People in Lighting: Miguel Ángel Ramos Perujo

Miguel Ramos - Projects Systems Manager - Schréder Socelec
Miguel Ángel Ramos Perujo
Projects & Systems Manager

Companies are defined by the people who work for them: for over a century, Schréder has been at the forefront of lighting thanks to its employees worldwide. Throughout 2021 we’ll be focusing on the people who make Schréder what it is, including their career path, landmark projects and their thoughts on where lighting is headed next.

Miguel Ángel Ramos Perujo has been at Schreder for nearly 20 years, and is based in the city of Alcalá de Henares, just outside Madrid. Projects & Systems Manager, he worked as an engineer on projects all over Spain before moving into a managerial role. Active in the Comité Español de Iluminación, the national body of lighting experts, he’s made a career out of sharing his passion for great lighting and inspiring teams both at work and on the sports field.
 

My first love was sport...

I was almost a professional basketball player. I studied the first university level sports course that was offered in Spain. After that, my dad took me to one side, asked me what my expectations were in life, and persuaded me to train as a telecommunications engineer here in my hometown. I never stopped playing sports, and I’ve got a lot out of my job, as well.


I started as an apprentice at Schreder in 2002... 

Just when the company was moving from Madrid to Guadalajara. It was tough, I had to work in the morning and study in the afternoons! But it was really inspiring, too. After my degree, they encouraged me to join the sales team in a specification role. I worked for another company briefly before returning to Schréder in 2006, when I took over responsibility for the Owlet control system.
 

I’ve been fortunate enough to have fantastic mentors throughout my career... 

I was trained in Belgium by Marcel Justin, who was Head of Applications at R-Tech, and taught me everything I know about photometry. Then Carlos Lopez, who was General Manager of Schréder in Spain at the time, thought I should take charge of control systems which were just entering the industry because of my background in telecommunications. I’m still in touch with a lot of colleagues from this era: we did these really long residential training sessions where you got to know everyone very well! It’s also nice to see that employees can progress all the way to management positions at the company.


As now I’m a manager myself… 

I head up a team of Lighting Designers and Field Application Engineers who implement control solutions, so I have a holistic view of the whole process. I love getting on-site and taking the time to ensure that the entire system is right for the environment and use case - it can take a lot of time, but is very rewarding. 
 

I like solving problems, it’s my favourite part of the job...

Because of my background, I work closely with both the traditional lighting business and Schréder Hyperion, our smart cities hub. It’s really interesting to be in the field, looking at a project, and thinking about it from a photometry perspective, then looking at what we can offer in terms of smart city capabilities, connectivity, and providing digital infrastructure through lighting. We can offer cities WiFi, loudspeakers and cameras as part of their street lighting.

The M30 tunnel project with 30,000 luminaires, is Miguel Ramos's favourite as it transformed the city


My favourite project is the M30 tunnel in Madrid… 

This 48km road tunnel around the outskirts of Madrid was like my baby at the time. It was a big deal because we ended up being responsible for a lot of the project specification for partners as well. We finished it in 2007 and it was a real once-in-a-lifetime project, with 30,000 luminaires, and a huge motorway tunnel that completely restructured the entire city. And I’ve been lucky enough to work on a lot of very technical projects - we’re early adopters in Spain and it’s been a great testbed for new products.
 

It’s incredible how much things have changed in 20 years...

When I started at Schréder I was working on HID and sodium lighting. Then came LED and connected lighting, IoT and Schréder EXEDRA. We installed one of the first smart lighting systems in 2008 in a small village in Spain, and the capabilities of smart systems have been growing ever since. We can do things like shift between different light temperatures using the same light sources - that would have been unimaginable when I started.

Miguel Ramos was responsible for installing one of the first projects with the Owlet control system in Spain


It’s an exciting time for infrastructure projects…

In Spain, a lot of our urban lighting has been upgraded to LED, but there’s a lot of roads, motorways and tunnels that still need converting, and it’s something that’s exploding right now. The tender process is all about looking at the guidelines, thinking about the impact lighting can have, and working with all stakeholders to find a high-quality solution which meets the specifications. We’ve been doing this for a century, and when we work with a customer, we’ll support them for the next hundred years. We’re in for the long haul!


I’ve never been tempted to move...

I’m a family guy, I love Spain, I love being here. I also love to show our factory to customers,  I’ve used stories about everything from the film La La Land to Pablo Escobar to explain what you can do with lighting! I’m always delighted to share my knowledge and experience and I enjoy participating in conferences and seminars. Over the years, the company has invited me to apply for various roles in Belgium and Portugal, but I don’t want to leave my city, and they respect that - which is one of the things I love about Schréder.


I’m proud of the company because… 

They build great teams. My colleague Ana Garcia has been a real inspiration and I’ve been mentored throughout my career. Our technology gives us a real advantage – from being first with innovations like the SHUFFLE to Schréder Hyperion which anticipates and responds to customers’ needs. I’m also excited for face-to-face training to start again, meet my new colleagues, and learn about new products.
 

Sport is still a huge part of my life... 

I cannot understand life without it. I do cycling, boxing, basketball, and have been playing and coaching padel for 20 years. I did triathlons for a bit, but let’s be honest, swimming is boring and I’m a bit too tall for running. But I love MTB, cycling in the mountains is favourite.

Connect with Miguel on LinkedIn