With his knowledge and experience, Tom Buers is a seasoned developer. But even a seasoned developer can sometimes be surprised by the capabilities of the technology they work with. This is especially true in the geospatial field, as Tom discovered after working at IMAGEM for over a year.
Discover, learn, apply
Tom had been a developer for over 10 years and was looking for something new, something more challenging. “That’s when I came IMAGEM ,” he says. “It was mainly because I knew my colleague Peter from my previous job. He told me about IMAGEM exactly what they do.” And that appealed to him, especially programming with Node.js, working with 3D, and the world of geospatials. “It was something I hadn’t done before.”
Many employers say they want what’s best for their employees. IMAGEM one of the few that actually demonstrates this.
— Tom Buers, Developer at IMAGEM.
“I was looking for something on a smaller scale, a place where I could continue learning and where there was also room for growth. A nice bonus is that I don’t have to travel far to work, since I live practically around the corner.” According to Tom, he’s given plenty of room to learn and explore: “That was mentioned at the start, but over time it’s become increasingly clear that that space really is there. That applies not only to programming but also to GIS. Because of that, you grow and learn quickly.” That’s still the case after more than a year.
He was able to get started very quickly, gain knowledge, and immediately contribute to the team, which made him feel as if he had been working here for years. “Many employers say they want what’s best for their employees. IMAGEM one of the few that truly demonstrates that.”
In addition to the space and flexibility to grow professionally, the diversity of the work is another plus for Tom. “Many projects are different, and that’s where the challenge lies. Right now, I’m mainly focused on research and development, analyzing data formats and figuring out how things work. Of course, I also handle routine product development. The knowledge gained from that helps with new assignments, because past work always leads to new insights. Everything you do benefits you in the future.”
In the development team, Tom and his colleagues Arjen, Walter, Cas, and Peter work in two-week sprints. He enjoys seeing how far they can get in the time they have, and according to Tom, they consistently accomplish a surprising amount in those two weeks.
Earlier, Walter talked about his work as a front-end developer. Read his story here.
Exploring Depth with 3D
3D was fairly uncharted territory for Tom, but that didn’t stop him. “It might not seem obvious, but it’s easy to step into the world of 3D. The world of 3D is still in its infancy within the geodomain. Because of this, everyone is enthusiastic and happy with what you’re doing with it. You’re pioneering and getting recognition for your work, because you’re working on something relatively new.”
It was also the first thing Tom tackled at IMAGEM. “I dove right in and started exploring how far we could take this.” The answer to that question is still unclear, because the possibilities seem endless. “The main question is: can my laptop handle it? And can the user’s system handle it? We haven’t hit that bottleneck yet, but the more data we have and the more realistic the environment needs to be, the faster that will happen.”
Keep surprising us
Although Tom has only been IMAGEM as a developer at IMAGEM for a year, he has already delivered many impressive projects for various clients. For example, he is very proud of the line-of-sight viewer: a tool that uses panoramic photos to place a point on a map, allowing the user to see what lies along that line of sight. This is particularly interesting for the defense sector and other public safety agencies, as it enables them to determine the positioning of personnel for a clear overview. “Not only was the client satisfied, but Hexagon (official software partner – ed.) was pleasantly surprised. They didn’t know such a creative application was possible with the panoramic photos. The software wasn’t intended to be used that way, so they were surprised by the possibilities of their own technology.”
Tom keeps discovering new possibilities in his work and never gets bored. “Every day, it feels like I’m a kid who gets to go back to the playground. I get to tinker, do things, and figure out what’s possible. It doesn’t feel like work; it feels like having fun.”
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