Summer at Debricked: Oliver’s story

Hey there Oliver, how’s it going?

Pretty good! 

How did you come to hear about Debricked?

I had heard about Debricked through school before applying for the internship. I have classes with Martin Hell, who is a co-founder, so I had definitely heard the name before. Also, I’ve always been interested in security, so when the opportunity presented itself it was an easy choice 🙂

What’s your background?

I study Information and Communication Engineering Technologies (InfoCom) and specialize in security. InfoCom is a bit like computer science, but it focuses more on networks. I chose it because it had the security specialization, which seemed right up my alley. I had never really programmed much before school, except for maybe some javascript. So coding was pretty new to me at first.  

I’ve always been interested in engineering, even since I was a kid. I started studying mechanical engineering but didn’t find the courses that interesting. The only thing I enjoyed was the programming. That’s when I started looking for something else, and found InfoCom. 

How much did you know about open source before starting?

Quite a lot. We have talked a lot about it in school. We even had a course about the economics of software development where we talked a lot about it. 

Tell us a little about the internship and some of your tasks!

My internship is in the development department, so obviously I write a lot of code, hehe. I’ve been doing a lot of different tasks, but among others I’ve dealt with data bases. I’ve learnt how backend communicates with frontend, how information is being presented in design and how to make it look pretty. The biggest task we’ve taken on is the comment section in the tool, which us interns have worked on together. That has been a lot of fun!

Have there been any challenges? 

Well, the hardest part is getting into a new concept. Understanding how things are built and how it’s expected to look in the end is always a journey when you start working on something new. It’s always nice when you’ve been in it for a while, get out of the learning phase and actually can start solving problems. 

What’s your plan after the internship ends?

I’m gonna try to have some vacation, and then I have a few assignments to finish before school starts in the fall. Then it’s time for my master thesis, yay!

After I finish my studies I hope to be able to fullfil my dream of working in the Norwegian Intelligence Service. It’s really the boiling point when it comes to security, so that would be my ultimate goal.

After a few weeks at Debricked, what is your impression?

Off the top of my head, I noticed that the people working here are super invested in the product and really believe in it. For most people here it’s not just a job, they really put their heart and soul into the product. It’s very inspiring. 

Lastly, do you have any summer plans?

Not really, I’m going to take it very easy. I have some studying to do, and when the borders to Norway (hopefully) open up I hope to be able to go there to see my family. 

We wish Oliver good luck with his master thesis and hope that he soon gets his family vacation.