Mathematics that permeates the imagination and makes everyday life easier. Łukasz Wiśniewski, a graduate of applied mathematics at the Faculty of Technical Physics, Information Technology and Applied Mathematics, Senior RPA Developer at Nordea Bank Abp tells about what it is like to work in the largest Scandinavian financial institution.
Applied mathematics is a field of study that teaches the use of mathematics in solutions from various industries. What skills do students of this field of study acquire?
I will answer with the words that I heard from a professor during one of the first classes at university: "Mathematics teaches you to think." Indeed, studies in applied mathematics allow you to acquire a number of very important competences. Students of this field of study acquire the skills of analysis, problem solving and logical thinking, useful on virtually every career path. There are a few more people working with me who also graduated from this field of study, and I can say with full conviction that graduates of applied mathematics in a short time reach the level of an experienced Developer. This means that they can quickly adapt to the conditions and requirements of their work.
You work at Nordea Bank Abp - a company belonging to the largest Scandinavian financial institution. What do you do as a Senior RPA Developer?
I work in the Operations Center in Lodz and my duties are based on robotization and automation of internal business processes. In other words, we are working on improving the algorithm that maps the activities performed by the employee. Take, for example, the process of opening a deposit on our client's bank account. A bank employee must perform a number of activities, such as: verifying whether the bank can open a deposit for a given customer, entering the necessary data into the company's systems, etc. Our robot does exactly the same things, it works practically on a 1: 1 scale, but in a much shorter time.
Such improvements seem to be useful in many areas of the bank's operations. What other projects do you coordinate?
I am introducing similar improvements in other areas of customer-bank contact. For example, a customer uses a mobile application to send a request to open an account, the robot performs all the necessary steps in banking systems, and then sends feedback to the customer about the completion of the operation. The entire procedure takes only 15 minutes! I also create maps for various company applications, i.e. I literally teach the robot how to use all the functions available in the application it supports. As a Senior RPA Developer, I also support other Developers, coordinate projects and work on improving the quality of our algorithms.
In your position, you need knowledge not only in mathematics. What other areas do you use in your work?
Creating complex logical sentences is my bread and butter. They symbolize the decisions the robot makes while doing its job. One mistake can have disastrous consequences, such as opening a banking product to another customer. Of course, pure programming skills in the basic scope, which are necessary when creating an algorithm, are very useful. The Applied Mathematics major also provides knowledge in this area - it teaches coding in Maple. It helped me a lot at the start and had a significant impact on my professional career. When I see that the robot is doing what I asked it to do, and the bank's clients and colleagues from other departments feel supported in their daily tasks, a smile appears on my face.
In your spare time, you like to devote yourself to automotive engineering. Is this a different form of robotics for you?
Yes, you could say robotics permeate my life. At work, my creations are visible only on a computer screen, while in the automotive industry, the effect of engineers' work is more tangible, visible to everyone. For me, it's a break from the virtual world. I have one more such escape - it's kick boxing, which I have been training for many years. The trainings are characterized by considerable endurance effort, which translates into our health, fitness and well-being. Another advantage is greater self-confidence in everyday situations as well as those dangerous that can happen to each of us. This sport inspires me to introduce bold solutions that change the everyday life of Nordea's employees and customers.
Interviewer: Dr. Aleksandra Pawlik
Pictures: Łukasz Wiśniewski and the Nordea company