From Aerospace Engineer to First-Class Digital Engineer
Hey there! I’m Dick Daniel, a graduate in aerospace engineering from Delft. My journey into the tech field began with a minor in computer science during my studies, igniting a passion that led me to where I am today. After my bachelor’s I started an internship at DSW, a prominent health insurance company. However, despite the opportunity, I found myself seeking a different environment. The corporate structure felt constraining and didn’t make me feel at home, so I started looking for a smaller, more dynamic setting.
Finding Home in a Dynamic Environment
Through a connection of mine who was a recruiter, I discovered Pionect. Joining this team, I instantly felt at home. I’ve been here for almost a year now. It’s only the second company I have worked at after my studies, but I plan to stay here because I really like it. Because it’s a fairly small company, you get to know everyone very well and there is a nice atmosphere between us. Because of this reason as well, there aren’t many strict rules, and that gives us all room for our input and ideas.
Tackling a 5-Year Project
At the moment I am one of the developers who is working on a challenging 5-year project for one of our customers. We are building a very old program from scratch so one of the biggest challenges is understanding what was already meant in the old code. To stay ahead, I dedicate time to self-improvement, watching videos on YouTube that could help me with my job, and trying to keep up with specific Laravel courses. For someone to do the same thing I do every day, a lot of critical thinking is needed as well as keeping all the components in mind at the same time.
Climbing the Ranks
My biggest accomplishment so far at Pionect was securing a spot on the upper floor within just 2 months of joining (which meant I got to work on the big project of 5 years). It was a literal step up in more ways than one, marking my growth within the company. While I don’t have a specific trajectory mapped out in my mind, I do know that I want to keep improving myself and the work that I do. The plan is to stay here long-term, I’m invested 😉
Beyond the Office Walls
In my free time, I like having board game nights with friends, especially older strategy games. I also like to watch series on Netflix, all kinds of things but mainly history documentaries. I also enjoy sports a lot, I go out for runs pretty often to clear my head.
