With a degree in software engineering, Özcan Şeker wants to focus on realizing smart solutions. That is why he feels completely at home as a Data Solution Engineer at CrossBreeze. In this blog, he shares his experiences with model-driven work. He also tells us what his ambitions are and why he can regularly be found on the floor.
Working smarter
At the end of 2021, I graduated as a software engineer and then worked elsewhere for a year. At the beginning of 2023, I got into a conversation with the guys from CrossBreeze. Their philosophy is ‘If you do the same thing three times, you have to think: can’t it be done smarter?’ That was exactly what I was looking for. I believe that as a data or software engineer, you are not done with the job when something has been solved, but when you have developed exactly the right solution. I have now been working here for almost 2 years as a Data Solution Engineer. In my current assignment, I work in the data warehouse automation team.
Learning smart things from smart people
As an automation team, we are developing a generator that can generate database objects based on a logical model and templates. These database objects form the data warehouse, which allows the client to deliver reports to the supervisor. We also have other activities such as maintaining a CI/CD pipeline and developing an extension that modelers can use to model their data.
Thanks to the model-driven approach, we can support 100 modelers as a team of 6 people. The modelers are involved in developing the data flows within the data warehouse, which allows me to focus on what I like and am good at. That is programming and working with tools within the data field.
I am now very satisfied where I work, because the solution at the client has been thought about. The solution was largely devised by Harmen and Willem and in my opinion it is a smart solution. This was mainly what attracted me to working at CrossBreeze: Learning smart things from smart people; following along with veterans in the field. Being able to do what I like together with other people who also like it.
Teamspirit
Because my CrossBreeze colleagues and I work on different assignments, we don’t talk to each other every day; we see each other once a week at the office, the rest of the time you work at home or on location at a customer. Nevertheless, everything is done to keep the team spirit high. Every quarter we have a quarterly outing. The last outing was on a donut boat in Noord-Brabant, where we barbecued, chatted and listened to music. Before that we went simulation racing. Super fun. There is also room to share knowledge with each other or just catch up with coffee and something tasty.
Implementing a model-driven approach
At the moment I am further refining my skills in model-driven work. Looking to the future, I would like to set up a model-driven solution for a customer myself in about five years. In addition, I also want to get acquainted with more tooling, including gaining experience with cloud technology.
On the mat
In my free time I do a lot of sports. I especially like judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and fitness every now and then. I also go for walks in the weekend and I like to play a game every now and then. At the moment my favorite is Divinity: Original Sin 2, although I haven’t had much time to spend on it yet. I’ll have some free time soon and then I’ll sit down for it.
