Engineering Lead
At Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Belgium), technical leadership, project management, resource planning, defining the software engineering process, people management (hiring, coaching, performance management, ...).
About Myself
My name is Reinout Roels and I currently live and work in Brussels, Belgium. Software Engineering has always been my passion. Ever since I was 14 I have invested heavily in the related knowledge and skills and I have over 20 years of experience in developing both commercial software and back-office systems. I am fluent in many of the commonly used programming languages, frameworks and API's. In my early career I gained a lot of experience through freelance software development, while working on several large-scale projects including desktop, web platforms, mobile applications and back-office systems.
During my PhD I further honed my non-technical skills such as coaching, communication and leadership. I led my own research and pushed the boundaries of technology. This is also where I discovered my passion for teaching and helping people learn. I have over 2000 hours of classroom experience, teaching subjects such as programming, databases, web technologies and mathematics. On top of that, I kept up with technical advancements, acted as technical lead for several software projects, and coached countless individuals and teams.
At SWIFT, I started as senior software engineer, but was quickly selected to grow into management as Engineering Chapter Lead. Next to my technical role, I contributed to the Agile transformation, and was responsible for shaping the craftmanship of developers, hiring, coaching, motivating and performance management. This work, in an international company with over 6000 employees, provided me with a lot of real-world corporate experience and leadership skills.
I have continued to take on similar responsibilities as Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Blue Planet Academy & Consulting and Engineering Lead at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. These responsibilities include technical leadership, hands-on technical problem-solving, project management, resource planning, defining the software engineering process, hiring, coaching, performance management, internal policies, and more. Everyone benefits from employees that find joy in their work, so one of my goals is always to create the right environment for that. This usually includes both technical and non-technical involvement.
My current hobbies include algorithmic trading, watchmaking and electrical engineering (e.g. custom PCB design for smartwatches, game controllers and keyboards). While my hobbies come and go, it always involves learning, problem-solving, building and tinkering. I like to set long-term challenges that force me out of my comfort zone. For example, I achieved a full marathon finish under 4 hours and a 100km hike (the infamous "Dodentocht") finish in 22 hours.
For my skills, please see the Technical Skills, Soft Skills and Technical Portfolio pages.
For my academic skills, please see the Research, Teaching and Publication pages.
Experience
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Current 2024
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2024 2022
Chief Information Officer (CIO)
At Blue Planet Academy & Consulting (Belgium), hands-on technical contributor, project management, resource planning, defining the software engineering process, hiring, coaching, performance management.
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2021 2019
Chapter Lead - Software Engineering
At SWIFT (Belgium), shaping the craftmanship of developers, improving the software engineering process, hiring, coaching, motivating, performance management.
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2021 2019
Senior Software Engineer
At SWIFT (Belgium).
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2020 2012
Researcher
At Vrije Universiteit Brussel, member of the Web and Information Systems (WISE) research lab.
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2019 2012
Teacher / Technical Coach
At Vrije Universiteit Brussel, leading software projects and teaching topics such as Programming, Security, Databases, Modelling, Web Technologies, Lambda Calculus, Propositional Calculus, Predicate Calculus and Information Systems.
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2019 2002
Freelance Software Engineer
Full stack commercial software development (desktop, POS, web, mobile applications, ...)
Education
Next to the certifications and trainings listed here, I have the following degrees:
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PhD May 2019
Doctor of Sciences (PhD in Computer Science, multiple awards)
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
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MA2012
Master in Applied Computer Science (Summa Cum Laude)
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
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BA2011
Bachelor in Computer Science
Vrije Universiteit Brussel