I am André Breuer and started my educational journey by studying mechanical engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Aachen after finishing school. During these studies I quickly recognized that I preferred the topics that are focused on mathematical topics as well as more related to computer science. Through my first job as a student research assistant I could grasp a first experience in microcontroller programming for electrical engines as well as teaching others what I’ve already understood. Finishing this part of my studies with a thesis about simulations of multidimensional heat conduction approved my feelings of wanting to learn more about computer science and IT. Thus I choose a master study program called Simulation Sciences at the RWTH Aachen where I could focus more on the topics of scientific computing and data science. Here I finished by submitting a thesis about a method I developed for deep learning-based methods for the calibration of a class of stochastic processes.
After this point my journey at ndaal started where I was hired as a Data Scientist and Engineer for Cloud and Automation. Here, I quickly recognized that I love to automate things starting from small tasks going up to a whole SDLC, following the DevOps approach. That is how it came that I learned about Jenkins and wanted to learn more about its usage, setup, management as well as administration. Through this knowledge I was able to achieve the certificate from CloudBees as a Certified Jenkins Engineer. Through the whole journey of automation, I learned about different tools and languages and during my daily work I mostly use Python, Bash, as well as PowerShell for automation of small tasks. When it comes to setting up servers to perform specific tasks, the life can also be made easier by automating the orchestration as well as configuration of the aforementioned by using tools like Ansible, Terraform and Pulumi which I quickly learned to love.
When looking at all the points two other factors play an important role:
- The “playground” where all of the automation happens.
- Keeping everything we do secured
The first of the above points got me into touch with cloud computing. Here I got into touch with different cloud providers such as AWS and Azure. It fascinates me how we can manage an infrastructure and use the on-demand provisioning to our benefit when achieving a goal. In addition to the aforementioned point, the “playground” also consists of the operating system that is used to deploy applications and here I am working with Linux as well as Windows, yet I prefer working with Linux. I could deepen my knowledge about Linux by preparing for and achieving the LPIC-1 certificate issued by the Linux Professional Institute (LPI).
Considering the second point, I quickly got to know how easy it is to misconfigure something or add flaws into scripts that allow malicious actors to exploit systems. To avoid this, it was kind of natural that I’ve also grown interest in the world of IT security so that we can provide solutions that are not only working properly, but at the same time are resilient and secure.
Through this I could expand the style of working from a DevOps to a DevSecOps philosophy and manage to keep multiple interesting topics combined. Finally, the best solution is only half as good if no understands how to use it and this is where documentation comes into play. The interest of automation also draws through to this topic, where Documentation as Code is really fascinating because it can enable you to easily
regenerate the documentation, review it and also keep it up to date without any major effort.
Apart from all the points that I like to work with there is also one thing I don’t like and this is development in Java. It’s okay for me to work with tools that are built in that language, but if I have the choice I would choose to work with something that is made in more secure languages such as Rust or GoLang.
Moreover, I really like being on time which includes that I “hate” being late to an appointment. In addition, I also do not like it when someone or something is unreliable.
If you don’t find my working, chances are high that I am either moving in some form or baking homemade sourdough bread.
I love being out on some trails and running for hours if time allows. Apart from that bouldering and climbing fascinate me, due to the fact that I can blend out everything to just be in the moment to puzzle over how I can proceed on the current line. Other forms of movement I like to do regularly include cycling as well as swimming.
One of the things I like about baking my own bread is the simplicity of the process, but at the same time the complexity that you can introduce if you want to have a great result. Further, it teaches patience and simply just relaxes me.
Finally, I am interested in continuously developing myself and learning new things and one of the parts of my personal development journey is reading books.
