and process improvements. Geert facilitates change processes by creating broad support always ensuring that the final goal is being implemented. He builds strong teams and enjoys seeing his team members grow through personal development. He measures his achievements by their business impact with a genuine interest in people.
Geert has built a strong career in the IT and healthcare. He has taken up roles as IT & Data Manager (De Vijver Media, Flanders), Business Intelligence Portfolio Manager (Johnson & Johnson) and Business Intelligence Manager (OCD Pharmaceutical).
Tim Cleys, MSc
Tim holds a scientific degree (M.Sc. Biology) from the University of Ghent. After a few years in operations at Kinepolis group, he kicked off his career in the Healthcare sector. As a laboratory manager he supported the medical team during 12 years at GZA group (three hospital sites) and the Antwerp University hospital (third line specialised test) groups.
During this time, Tim saw the laboratory landscape changing dramatically: Growing organisations, accreditation, efficiency requirements, maintain increasingly complex equipment and sub-specialisation. He both ran lab operations and projects. In this position, Tim was responsible to improve efficiency and quality at an acceptable investment cost.
Among these projects: working towards laboratory centralisation for 3 historically independent hospitals, infrastructural lab-designs, process (incl. LEAN) and workflow designs, scheduling and team-organisation for 130 employees, IT system integration projects. At the University hospital (UZA) he worked on inter hospital network collaboration, e.g. related to highly specialised tests & medicine.
Tim brings in depth healthcare organisational and hands-on healthcare experience to Helicus. He spearheads Helicus’s ambition to help bring your healthcare organisation, (automated) processes and use of technology to a next level. Tim is responsible for Healthcare Integration Services. In this function he will ensure that unmanned systems are truly useful for healthcare users. He will also run hospital integration projects and will be a reliable partner to Helicus hospital partners that struggle with their hospital network design and how this impacts central technical functions (like labs, pharmacies and blood banks) .
Chesney De Bondt, MSc
Chesney holds a master’s degree in design sciences (M.Sc. Product Development) from the University of Antwerp.
Passionate about al things that are drone related, Chesney designed and build a 3D-printed quadcopter already in 2015. Based on this first version, he reviewed all requirements and created a new and improved quadcopter with greater functionality. During the next years he would continue to follow up on electronics development and consumer electronics, developing a strong interest in the technological aspect of product development that can support optimal user experiences.
During his five years Master program he learned how to design a product from start to finish. He worked for Helicus since 2019 as an intern, on the Drone Cargo Port design team, on which he also wrote his thesis that was completed Cum Laude. Chesney joined in 2020 to propel Product Development, and continues to work on this key air-ground integration activity in collaboration with the partner teams.
As of July 2020, Chesney coordinates overall product development activities within Helicus and strives to push the ecosystem’s product development to the next level, structuring opportunities and closing gaps identified by the partners. Using his multi-disciplinary approach, he takes a 360° view when making design choices, creating solutions that best fit customer and partner’s needs.
Garo Tombazian, MSc
Garo has obtained a Master’s degree in Electromechanical Engineering (MSc), with a specialization in Intelligent Mechanics from the KU Leuven. During his studies, Garo has also participated in several projects developing digital solutions, such as energy data management and digital twin technologies. As of 2020, he supports Helicus product development across the Drone Cargo Port design cycles as part of the engineering team.
At Helicus, Garo is involved in the design and automation aspects of operation, including connectivity between Drone Cargo Port and the Command-and Control-Center. Using his hands-on mentality and his engineering knowledge, he coordinates Helicus suppliers and partners to develop software that can ensure safe, automated and integrated drone logistics. Garo also manages research and industrial partners in the technology field.
Rik Van Boxem, MSc
Rik holds a master’s degree in design sciences (M.Sc. Product Development) from the University of Antwerp. He has been working for Helicus since 2020. He wrote his Master thesis on integrated order entry & tracking processes for hospital labs and pharmacies, that was completed Magna Cum Laude.
As Quality & Process manager, Rik’s objective is to ensure safe and efficient processes throughout the Helicus ecosystem ranging from order entry to delivery. He is responsible for specification management, as well as Helicus software quality accreditation.
With his background in Product Development, with focus on interaction design, Rik loves to analyse customer needs throughout the value chain to create and document integrated quality processes. His ongoing work targets the operator-work-position user experience at the automated Command & Control Center. Any remote fleet operator using Helicus solutions will be supported by an ergonomical environment where workload is correctly prioritized.
Alexander Roets, MSc
Alexander holds a master’s degree in design sciences (M.Sc. Product Development) from the University of Antwerp.
During this 5 year program, he discovered his interest for the design and development of mechanical products. This in combination with his goal to design products that will have an impact on daily people’s life lead him to his internship at Helicus. Starting this program in 2021 he focused on the development of the maritime DCP that explores to option to integrate drones on Ships and offshore windmill farms. The information he acquired during his internship in combination with his interest and skills in project management made him an ideal candidate to further explore the capabilities of Helicus in this new offshore market.
Today Alexander works as a business developer for the maritime and inspection use cases for which he coordinates the new projects, and seeks out new opportunities for Helicus to enrich their portfolio in these respective fields. With his background in Product development he also assists the product development team in industrializing the DCP set-up and making the transition to the offshore DCP.
Helicus BVBA
Pastoor De Conincklaan 32
2610 Antwerp, Belgium
VAT: BE0667845691
info@helicus.com
Tel: +32 485 685 222
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