Tutku is 30 years old and comes from Antalya, Turkey. She graduated from the Software Engineering Department of Istanbul Aydin University in 2015. Since then she’s been working as a software engineer. In general, she worked as a Back-End Developer as well as a full-stack developer in her last two assignments. Since April 2021, Tutku is working as a consultant at ALTEN. Her first assignment was working together with the Solar Team Twente. She is happy to tell you about her experiences and challenges.
Could you please tell us a little bit about yourself?
“I come from Antalya Turkey, which is one the most famous tourist places for Dutch people. Even when I was young, there were a lot of Dutch tourists there. Since then, I was always curious about Dutch people and their culture. So, when I had the chance, I decided to move to the Netherlands.
I graduated from Istanbul Aydin University in Software Engineering in 2015. I have been working as a software engineer, in general as a Back-End Developer and a full-stack developer, since. Since April 2021 I have been a consultant at ALTEN. Working for the Solar Team Twente was my first assignment”
Could you please tell us about the project you are working on?
“The project I was working on for Solar Team Twente aims to create a web interface to visualize historical data analysis for their solar car. It was an exciting project for me. You can think of this work as working for a Formula 1 racing team. In Formula 1 everything relies on the coherent performance of the car and the driver. Drivers train day and night to improve their performance, while behind the scenes engineers devote their everything to take the performance of their beloved cars a step further. Of course, to be able to do so, they constantly rely on how their car is performing over time. By tracking the history of their racing cars, they can understand what kind of precautions should be taken or what kind of changes should be made to achieve higher scores.
This was basically what I’ve been helping the team with during this project. By using this web-interface the Solar Team’s engineers are able to search and display the data of their cars in a historic manner. Therefore, they will be able to adapt necessary changes much faster without spending extra time on data analysis. Isn’t it our job as Software Engineers, to program new features/ functionalities, using new technologies, to make people’s lives easier? I believe that was what I have achieved with my first ALTEN project.”
What were your challenges and what did you like about the project?
“As I mentioned earlier, this was my first project ever working for ALTEN. So, I was pretty much excited about it. You know, first projects are always the hardest ones in terms of feeling successful in work life. I can say that I felt a bit of pressure in that way. Of course, working on the front-end side just doubled the pressure a bit, since I am mostly experienced in working on the back-end side. However, I believe such challenges will help me a lot keeping myself on my toes. So, when I think of the whole project, I can say that providing me with a challenge to realize or exceed my own limits is the part that I liked most about it.
What I also liked, was that the working environment was extremely relaxed and welcoming. Even though I worked from home most of the time, the people that I worked with were always encouraging. This made me feel more comfortable about being part of this project. Especially my colleague Oebele Lijzenga (Data Acquisition) was really friendly and helpful. We had lots of brainstorming sessions together to improve the design and the system. To be able to collaborate and achieve results, you first need to feel welcome to the team. And that was exactly what I felt during my time with Solar Team Twente.
I believe Solar Team Twente is making wonderful progress. Just by looking at their website you can see how serious they are about their work. As ALTEN, we are proud to be supporting them and hopefully we will see the results of their efforts in the next Solar Car Challenge.”
What are your personal challenges and achievements?
“Being a Software architect is one of my passions. Finding structured software solutions, aligning clients’ goals with technological needs is basically what software architects do. That always sounds reassuring to me as a software engineer. In this modern world it becomes more and more important to integrate technology in people’s daily lives. That is why I would like to absorb as much knowledge as possible to improve myself even more, to keep myself updated all the time. I think it is called ‘lifelong learning’. I have dedicated myself to this way of life, so I can say that this is one of my achievements. Of course, this comes with a price. To find balance in between my social and work life becomes more and more difficult.
On the other hand, this may be a side effect of working from home a lot. Although, I cannot say that it is a real challenge. Let’s see how it will be when we completely get rid of Covid’s effects and start working at the office again. I can tell you that those are my achievements and challenges since I started working for ALTEN.”
Tutku Sila Vural Eyovge
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