Tern Around: Employee Spotlight Series Reflecting on Ólafur's 20 years at Tern

We take pride in our employees and love to see their growth and development in their roles and beyond. With 20 years behind his career and a veteran at Tern Systems, Ólafur- or Lalli- is no exception. Marketing had the opportunity to interview him the other day and ask him some hard-hitting interview questions.

Please introduce yourself and your role at Tern Systems.

My name is Lalli. I’ve been here for 20 years. I’m a system architect now, started here as a programmer. For a short while I did some project management, but didn’t quite like that, so I became a programmer again. But for the last few years, I’ve been a system architect.

How did you start working at Tern and what has kept you here?

It was a coincidence, I guess, that I started here. A financial manager, for a company I worked for, talked to his brother who worked here and they were looking. So he sent me over. I had an interview and started a few days later. The projects. The industry is exciting. The challenges.

How has Tern evolved since you began?

A lot more discipline. When I started we didn’t comply to - well, actually the regulations we are complying to today didn’t exist. So, yeah. Discipline, that’s the major difference, I think

What’s a day-in-the-life look like at the office?

A normal day for me is being all over the place. I am doing my stuff - doing some modelling on architecture, and answering some questions. Doing debugging, testing. Yeah, most of the time I’m kind of all over

You travel a lot for work. What is that like for you?

Well, travelling is a part of my job and I travel quite frequently. Short trips, long trips, one week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks. My longest trip was kind of long. 62 days. That’s too long (laughs).

Where was that?

In Thailand. During COVID. Well, it was kind of different. Especially because of the situation in the world. It was kind of strange passing through Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. The airport was empty except for me and Gusti, and a guy from Sweden we met.

What has been your greatest achievement at Tern and alternatively, what is a challenging aspect?

The greatest feeling is getting systems into operation and the feeling of finishing projects. On the other hand, a challenge is when you encounter something unknown and you will have to figure out how to solve it. And all projects have things like that.

What do you enjoy most about working at Tern?

The challenges of the projects and overcoming the unknown things we encounter. I quite like travelling and it’s just so much fun working here.

What is a piece of advice for someone starting in the domain?

Be patient, it takes time to get into the industry. So, hang in there.

What hobbies and interests do you have outside of work?

Outside of work, I like to ride my Harley and play golf. Although, not at the same time.

Rapid fire questions

Favorite city? Kópavogur

Favorite season? Summer

Favorite animal? Cat

Favorite colour? Black

Favourite food? Pizza

What was your last vacation? Spain

What’s your go-to pastime? Riding my Harley

What is a dinner you enjoy cooking? Pizza

What secret talent do you have? I’m a human debugger. I can find bugs without using tools.

We’d like to take this time to express our appreciation for Lalli’s dedication and contributions to the company. Happy 20th anniversary and congratulations!

Tern Systems and NG Aviation Shape Future ATM Systems in Line With Common Project One

Tern Systems and NG Aviation join forces and strengthen their partnership, connecting system capabilities and enabling the newest generation of digital, aeronautical data-driven ATM systems. Magnús Már Þórðarson, CEO of Tern Systems, and Marek Franko, CEO and Co-Founder of NG Aviation, amicably signed a cooperative agreement on the first day of Airspace World in Geneva.

With rising traffic, a challenging aeronautical information environment and more complex infrastructure than ever, it is apparent there is a need for an efficient transition in digitising aeronautical information. Reliable management of aeronautical information and provision of data services is critical to the future development of ATM systems. In addition, the reality of direct data flow between AIM to ATM systems is now entering a new phase of use by Air Navigation Service Providers. Upcoming ATM and CNS infrastructure demands increased automation of processes, support of digital data and enhanced data connectivity by introducing IP-distributed networking and supporting network-centric structures.

Tern Systems and NG Aviation’s cooperation aims to deliver smart solutions for Air Traffic Control that will support safety and automation, removing unnecessary data manipulation and enhancing the capabilities of ATM systems significantly. Together, their ATM expertise, innovative approach, capabilities in AIM and data creation in native AIXM 5.x will meet the Common Project One requirement for ATM systems: to have the capacity to use the SWIM-based aeronautical information exchange.

Framadagar 2023: Tern Systems & Isavia ANS come together for a successful student networking event

We attended the annual Framadagar (co-hosted with Isavia ANS), an important networking event in cooperation with Reykjavík University. It's an important day to connect the top Icelandic companies and students. We promoted our products (Polaris ICE, Orion 3D Tower, and Orion Driver), including the chance to try our ultra-realistic driving simulator.

One of the main objectives was to share our participation in summer internships and research opportunities for those who are looking for a thesis subject. We came across students from a variety of studies such as computer science, engineering, business, and technical artistry where many were interested to gain experience in the air traffic management domain.

Our collaborative stand with Isavia ANS was received well and complimented by visitors from past years. Our partnership made it easier to showcase what we do as software developers of air traffic control systems and how a company like Isavia ANS uses our products to control their air space.