Hi, I am Ian Tiemann, a software engineer from the Netherlands with a background in Industrial Design Engineering from the TU Delft and computer science in Breda. I am interested in all kinds of software development, but I am especially interested in backend development and in the intersection between software and hardware, like embedded systems and IoT. Machine learning is also something I am interested in, primarily implementing machine learning models in software.

🏫 My education

During my study Industrial Design Engineering I have learned to design products and services for people and companies, which are desirable, feasible and viable. We conducted research about how products and services are used and how they can be improved. We also learned how to design and build prototypes to test our ideas, how to work in multidisciplinary teams and to communicate with different stakeholders. Although this study does not focus on software engineering, I learned a lot of skills that are usefull for software development.

Design thinking is a method that is used to solve problems and find desirable solutions for users. It is a human-centered approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.

I did a minor in Engineering with Artificial Intelligence, so I also have some experience with machine learning and data science, which I found very interesting. During this minor I have made a product that can analyse how a design concept is being used by the end-user to inform the designer about possible improvements. See the project here.

During my studies I have also done some projects with microcontrollers, like the Arduino and Circuitpython devices, the Raspberry Pi and other single board computers.

✨ My experience

I started working in 2016 as a support engineer, but I quickly started to develop software for the company after my minor. I developed tools to connect different software together and to automate tasks. I created a digital signage system for some of our clients and I created a tool for our support engineers to quickly pull the neccesary information about a client when they call from our CRM. I have also setup and maintained networks, servers, workstations and more while delivering customer support to our clients.

While I was studying at the TU Delft I was also a student assistant for some courses. I helped students with their projects and assignments for multiple courses about programming in python and microcontrollers using circuitpython.

🚩 What is my goal?

I want to learn more about computer science and software development. I’ve had some more advanced courses about programming in python, but I want to learn more about other programming languages, computer science in general and software argitecture. I want to develop my skills in a larger team with a different tech stack and the process of developing software in a team. All while delivering value to the company and the clients and studing computer science at the same time.