Introducing: Marcel Rummens
Marcel works at Garden Connect as our Technical Lead and we’re happy to introduce you to him in this blog!
Technical Lead
“One of my main tasks as technical lead is to continuously look for improvements in our systems and workflow. Besides that, I give technical direction to our developers. To stay true to our code guidelines, I create the outlines for how we develop the applications and correct anything if needed. Besides that, I do part of the server management, which includes creating and managing the new cloud configuration. We can use this to scale up easier and faster when the servers get too crowded. That about sums up the technical tasks that my work consists of.”
Job interview in paint clothes
“In 2010 I started as a 19 year old intern and back-end developer. We moved to Zwanenburg when I was looking for an internship for my studies. I searched for “PHP internship Zwanenburg” and the first hit I got in Google was Bratpack (the former name of Garden Connect). In the midst of moving houses, I accidentally showed up at my job interview with paint on my pants. Fortunately, that was no problem at all and I immediately started my internship. My first impression was very positive. After my internship I continued working part time. As soon as I graduated I started working fulltime and I haven’t left eversince.” As a 19 year old, Marcel’s first impression of the team was very positive, very open and social. “The awesome team is one of the main reasons why I have been working at Garden Connect for such a long time. I will easily and happily reach my 12.5 years anniversary here!”
The newsletter system
“During my internship I wrote the newsletter system for Bratpack by myself. Even though it’s a bit outdated now, and we don’t use it anymore, it was functioning very well for 10 years. Which I think is cool. Besides that I have taken on the responsibility of many of our internal systems. With multiple tools and a framework I have been able to make my colleagues’ work easier. I am quite proud of that!” This is one of the reasons why Marcel is part of the big update on the Garden Connect Platform.
KISS & DRY
“In my work I always try to write code that is as easy to maintain as possible. That means that it’s easy to read and that colleagues understand what is happening in the code. It’s an art to make it very simple. One of the biggest pitfalls of programming is to make it way more complex than needed. To prevent this as much as we can, we use the KISS (keep it simple stupid) and DRY (don’t repeat yourself) programming principles. It always makes me happy to see a neatly constructed piece of code.”
Peace Lily
Marcel isn’t a big fan of plants at home, because he often forgets to water them. At the office, he likes the Peace Lily that’s close to his desk. In his time off, Marcel enjoys visiting festivals, “that’s my biggest hobby” he adds. Besides that he likes to lift weights in the gym, and he enjoys swimming to maintain his fitness. “You have to stay active when you have an office job.”
