I am a motivated person. I can easily adapt to new situations and learn
new things. Working independently has never been
a problem for me, although working in team is usually more enriching. One of my
strongest/favorite subjects is logic. Hence I have a love for topics such as mathematics and
philosophy.
Last but not least, I have always loved solving problems. I love thinking rationally and finding
solutions to problems that make our lives more difficult. I am the kind of person who is more
efficient in a laid-back style of work, where you don't feel pressured or stressed all the time.
This is one of the reasons I would prefer jobs with flexible hours.
Skills
A small summary of what I do
C#
In both my professional and personal life I have mainly used C#. I have
experience with UWP, WPF or ASP.net MVC, .NET, .NET Core, Blazor, ...
Java/Android
I created some android apps before, you can find examples below in the
projects section or here:
CaféSpotter
Web development
HTML, CSS, PHP, Javascript. I can use them all to create good-looking
websites.
Backend / Cloud
From docker to message brokers to SQL to cloud hosting, I worked with these on
a professional level
Portfolio
Previous creations
CaféSpotter
Android development
Beacon Game
Philips Hue + iBeacons
Show Tracker
API's & web development
API Mashup
Combining 2 API's
Dog Tracker
Raspbian + iBeacons
Hue Alarm App
UWP app for Smart Living
Non Zero Ratio
Website for Non Zero Ratio
Huizenontour
Website for VZW Huizen On Tour
Bachelor's Thesis
use of VR in real-estate
SmartPriority
Smart Traffic Solution for Public transport
Raspberry Pi Alarm
Personal Project
Cat Feeder
Personal Project
Current projects
What am I working on?
Tyler
Project with friends
About me
The different paths I took, and choices I made
7 November 1995
Born
The start of my story is in Ghent, Belgium.
A new programmer has set foot on earth.
2007-2009
Don Boscocollege Zwijnaarde (General)
My first high school years. This was a general education
preparing us for our future.
2009-2011
Don Boscocollege Zwijnaarde (Science)
After two years of general education, we were given a choice.
Economics or Science. Here I chose for science, which I still find interesting.
2011-2013
Don Boscocollege Zwijnaarde (Mathemathics/Languages)
After two more years of science education, we could pick a new
direction.
I have a love for mathematics, so I wanted more of this. I had 6 hours of
maths/week, and I topped that off with more language skills.
I dropped the science, to see if there were other things I preferred. Here I
also had my first experience with basic HTML.
2013-2014
University of Ghent (Economics)
I wanted to try out even more new things, So I decided to get
an economical background.After one year of studying, I decided that I had a love
for something else.
So I changed directions once more.
2014-2016
Howest (New Media and Communication Technology)
The love I had was for... Developing. I decided to start
studying at Howest, to become what I do now: a developer. The years on Howest
were interesting, I had never
programmed anything else than basic HTML, but I found my ways in the code pretty
quickly, without a lot of trouble. I finally found my passion.
September 2016- January 2017
Högskolan i Borås(Business courses)
Staying in the tracks of a developper, I decided to do an
Erasmus to Sweden. I went to Högskolan i Borås to refine my business skills in
IT. Here I
further improved important aspects such as teamwork, Business Process Modeling
and Business Intelligence.
February 2017 - June 2017
Internship at Swarco (Sweden)
The second semester of this school year, I worked at Swarco, a
company providing Smart Traffic solutions.
I worked on the SmartPriority
project, which handles traffic light priority in public transport. While doing
this internship, I worked on my bachelor's thesis about how Virtual Reality can
be used to make a more informed decision on renting or buying a property.
More information about my thesis can be found here.
June 2017
Graduated
After finishing my Bachelor's thesis and internship, I
graduated from Howest University, giving me a professional bachelor's degree in
New Media and Communication Technology, ending the chapter
in my life as a student
July 2017 - September 2017
Web developer (Concordia, Student job)
After my graduation, while looking for a job a worked for 2 months at Concordia.
During this time, I worked closely
together with employees, ensuring the websites would be exactly what they want.
I explained them how to maintain the site, and hosted
the websites.
Oktober 2017 - March 2019
Software developer at Swarco (Sweden)
After making the necessary administrative difficulties, I managed to work for
the company I did my internship at again: Swarco.
The entire duration of this job, I was able to work from home in Ghent, which
was an interesting experience. It required self control and planning, yet it
also allowed a lot of flexibility.
While working for Swarco I worked on the same project: SmartPriority. In my internship I was focused on
front-end
while now I worked with the entire project, from front to back-end to hosting,
having a better feel of the entirity of the project.
March 2019 - NOW
Software Consultant at Branch
After my valuable experiences at Swarco, it was time to look for something new.
I decided to go into consultancy since I believed this would allow me to learn
quickly, allowing me to progress towards a senior profile.
I embarked upon a new journey as a Software Consultant at Branch.
March 2019 - February 2021
Software Consultant at Branch for Arcelor Mittal
For almost 2 years I have worked on the ScaleUp project at Arcelor Mittal.
The goal of this ambitious project is to improve productivity and communication
by having the same system for supply chain management for Arcelor Mittal in
Europe.
The frontend work was in angular and the backend in .NET. During my time in
ScaleUp I worked in multiple teams, always consisting of multiple developers, 1
or 2 analysts and a scrum master.
February 2021 - NOW
Software Consultant at Branch for Sport Vlaanderen
Currently I am working for Sport Vlaanderen, where we are developing and
maintaining +-30 applications.
Competences
A broader view on my skills
Languages
Dutch
Native Speaker
English
Professional Level
French
Basic knowledge
Turkish
Basic knowledge
IT competences
C#
Professional Level
React
Professional Level
HTML/CSS/JS/PHP
Professional Level
SQL
Professional Level
ASP.net
Professional Level
AWS
Professional Level
Docker
Professional Level
RabbitMQ
Professional Level
Angular
Professional Level
Linux
Basic Level
Contact Me
At holbrouckj@gmail.com or by filling in below
CaféSpotter
Small team project in android
This was a project where we had a small team of 3 members including myself. In this
project we worked together with Proximus, one of the biggest companies in Belgium
regarding TV, Internet and Phones. They had set up a new LoRa (Long range Low Power)
network: they wanted our help in finding a possible use for this network, and the
many sensors they had. After some brainstorming we came up with the "CaféSpotter"
idea.
CaféSpotter is has three sides to it: Customer, Pub owner and third-party
advertiser. We think that we were able to realize a win-win-win situation here.
We made an app in android, and we also made a website for the Pub owner to use. We
used Microsoft Azure to store all our data.
If you want to watch the promo video, follow this link. (in dutch)
If you want more information, watch the full video here. (in
dutch)
Date: April 2016 - March 2016
Project at Howest
Project for Proximus
Beacon Game
An exciting physical game involving iBeacons and
Philips Hue.
In this small team project consisting of a co-student and me, we decided to make a
game. We used iBeacons and Philips hue, to create an interactive game.
We made use of Microsoft Azure IoT hub to send messages from our devices (Windows
Phone) with an UWP app we created. These messages went to our central computer.
This computer was running a console application which used all the info it received
to calculate the scores and status of the philips hue bulbs.
Unfortunately, we don't have a video of a demon where we play this game.
If you want to see the powerpoint for our game, you can visit thislink.
For the full documentation on our project, see our report
Date: May 2016
Project at Howest
Module: New Media
Show Tracker
A website to support you in tracking your shows
This project involved making use of an API. I decided to make a project on one of
the things I love: A website that allows you to track your progress in each show.
Here I made usage of bootstrap and the trakt.tv API.
You can take a look at the project here.
Date: November 2015
Project at Howest
Module: Advanced Web
API Mashup
Internet Usage over the world per year
In this small project, we were given the task of combining 2 API's as a way to
visualise data. I chose to visualise the internet usage
for every country, per year. A good way to visualise this, is by using a heatmap.
Therefore, I used the google maps API and an API providing me
with the numbers of internet users.
You can see the end result here
Date: November 2015
Project at Howest
Module: Advanced Web
Dog-friendly anti-vermin technology
A way to shoo vermin without shooing your dog
In this small team project consisting of a co-student and me, we worked with the
Raspberry Pi (Raspbian & Python) and iBeacons.
We attached a buzzer to the Raspberry Pi, that created a high sound that vermin
doesn't like. The problem here, is that dogs also hate the sound.
Therefore we came up with the idea of attaching an iBeacon sticker to each dog. This
way we could track the proximity of the dog to the buzzer.
If the dog comes too close to the buzzer, we stopped the sound. This way the dogs
can live in peace, while we could still get rid of the vermin.
If you want to see the powerpoint for our project, you can visit thislink.
For the full documentation on our project, see our report
Date: May 2016
Project at Howest
Module: Datacommunication
Hue Alarm App
An UWP app to control your lights, and use them as an
alarm
This project, is one I started on my own. I bought Philips Hue light bulbs, and
decided to create a smart living situation with them in the form of an UWP app.
The project consists of the basic controls of the light bulbs, and the ability to
create an automatic lighting scheme. On top of that, I created an alarm in which
you can pick music, and the lights that should turn on. The functionality of this
project is good, but I am still working on the design.
Since this was a personal project, I did not keep any reports or documentation.
Here are some screenshots of the app.
Date: November 2016
Personal Project
Raspberry Pi Alarm
Raspberry Pi running Windows 10 IoT Core with 7 segment
display
This project, is one I started on my own. I bought Philips Hue light bulbs, and
decided to create a smart living situation with them in the form of an UWP app.
The project consists of the basic controls of the light bulbs, and the ability to
create an automatic lighting scheme. On top of that, I created an alarm in which
you can pick music, and the lights that should turn on. The functionality of this
project is good, but I am still working on the design.
The above I have already done, and my next step in this project is using my
Raspberry Pi that I bought, to run this app. I would link this to a 7 segment
display to display
the time. I will come across some new difficulties such as controlling the app,
which I look forward to solving.
Date: 2017
Personal Project
SmartPriority
Smart Traffic Solution providing traffic light priority
for public transport
I have worked on this project during both my internship kept on working it a few
months later, as a software developer at Swarco.
This project was one project that we started together, based on a prototype. We
built the solution from scratch, with technologies such as ASP.NET MVC, MySQL, AWS,
RabbitMQ, Google API and more.
During my internship I worked in a team consisting of a Project Manager, a Tester
and five developers. I gained a lot of experience during this project, and I found
it interesting. The project itself works with google API, showing all the buses
and traffic lights on the map. When a bus comes near an intersection, it requests
priority. If the line number, direction and a whole bunch of other factors are
correct, then priority is given.
After my internship, I started working here as a software developer. The team shrank
a bit, to 2 developers a tester and a project manager. This meant I had a lot more
responsability in this project, which allowed me to grow, and understand the project
more.
While previously, I mainly with the front-end, I now started working with everything
relating to the project. Some of the technologies the project included and that I
had to work with were: ASP.NET MVC, .NET Core, linux, RabbitMQ, MySQL, Docker, AWS,
Grafana,
prometheus, Traffic light controller Communication and more. I had much more
complete view on what the product was like, and helped the project evolve.
More information can be found on the SmartPriority homepage.
Date: February 2017 - June 2017 (Internship)
Date: Oktober 2017 - January 2018 (Software Developer)
Project at Swarco
Bachelor's Thesis
How can VR be used to help people make an informed
decision on renting or buying a property?
My thesis, written in the last semester of my education handled the research
question "How can VR be used to help people make an informed decision on renting or
buying a property?" The internal promotor of this
thesis was Henk Bostyn from Howest, and the external promotor was Donna Flanagan
from my internship at Swarco.
Below, you can find the abstract of my thesis:
This bachelor’s thesis’ research question: “How can VR be used to let people make an
informed decision about renting or buying a property?” deals with the current
problems that can be noticed when looking for renting or buying a property. In the
current situation, one might not have a good idea of what a house looks like, and
thus have to physically go there before making a decision. However, this is not
always possible, as sometimes people hire properties for a short period, hence it is
not worth seeing it for yourself. This hints towards a possible solution: using VR
to look around in the property, allowing you to have a better idea of what it looks
like, making you able to make an informed decision.
In this bachelor’s thesis, a prototype product is defined and designed, resulting in
a design that allows to address the research question through tests with real test
persons according to a number of scenarios. The results of these scenarios are
analyzed, leading to some conclusions about the use of VR for renting or buying
properties.
The conclusion drawn in this bachelor’s thesis, is that the use of VR allows for
increased trust in real-estate market transactions. For trust-based platforms such
as AirBnB and booking.com, VR has the potential to increase the number of
transactions as it allows users to better know what to expect and thus have more
trust.
If this abstract triggered your interest, you can find the full thesis here.
Date: 2017
School Project
Website Non Zero Ratio
I built a website for my fathers' company: Non Zero
Ratio
The goal of this website was to create a simple yet powerful site that is easy to
maintain. I taught my father how to edit and add content to the site, and help him
whenever needed.
You can take a look at the site of Non Zero Ratio here.
Date: 2016
Personal project
Website Huizen On Tour
I built a website for my fathers' company: Non Zero
Ratio
The goal of this website was to create a simple yet powerful site that is easy to
maintain for vzw De Huizen On Tour.
I did this project for my sister, since she is part of this VZW, and I taught her
sister how to edit and add content to the site, and help her whenever needed.
You can take a look at the site of De Huizen On Tour here.
Date: 2017
Personal project
Cat Feeder
Feeding your cats doesn't have to be a drag...
In June 2019 I adopted 2 cats. It quickly became annoying to always have to feed
them, so I had to come up with a solution to make this more manageable. I had bought
an automatic catfeeder, but the usage of it was terrible. It worked, however.
But that was not enough for me. I decided to use my Raspberry Pi 3 that I still had
laying around to automate this process, and to make it a bit smarter and manageable.
I set up a website in which I can manage the CatFeeder and I connected the GPIO pins
of my
Raspberry Pi to the circuit of the Cat Feeder. Now that the cat feeder is fully
functional, I can feed my cats from wherever and whenever I want!
I have created this project in .NET Core and HTML/CSS/JS, but I am currently working
on transforming the frontend to Blazor
Date: 2019-2020
Personal Project
Tyler
A tool to create grid based maps/drawings
Me and a friend of mine decided wanted to learn something new, so we decided to
start a new project. After some brainstorming, we decided upon 'Tyler'. A grid based
map editor, which can be used to create drawings / maps.
There are multiple reasons why we thought creating Tyler was a good idea. For
starters, it would be a fun project to do with friends. Besides that, we decided to
use an emerging technology, to gain some experience with it and learn a lot: Blazor.
The technologies we are using are .NET Core together with Blazor.
We are currently still working on this project, but we are moving quickly.
