Bart Van den Bergh may not have followed the classical route to a position at Kapernikov, but our versatile software engineer did prove that it is possible to land a dream job thanks to passion and through a bit of perseverance.
Bart joined Kapernikov in December 2019, a few months before a global pandemic brought the world to a standstill. Since then, he has worked as a software engineer on a wide variety of machine learning and machine vision projects. Bart considers himself acting as the bridge between the company’s machine learning experts and the actual end application. Next to implementing AI models into applications, Bart also has a knack for 3D simulation, a handy skill when you want to model and test code before rolling it out in reality.
“When I was considering joining Kapernikov a few years ago, the wide variety of projects that you can do here was a real selling point for me,” says Bart. “Work at Kapernikov ranges from data-related projects, over writing code, to building a simulation model for vessel positioning for the Maritime Research Center in Ostend.”
The person, not the diploma
Bart did not follow the traditional educational route. Although during his trajectory, he got a grasp of game development, applied computer science, and full stack development, his proficiency in machine learning and machine vision today is the result of persistent self-study and slowly building a work portfolio. At the time of his application with Kapernikov, Bart was already able to present various machine vision projects he had been working on.
“I experienced early on that Kapernikov is not seeing things the traditional way,” says Bart. “Various companies I applied for would have filtered me out because I didn’t have the conventional diplomas. Lucky for me, Kapernikov was first looking at the person and the ambition, not at the diploma. That was a pleasant surprise. And ultimately, it was the portfolio I had built on my own that convinced Kapernikov I was the right man for the job.”
“Obviously, I have learned a lot already by working here. It’s one thing to study machine vision on your own, but writing stable, operational code for an industrial application is something else.”
Perks and pleasure
Bart especially values the way Kapernikov employees can organize their own work day. Whether you want to work from home or at the office, there is a lot of flexibility. Another Kapernikov perk is the time and opportunities you get to learn something new. You get the chance to help Kapernikov grow, by doing more than just programming. He enjoys contributing to the recruitment process and the machine vision circle. But nothing is more satisfying than seeing the result of your own work, for example by seeing an autonomous vessel float in the basin of the Maritime Research Center in Ostend.
Fortunately, there is more to life than work. Now that the pandemic has taken on manageable proportions, there are new opportunities to get up from behind the desk and meet people in person. This means there’s also more opportunity to have fun with the Kapernikov colleagues during and after work.