When you are driven by a constant appetite for knowledge and learning, it is important to choose a professional path that will satisfy this hunger. Ludovic Santos has always put this calling first, first by immersing himself in scientific research at the ULB and currently as data consultant at Kapernikov. After all, what’s not to like about expanding your horizons by working with various industries in a human sized company where employees come first?
You might expect that studies in Chemistry may primarily lead to working in a lab, but Ludovic had already moved far beyond that as he was doing his PhD in Quantum Chemistry at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). During this time, he was working with computer simulations and doing a lot of programming. A great foundation that would prepare him for his next move.
“I knew that one day, I would join a data company where I could develop myself in data engineering and data science. This felt like a natural step for me, and I chose Kapernikov because it would allow me to switch from working with scientific data to working with industrial data.”
An atmosphere of openness
Of course the choice to make was not only about the what, but also about the how. Even during the hiring process, Kapernikov stood out as a place where work-life balance, open communication and valuing employees as people are not only preached but really practised.
“I was pleasantly surprised by the openness during my interview, and again as I joined and saw the efforts made to implement self-organization as a way of life at Kapernikov. I know that, if I have a concern about the way we are running our business, not only can I openly address it, but I can be actively involved in changing it.”
Learning opportunities in every way
The possibility to keep learning and keep developing turned out not to be an empty promise either. Amongst other things, Ludovic sharpened his data engineering skills at Infrabel where he was part of the team working on the inventarization campaign. “I got to up my game on ETL tools and could learn a lot about how industrial data were being used in the context of a large company in the asset intensive industry.”
In another customer project, he even got to brush up on his past knowledge in order to discuss industrial chemical processes as he was setting up a data processing pipeline at an industrial customer. And still, there is always more. Ludovic also got the opportunity to work on internal projects at Kapernikov that allowed him to get more insight into how a company is organized internally.
Moreover, Ludovic feels at his best knowing he is part of a team of like-minded colleagues. “I appreciate that they really take their time to share knowledge and support.”