Meet Our First Community MVP!
Hi there Community!
We’re excited to launch our new Community MVP (Most Valuable Player) Program! This initiative is all about recognizing the incredible members who consistently go above and beyond, sharing their knowledge, helping others, and truly making our community shine.
We’re kicking this off to celebrate these outstanding contributions and inspire even more engagement.
To introduce our first-ever Community MVP, we sat down for a special Q&A with Bogdan Filipov, a Community Catalyst and now more recently with Siemens. Bogdan’s dedication and insightful contributions have been exceptional, and we’re thrilled to share his story with you.
Let’s dive into our chat with Bogdan…
Your life journey spans living in three different countries in Europe. How has this multicultural background shaped the way you work and connect with the global engineering community?
Living across Europe has profoundly shaped my approach to global engineering. It’s taught me to adapt my communication and collaboration style, bridging cultural nuances in problem-solving and knowledge sharing.
In the global engineering community, we’re all speaking the ‘language’ of technology, but cultural nuances matter. I’ve learned to bridge gaps, whether it’s explaining complex technical concepts to teams with different educational backgrounds or facilitating discussions where language barriers exist. This multicultural lens helps me create inclusive environments where everyone feels comfortable asking questions and sharing knowledge which is exactly what a thriving community needs
You started as a professional basketball player before moving into engineering. What lessons from sports have stayed with you and influenced your approach to teamwork, leadership, and problem-solving?
Basketball instilled three core lessons:
- Teamwork, emphasizing empowering others over individual glory
- Resilience, teaching me to view failure as feedback and persist under pressure
- Power of practice, which drives my commitment to continuous learning and building strong foundational skills for myself and others
You’ve held roles from PCB designer to Product Owner and now Senior Application Engineer. What part of your career path most prepared you for becoming a Community Catalyst?
While every role has been crucial, my time as a Field Application Engineer most prepared me to be a Community Catalyst. My PCB design background gave me empathy for our users, and my Product Owner experience taught me strategic support. But it was as an FAE that I truly learned to simplify complex topics, teach effectively, and build trust across diverse users – skills absolutely essential for empowering our community members.
In your work with Siemens EDA and previously Philips, you’re known for strong customer support and knowledge sharing. How do you bring that same mindset into helping our community members?
My approach to customer support has always been about building capability and confidence, not just solving immediate problems. In the community, this means providing clear, actionable guidance, teaching underlying principles, and creating reusable resources. I aim to foster a collaborative culture where members are empowered to solve issues independently and share their own valuable insights.
You lead workshops, troubleshoot complex issues, and mentor others. What motivates you to invest so much time in teaching and supporting fellow engineers and how has Community helped you?
Honestly, it’s selfish in the best way I learn so much from teaching and from the community. My motivation is twofold: personal growth and the satisfaction of empowering others. Teaching forces me to deepen my understanding, and the community constantly expands my perspective through diverse questions and solutions. In return, the community offers invaluable exposure to new use cases, connections with brilliant engineers, and a platform for professional development – it’s a truly virtuous cycle.
If you had one message for new or aspiring community members—especially those entering PCB/ECAD fields—what would you want them to know?
Don’t be intimidated; every expert started as a beginner. Your questions are valuable, and by asking, you help everyone. Share your learning journey, including mistakes and solutions, because your fresh perspective is needed. The community is your greatest advantage for continuous learning and networking in a fast-evolving field. Start small, contribute what you can, and embrace the support available – we’re here for you!
