About Me #
My name is Niklas Kunz. I’m available for consulting and contracting in the areas systems engineering, embedded (software) engineering, backend engineering, DevOps, and artificial intelligence.
On this page, you’ll find a brief introduction of myself. I’ll gladly provide a CV upon request, and if you want to know more about how I work, feel free to contact me!
Location #
Currently, I’m based in Tilburg (Netherlands), which is close to the technology region Brainport Eindhoven and enables me, due to its central location, to easily travel to clients in the Benelux states or Germany for on-site visits. Generally, I prefer working remotely, with remote work representing the majority of my previous work.
Working #
I’m eager to learn new things, constantly venture out into new areas, and hold an analytical mindset in my work, meaning that I systematically try to get to the bottom of things. I strive for clear communication and can effectively convey technical concepts on a high level in speech and writing. Besides that, I value knowledge management and documentation as key aspects of the long-term success of projects.
While I appreciate the freedom of independently finding elegant and sustainable solutions to problems, I enjoy working in teams with creative and proactive individuals. The best and most striking ideas often emerge when ideas are freely exchanged and discussed.
A note about my work ethic in implementing solutions: Since code is read more often than it is written, I aim for a high degree of readability, follow language-specific best practices, and make use of architectural idioms. Version control and extensive commenting are essential for this.
Education #
I graduated in Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Tilburg (Netherlands). During my studies I was especially interested in Complex Systems, Systems Thinking, and Symbolic Reasoning, eventually leading me to a minor in Complex Systems at the Centre for Complex Systems Studies of Utrecht University (Netherlands). My thesis was titled Deep Generative Modelling for Population Synthesis in Participatory Climate Simulations and was written in the copan research group of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Germany).
Prior to my academic education, I participated in a local hackspace and attended events of the Chaos Computer Club, which were foundational to my interest in computing and taught me about information security.
Technologies #
Here you can find a list of technologies that I work with frequently. I assigned each technology an estimate of my proficiency in it, ranging from 1 to 10.
| Technology | Area | Proficiency |
|---|---|---|
| Arch Linux | Operating System | 9 |
| NixOS | Operating System | 8 |
| Yocto | Embedded | 7 |
| Docker | DevOps | 8 |
| Git | DevOps | 9 |
| GitHub Actions | DevOps | 9 |
| Jenkins | DevOps | 7 |
| GitLab CI/CD | DevOps | 7 |
| AWS EC2 | Cloud | 6 |
| AWS S3 | Cloud | 5 |
| AWS Lambda | Cloud | 5 |
| PostgreSQL | Databases | 5 |
| SQLite | Databases | 6 |
| TensorFlow | Machine Learning | 7 |
| Keras | Machine Learning | 7 |
| scikit-learn | Machine Learning | 8 |
| Phoenix Framework | Web Development | 8 |
| SASS | Web Development | 6 |
| ggplot2 | Data Science | 8 |
| dplyr | Data Science | 7 |
| matplotlib | Data Science | 6 |
| mypy | Python Development | 8 |
| blacken | Python Development | 9 |
Languages #
I work in many programming languages and would describe myself as language-agnostic, due to the numerous languages and paradigms that I’ve been exposed to over the years. I assigned each programming language an estimate of my proficiency, ranging from 1 to 10.
| Language | Proficiency |
|---|---|
| Rust | 9 |
| Python | 9 |
| Elixir | 8 |
| Lisp | 7 |
| C | 7 |
| R | 7 |
| C++ | 6 |
| Haskell | 5 |
| TypeScript | 5 |
| Zig | 5 |
| Prolog | 4 |
| Erlang | 2 |
Furthermore, here is a list of the natural languages that I speak:
- English (full professional proficiency)
- German (native speaker)
- Dutch (professional working proficiency)
- French (limited working proficiency)
Free Time #
In my free time, I like to go bouldering and climbing, make music, read philosophy, write, or go on walks with my (and my partner’s) dog Miła.