Kalman Olah
Tech Consultant, Full Stack Problem Solver
I am an experienced craftsman, problem solver, and perfectionist with a passion for creating high-quality work and finding innovative solutions to complex challenges.
I have a proven track record in IT consultancy, where I have worked with both high-profile and minor customers spanning a variety of sectors, and have demonstrated my skills as a full stack developer, sysadmin, team lead and technical architect. I have also founded a company that provides guidance and support to developers seeking to become self-employed.
In addition to my technical skills, I also have strong business acumen and leadership abilities. I am an effective problem solver and excel at playing devil's advocate. I know how to manage projects, teams, and budgets, and have a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing businesses in the tech industry.
I am a jack of all trades, with a masterful understanding of some key areas. My wide range of knowledge allows me to approach problems from multiple angles, and I am able to adapt quickly to new technologies and business challenges.
Overall, my unique blend of technical, business, and leadership skills make me an asset to any organization.
I have a proven track record in IT consultancy, where I have worked with both high-profile and minor customers spanning a variety of sectors, and have demonstrated my skills as a full stack developer, sysadmin, team lead and technical architect. I have also founded a company that provides guidance and support to developers seeking to become self-employed.
In addition to my technical skills, I also have strong business acumen and leadership abilities. I am an effective problem solver and excel at playing devil's advocate. I know how to manage projects, teams, and budgets, and have a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing businesses in the tech industry.
I am a jack of all trades, with a masterful understanding of some key areas. My wide range of knowledge allows me to approach problems from multiple angles, and I am able to adapt quickly to new technologies and business challenges.
Overall, my unique blend of technical, business, and leadership skills make me an asset to any organization.
Skills
Languages
Interests
Work experience
Bluecentury
Technical Architect
https://bluecentury.eu
Bluecentury is the company behind Vemasys, a digital inland shipping software platform that provides end-to-end business control and a seamless user experience for accessing any data on any device for barge operators, fleet owners, terminal operators, insurance agents, certification authorities, shipping agents, accountants and more.
As Technical Architect, my responsibilities included managing the Development and Systems Administration team, designing solutions, implementing infrastructure and software architecture, and participating in integration and standardization efforts.
As Technical Architect, my responsibilities included managing the Development and Systems Administration team, designing solutions, implementing infrastructure and software architecture, and participating in integration and standardization efforts.
Highlights
- Migration of entire infrastructure stack from local servers to Azure Cloud.
- Designing and creating centralized logging, monitoring, alerting, continuous deployment/integration, and containerized testing systems.
- Developing firmware for in-house vessel tracker/engine monitoring hardware, along with software to process transmitted data.
- Developing software to process and analyze real-time movement data for over 200.000 vessels.
- Creating software and algorithms to analyze global vessel movement data and develop a self-learning routing service for waterways (similar to Google Maps, but for ships).
- Developing hybrid mobile apps and creating continuous deployment systems for them.
Bitsmith
Tech Consultant / Owner
https://bitsmith.be
At Bitsmith, I offer quality consulting and contracting services in the areas of software engineering, systems administration, software/infrastructure auditing, technical architecture or technical management.
Raket
Managing Partner
https://raketgroep.be
Raket was founded by myself and two friends with the goal of sharing our expertise and knowledge gained from successful careers in IT consultancy. We provide exceptional support and guidance to help talented individuals become successful self-employed professionals. Our unique matching service connects top-tier freelancers with exceptional clients, resulting in successful partnerships and mutually beneficial outcomes.
Inuits
Open-Source Consultant
https://inuits.eu
Inuits is a consulting firm with a unique focus on open-source technology, a leading open-source integrator in Belgium and neighbouring countries and an expert in all domains related to open-source software, virtualization/cloud computing and devops practices.
My task as an Open-Source Consultant was to architect and develop bespoke applications for various customers using open-source technologies, as well as setting up the occassional monitoring/CI/CD toolchain.
My task as an Open-Source Consultant was to architect and develop bespoke applications for various customers using open-source technologies, as well as setting up the occassional monitoring/CI/CD toolchain.
Highlights
- Created a OCR Engine-As-A-Service for Digipolis and the city of Antwerp.
- Developed a track & trace and reporting application suite for Lokale Politie Antwerpen, the Antwerp Police Department.
- Developed a multi-tenant Point Of Sale (POS) and accountancy application suite for Sportoase, a chain of sports and fitness centers, along with cash register hardware.
- Developed a multi-tenant application suite for European Datacomm, a telematics company, consisting of a full-blown fleet/vehicle track & trace system, CRM, call center/incident handling system, REST API behind an OAuth2 server, SMS/GPRS gateways for receiving/sending tracker data, protocol implementations for a large range of tracking devices.
- Development of a dictionary-like web application to aid non-native minorities in learning the Dutch, French and German languages by providing them with audiovisual supplementary materials.
- Development of a time-tracking/timesheeting web application for Kras Jeugdwerk, for use by their (HR) employees.
- Assisted in development of a CRM and shipment management system for IMS International Shipping, a company active in the field of international shipping
- Lots of other (cool) projects for many customers.
Digipolis
Software Engineer / Consultant
https://digipolis.be
Digipolis is the company supplying all of the ICT solutions to the cities of Antwerp and Ghent. For them, I was asked to create a OCR Engine-As-A-Service which various parties/services could use to extract text from images.
Tools used: Python, RQ, Docker, Tesseract, Flask, Bamboo
Tools used: Python, RQ, Docker, Tesseract, Flask, Bamboo
November Five
Serverside Developer / Consultant
https://novemberfive.co
November Five is a company specialized in the creation of digital products and experiences. I was brought in as a serverside developer to build the M2M integration between Telenet Group/Base and Spotify, but I ended up staying for a few more projects due to the amazing environment and colleagues.
Highlights
-
Development of M2M integration between Telenet Group/Base and Spotify.
Tools used: PHP, Symfony, Jenkins CI, Vagrant, MySQL, memcached, PHPUnit, Spotify Web API, Spotify OAuth API, Spotify Partner API, MyBase API
See also: https://www.base.be/en/private/our-offer/options/spotify/register-your-spotify-premium-account.html
-
Server-side development of Pulse for SD Worx, a conversational employee satisfaction analytics platform.
Tools used: PHP, Symfony, Jenkins CI, Vagrant, MySQL, PHPUnit
See also: https://datanews.knack.be/ict/nieuws/burn-out-voorkomen-daar-is-een-app-voor/article-normal-771165.html
-
Server-side development of Gorilla, a standalone, cloud-native pricing and quoting engine for B2B energyproviders.
Tools used: Python, Django, Jenkins CI, DynamoDB, AWS S3, AWS SQS, AWS API Gateway, AWS Cognito, pipenv, tox
See also: https://gorilla.novemberfive.co
Lokale Politie Antwerpen
Software Engineer / Consultant
https://www.politieantwerpen.be/
Developed a track & trace and reporting application suite for Lokale Politie Antwerpen, the Antwerp Police Department. This included developing various components such as a REST API, a front-end client, a report builder, hardware communication gateways, real-time message processing systems, (reverse) geocoding services and more.
Tools used: PHP, Python, Javascript, Symfony, AngularJS, MongoDB, Nominatim, Overpass, Graphhopper, MySQL, PHPUnit, Jenkins CI, Docker, RabbitMQ, Apache Storm, Streamparse, crossbar.io
See also: http://www.gva.be/cnt/dmf20170207_02717317/antwerpse-politie-neemt-nieuwe-combi-s-in-gebruik
Tools used: PHP, Python, Javascript, Symfony, AngularJS, MongoDB, Nominatim, Overpass, Graphhopper, MySQL, PHPUnit, Jenkins CI, Docker, RabbitMQ, Apache Storm, Streamparse, crossbar.io
See also: http://www.gva.be/cnt/dmf20170207_02717317/antwerpse-politie-neemt-nieuwe-combi-s-in-gebruik
Sportoase NV
Software Engineer / Consultant
https://sportoase.be/
Developed a multi-tenant Point Of Sale (POS) and accountancy application suite for Sportoase, a chain ofsports and fitness centers, along with cash register hardware.
Tools used: PHP, Javascript, Python, Symfony, AngularJS, MySQL, PHPUnit, Jenkins CI, Ansible
Tools used: PHP, Javascript, Python, Symfony, AngularJS, MySQL, PHPUnit, Jenkins CI, Ansible
European Datacomm NV
Software Engineer / Consultant
https://www.europeandatacomm.com/
For European Datacomm, a provider and developer of track & trace applications, I was asked to implement both the front-end and the back-end of a track & trace application suite, as well as a full-featured REST api.
This application had to consist of:
Tools used: PHP, Symfony, RabbitMQ, MongoDB, MySQL, Backbone.js, OpenLayers, OAuth2
This application had to consist of:
- A user management component complete with a custom group, role and permission-based access controlsystem for the rest of the application.
- An asset, contact and contract management component.
- An incident handling component, intended for use by call centers/incident handling centers, for emergency assistance. The focus of this component was on receiving real-time updates from GPS transmitters.
- A fleet management component, intended for use by customers. This component contains many reporting features, such as a report builder and scheduler.
- A full-featured REST API behind OAuth2 authentication, with per-user client management. This API provides nearly all of the functionality the web interface provides, and is used primarily by external services and mobile applications.
Tools used: PHP, Symfony, RabbitMQ, MongoDB, MySQL, Backbone.js, OpenLayers, OAuth2
Kras Jeugdwerk vzw
Software Engineer / Consultant
https://krasjeugdwerk.be/
Kras jeugdwerk, an organization focusing on enriching the daily lives of children based in Antwerp, Belgium, came to us intending to replace their current application for managing not only the members and activities oftheir organization, but also the application for keeping track of their employees, their timesheets, leaves ofabsence, etc.
An application was developed consisting of two primary components:
Tools used: PHP, Symfony, MySQL
An application was developed consisting of two primary components:
- A mostly CRUD-based component allowing them to manage organization branches, members and activities, as well as allowing them to create reports based on the aforementioned.
- A timesheeting component which allows employees to easily register and manage their schedules, leaves ofabsence, holidays, etc.
Tools used: PHP, Symfony, MySQL
Werkhaven Antwerpen vzw
Software Engineer / Consultant
For Werkhaven Antwerpen vzw, a non-profit organization whose mission is to help employ minorities, I created an application for managing employee schedules, timesheets, leaves of absence, holidays and the like. The web equivalent of a punch clock was also involved.
Tools used: PHP, Symfony, MySQL
Tools used: PHP, Symfony, MySQL
ABS Creative
Software Engineer / Consultant
http://abscreativegroup.com
ABS Creative, part of the Wunderman Group, is a Brussels-based global healthcare agency that helps pharmaceutical and consumer healthcare companies drive business growth through digital marketing and customer engagement.
I was brought in to be the software engineer responsible for developing various applications.
I was brought in to be the software engineer responsible for developing various applications.
Highlights
- Took over development of Interactive Training Tool, ABS' next-generation training application aimed at enterprise customers, as well as implementing a message exchange server and an API for said application.
- Further developed MyMSD, a portal for medical professionals and particulars conceived by ABS for MSD, a large pharmaceutical company.
- Created a technical datasheet templating and management system for ATG, a safety glove manufacturer.
- Blew new life into an outdated eCommerce platform by rewriting it using more modern tools.
ContactSkills
Junior Software Developer
http://contactskills.be
ContactSkills (formerly "dsk") is a small, Belgian company that specializes in coaching, educating and certifying customer service representatives using their flagship product 'ContactSkills'. My task was to supplement the existing development team, and to expand the features of ContactSkills, tailoring it to suit the needs of their various customers.