OpenMined Featured Contributor: September 2024

Where are you based?

I am based in the Netherlands, somewhere in the Randstad area.

What do you do (i.e. studying, working, etc.)?

I work as a Software Engineer at OpenMined.

What are your specialties (i.e. Python development, Javascript development, community organization, etc.)?

I specialize in software development but enjoy solving problems with technology overall. Over the years, I went from  working with transistors to LLM-based text processing pipelines. Currently, I'm focused on PySyft and Python. I practice PCB design and electronics in general in my free time.

How and when did you originally come across OpenMined?

I first learned about OpenMined a few years ago from a colleague while developing a privacy-oriented AI platform. It  was also my introduction to Federated Learning and Differential Privacy.

What was the first thing you started working on within OpenMined?

The first thing I worked on involved syncing custom API endpoints between Syft servers. As a newcomer, it was relatively challenging for me, because I had to understand the internals of two major features. I still remember the
moment when everything finally clicked.

And what are you working on now?

We’re working on a new database layer for Syft to enable better queries with less overhead. This will give developers more freedom in designing the upcoming features and make the product faster. It’s been a fun project with the team,  and we hope to merge it soon! I can’t wait to build new features on top of it.

What would you say to someone who wants to start contributing?

For developers, I would suggest going through the tutorial notebooks to get a feeling of Syft. Then, I would check out some open/closed PRs to figure out what the team is working on and what interests me. After that, I think it is better to check with one of the team members on our Slack or propose and idea through GitHub issues.

Please recommend one interesting book, podcast or resource to the OpenMined community.

I really recommend following Andreas Kling and his youtube channel. He is developing a browser from scratch, and he has great tips about software development.