This is My Homebase: The story of Mai-han Truong, Signify
If you’ve ever wondered how the world’s most advanced lighting systems, medical devices and industrial tools coexist without interfering with each other’s signals, the answer lies within Mai-han’s specialized domain and her diverse team of 10. In her world, Mai-han’s “connections” are everything – and not just the kind that travel through cables and frequencies.
Today, we meet Mai-han Truong, EMF RF and Optical Test Lab Group Manager at Signify. Mai-han has worked at Signify for eight years, after completing her graduate research internship in radar integration in bulbs. Naturally talented at mathematics and technical courses, she found her way to the Signify lab and never left.
A gateway for innovation
While Signify is a well-known brand, Mai-han’s work extends far beyond internal projects. Her EMC lab is a hidden gem of the HTCE ecosystem, serving as a vital testing resource for Signify and other global giants and promising startups.
“We test a lot for regional projects and especially on products for lighting, medical systems and industrial systems,” Mai-han explains. While some companies, such as Philips, have their own internal labs, Mai-han’s facility is unique because it is open to external companies on the Campus and beyond.
For some startups, her lab is the difference between a prototype and a market-ready product. “People find us through the High Tech Campus website or our own website. It’s a known fact that you can come here and test your products on EMC/RF standards which is part of CE marking,” says Mai-han.
Mai-han also leads a four-person team in a rather unorthodox optical lab: the massive four-meter Ulbricht integrating sphere, which is the largest in the world. Located at HTC 48, the sphere measures the total light output of a fixture with extreme precision. At this optical lab, users test lights for optimal performance.
More than an engineer
Like all of us, Mai-han is a mash-up of many characteristics. You can see her creative flair in the way she dresses. On the day of the photo shoot for this article, Mai-han arrives wearing a black jacket and blouse paired with a fuchsia tulle skirt and cool boots.
It turns out Mai-han is a creative soul. This young, dynamic electrical engineer with exceptional leadership skills also once designed window displays in Eindhoven. “I like dressing up quite a lot … but I am also very interested in sustainability,” she said. “But what I really enjoy is working with people, doing things that really make a difference within the company. My teams foster a very open and collaborative culture, where we can freely discuss a wide range of topics. This not only strengthens our bond and teamwork but also makes our work highly reliable and of high quality,” she says.
Cultivating connection
When she isn’t overseeing complex testing procedures or ensuring products meet rigorous electromagnetic and interference standards, Mai-han is an active participant in the Campus’s vibrant social fabric.
For Mai-han, innovation happens first in the lab but extends beyond to the environment that surrounds it. When asked why HTCE is her homebase, she points to the seamless blend of professional excellence and human connection. Whether she is collaborating with external experts of the Campus or guiding a new engineer through his or her first technical one-pager, she finds inspiration in the sheer density of expertise.
“Many people stick around for quite a long time,” Mai-han says. “That’s something that remains of the previous Philips culture. But to add to that, at Signify we change a lot.” What she sees is that HTCE isn’t just her homebase, but homebase for a lot of innovative people, including people who move on to other jobs but remain on Campus.
“They go to Philips, to ASML, NXP, for example. But that’s what I really like about this place, like The Strip,” says Mai-han. “You have one central meeting point where you can still see all your old colleagues. That’s what I’m currently setting up now, an EMC RF team gathering with current and previous colleagues to meet up here on The Strip on a monthly basis so we stay connected.”
Life at the heart of The Strip
Every innovator needs a place to recharge. For Mai-han, that place is Al Fresco, an Italian restaurant at The Strip serving salads, pasta and – Mai-han’s favorite – fresh pizza. On a sunny afternoon, you’ll often find her enjoying lunch there, soaking in the energy of the Campus. She’s also partial to the Adirondack chairs on the lake by Albert Heijn. It’s in these moments, away from the equipment of the EMC lab and the “sphere” at HTC 48, that Mai-han can take a breather and head right back to the lab for an afternoon of meaningful work.
Mai-han represents a new generation of female tech professionals on Campus, leaders who balance the high-pressure world of electrical engineering with a commitment to team diversity and work-life balance. She sees the Campus as her workplace but also as a community that supports her growth and her team’s success.
The human element, she says, is very important. Staying connected to colleagues old and new, to the region, to the people who make the work meaningful is something she tends to deliberately. “It’s very important to keep your connections and for me to connect in my own way.”
Connected in her own way. At her homebase.
