Curriculum vitae

About

Maurits H. Silvis

Maurits Silvis

Software Engineer | Computational Scientist | PhD

As a software engineer with a background in computational science and physics, I love solving complex challenges using code.

I recently started as a back-end developer at opwoco, an IT service provider specializing in creating mobile apps. Previously, I worked as a software engineer at beQualified, where I developed, maintained and tested a test automation framework for web applications. I also obtained a PhD in mechanical engineering, for which I improved the accuracy and fidelity of numerical predictions of turbulent fluid flows.

Personally, I am an independent, analytical thinker skilled at breaking down complex problems. I also have a keen eye for detail and an aptitude for keeping a high-level overview. As such, my work is accurate, structured and clear. Driven by curiosity and the desire to learn new skills, I thrive in a helpful, collegial team.

Moving forward, I would like to contribute to creating simulation software for high-tech, deep-tech or engineering applications.

Experience

  • opwoco GmbH

    • Schöppingen, Germany
    • Hybrid
    Full-time
    2024/01 – present

    Technical skills
    • JavaScript
    • TypeScript
    • NestJS
    • Jest
    • TypeORM
    • SQL
    Tools
    • Git
    • GitLab
    • Node.js
    • Docker
    • MySQL
    • WebStorm
    • ClickUp

  • beQualified GmbH

    • Frankfurt, Germany
    • Remote
    Part-time
    2020/02 – 2022/03
    2 years and 2 months

    Remote
    2020/10 – 2022/03
    Responsibilities
    • Used Java to develop and maintain a Selenium- and Cucumber-based test automation framework for web applications.
    • Ensured the software quality of the framework by creating unit, integration and end-to-end tests using JUnit and Gherkin.
    • Deployed the test automation framework for use on a customer project and assisted test automation engineers with its usage.
    • Mentored and assisted colleagues and students.
    • Interviewed potential new employees and took part in making hiring decisions.
    Key achievements
    • Implemented a plugin system using Java modules and the Java service loader.
    • Loosened the coupling between different system parts using the command pattern.
    • Introduced web pages and automated end-to-end tests to verify all Cucumber step implementations.
    • Released several versions of the test automation framework for use on a customer project.
    Technical skills
    • Java 8, 11
    • JUnit5
    • Selenium WebDriver
    • Cucumber
    • Gherkin
    • HTML
    • JavaScript
    • CSS
    Tools
    • Git
    • GitLab
    • Maven
    • Bash
    • Jenkins
    • IntelliJ IDEA
    • Jira

    Remote
    2021/08 – 2022/03
    Responsibilities
    • Organized, prepared and led scrum meetings.
    • Planned the implementation of new features.
    • Wrote and refined user stories and epics.
    • Managed and prioritized the product backlog.
    • Tracked project progress and reported it to the management.
    Key achievements
    • Stabilized the agile process by introducing regular scrum meetings.
    • Improved user story quality by setting up refinement meetings.
    • Improved software integrity by emphasizing the importance of tests.
    • Supported the team in improving its productivity.
    • Created a project overview and documented workflows.
    Keywords
    • Agile
    • Scrum
    Tools
    • Jira

    Remote
    2020/04 – 2021/02
    Responsibilities
    • Created and maintained automated tests for a customer's web application using Cucumber, Selenium WebDriver and Java.
    • Executed automated smoke and regression tests using Jenkins and BrowserStack.
    • Analyzed test results using the ReportPortal.
    • Reported bugs in the customer product.
    Key achievements
    • Fixed a bug in an open-source dependency.
    • Used Python to parse and create summaries of test results.
    Technical skills
    • Java 8, 11
    • Selenium WebDriver
    • Cucumber
    • Gherkin
    • Python 3
    Tools
    • Git
    • GitLab
    • GitHub
    • Jenkins
    • BrowserStack
    • ReportPortal
    • Bash
    • Maven
    • IntelliJ IDEA
    • Jira

    • Frankfurt, Germany
    • Hybrid
    2020/02 – 2020/03
    Responsibilities
    • Created a single-page web application using React and TypeScript.
    • Created and customized React components.
    • Adapted component styling using CSS and SCSS.
    Technical skills
    • React
    • JavaScript
    • TypeScript
    • CSS
    • SCSS
    • Bootstrap
    • HTML
    Tools
    • Git
    • GitLab
    • Node.js
    • Bash
    • Visual Studio Code
    • Jira

  • University of Groningen

    Groningen, The Netherlands
    Full-time
    2013/09 – 2020/10
    7 years and 2 months

    Full-time
    2013/09 – 2020/10
    Responsibilities
    • Conducted scientific research in the field of computational fluid dynamics, at the interface of mathematics, physics and engineering.
    • Maintained and extended fluid simulation software written in Fortran and MATLAB.
    • Performed numerical simulations of turbulent fluid flows on high-performance computing clusters.
    • Disseminated research results in scientific publications and during conferences.
    • Supervised students during their final research projects and taught (computer) practicals and tutorials.
    Key achievements
    • Managed several research projects, including an international collaboration involving 6 researchers from 3 different universities.
    • Published 5 first-author scientific papers in peer-reviewed international journals and conference proceedings.
    • Presented research results during 5 national and 10+ international conferences, workshops and meetings.
    • Acquired $12,000+ in funding to attend international conferences, workshops and summer schools.
    • Created an open-source toolbox for the construction and assessment of turbulence models using MATLAB.
    • Improved the accuracy and fidelity of numerical predictions of turbulent fluid flows.
    Transferable skills
    • Project management
    • Writing
    • Presenting
    • Supervising
    • Teaching
    • Science communication
    Technical skills
    • MATLAB
    • Fortran
    • Mathematica
    • LaTeX
    • C++
    Tools
    • Bash
    • Git
    • GitHub
    • Bitbucket

    Part-time
    2014/07 – 2016/07
    Responsibilities

    Supervised students during their final research projects.

    Projects
    • Bachelor research project in applied mathematics
      2016/03 – 2016/07

      “Assessing turbulence models for large-eddy simulation using exact solutions to the Navier-Stokes equations” by Daniel Ward

    • Master research project in applied mathematics
      2014/07 – 2016/05

      “A Family of Orthogonalised Nonlinear LES Models Based on the Velocity Gradient: Discretisation and Analysis” by Ronald Remmerswaal

    Co-advisor

    Prof. Roel Verstappen

    Part-time
    2015/01 – 2016/06
    Responsibilities

    Taught (computer) practicals and tutorials for mathematics and physics students.

    Courses
    • Numerical Mathematics
    • Partial Differential Equations
    Course details
    • Numerical Mathematics 1 for Mathematicians and Physicists
      2016/02 – 2016/06
    • Partial Differential Equations for Mathematicians
      2016/01 – 2016/06
    • Numerical Mathematics 1 for Mathematicians and Physicists
      2015/03 – 2015/07
    • Partial Differential Equations for Mathematicians
      2015/01 – 2015/05

  • Technical University of Darmstadt

    Darmstadt, Germany
    Part-time
    2019/02 – 2020/01
    1 year

    Responsibilities

    Conducted scientific research at the Chair of Fluid Dynamics (FDY) of the Technical University of Darmstadt.

    Project

    Symmetry-preserving discretization of partial differential equations

    Advisor

    Prof. Martin Oberlack

  • Stanford University

    Stanford, California
    Full-time
    2016/06 – 2016/07
    1 month

    Responsibilities

    Took part in the 2016 CTR Summer Program of the Center for Turbulence Research (CTR) at Stanford University.

    Project

    Exploring nonlinear subgrid-scale models and new characteristic length scales for large-eddy simulation

    Advisor

    Prof. Roel Verstappen

    Collaborators
    • Xavier Trias (Technical University of Catalonia)
    • Jane Bae (Stanford University)
    • Mahdi Abkar (Stanford University)
    • Adrián Lozano-Durán (Stanford University)

  • Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics

    Los Angeles, California
    Full-time
    2014/09, 2014/11
    2 months

    Responsibilities

    Took part in the 2014 Mathematics of Turbulence long program of the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

    Project

    The higher-order gradient model for large-eddy simulation of turbulent flows

    Advisors
    • Prof. Roel Verstappen
    • Prof. Arthur Veldman

  • University of Groningen

    Groningen, The Netherlands
    Part-time
    2008/09 – 2011/07
    2 years and 11 months

    Part-time
    2008/09 – 2011/07
    Responsibilities

    Taught tutorials for mathematics, physics, chemistry, and industrial engineering and management students.

    Courses
    • Linear Algebra
    • Calculus
    • Mathematics Refresher Course
    Course details
    • Linear Algebra for Industrial Engineering and Management
      2011/04 – 2011/07
    • Calculus 1 for Mathematicians, Physicists and Chemists
      2010/09 – 2010/11
    • Linear Algebra for Industrial Engineering and Management
      2010/04 – 2010/07
    • Calculus for Industrial Engineering and Management
      2009/11 – 2010/02
    • Mathematics Refresher Course for Mathematicians, Physicists and Chemists
      2009/09 – 2009/10
    • Calculus for Industrial Engineering and Management
      2008/11 – 2009/02
    • Mathematics Refresher Course for Mathematicians, Physicists and Chemists
      2008/09 – 2008/10

    Part-time
    2009/03 – 2010/06
    Responsibilities

    Taught physics at the exam training for secondary-school pupils.

Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy – PhD, Mechanical Engineering

    University of Groningen
    Groningen, The Netherlands
    2013/09 – 2020/10

    Thesis

    Physics-based turbulence models for large-eddy simulation: Theory and application to rotating turbulent flows

    Department

    Bernoulli Institute for Mathematics, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence

    Research group

    Computational Mechanics & Numerical Mathematics

    Advisors

    • Prof. Roel Verstappen
    • Prof. Arthur Veldman

  • Master of Science – MSc, Theoretical Physics

    University of Groningen
    Groningen, The Netherlands
    2010/09 – 2012/08

    Thesis

    Signatures of exciton-phonon coupling in linear absorption spectra of molecular aggregates: A polaron transformation approach

    Department

    Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials (ZIAM)

    Research group

    Theory of Condensed Matter

    Advisors

    • Erik Bloemsma
    • Prof. Jasper Knoester

    Distinction

    Cum laude (with honor)

  • Bachelor of Science – BSc, Physics

    University of Groningen
    Groningen, The Netherlands
    2007/09 – 2010/08

    Thesis

    A quaternion formulation of the Dirac equation

    Department

    Center for Theoretical Physics

    Research group

    Theoretical High-Energy Physics

    Advisor

    Prof. Mees de Roo

    Distinction

    Cum laude (with honor)

Skills

  • Transferable skills

    • Project management
    • Writing
    • Presenting
    • Supervising
    • Teaching
    • Science communication

  • Technical skills

    Back-end development

    • JavaScript
    • TypeScript
    • NestJS
    • Jest
    • TypeORM
    • SQL

    Application development

    • Java 8, 11, 17, 20, 21
    • JUnit5

    Test automation

    • Selenium WebDriver
    • Cucumber
    • Gherkin

    Scientific computing

    • MATLAB
    • Mathematica
    • Fortran

    Scripting

    • Python 3
    • pytest

    Web development

    • HTML
    • CSS
    • Bootstrap
    • JavaScript
    • PHP

    Text processing

    • LaTeX

    Other

    • C++

  • Tools

    Back-end development

    • Node.js
    • MySQL

    Version control

    • Git
    • GitLab
    • GitHub
    • Bitbucket

    Build tools

    • Gradle
    • Maven
    • Poetry

    Command-line tools

    • Bash

    Continuous integration

    • Jenkins

    Test automation

    • BrowserStack
    • ReportPortal

    Integrated development environments

    • IntelliJ IDEA
    • WebStorm
    • PyCharm
    • Visual Studio Code

    Project management

    • Jira
    • ClickUp

    Scripting

    • Jupyter Notebook

    Other

    • Docker

  • Languages

    • Dutch
    • English
    • German

Accomplishments

  • Certificates

    Java
    Java Developer
    JetBrains Academy
    2022/10 – 2023/01
    • 10 finished projects
    • 260+ studied topics
    • 2600+ solved problem
    Java Core
    JetBrains Academy
    2022/10 – 2022/12
    • 9 finished projects
    • 270+ studied topics
    • 2700+ solved problems
    Introduction to Java
    JetBrains Academy
    2021/04 – 2022/02
    • 6 finished projects
    • 100+ studied topics
    • 1100+ solved problems
    Java for Programmers
    Codecademy
    2021/03
    • 1 finished project
    • 23 studied topics
    Learn Java
    Codecademy
    2020/02
    • 13 finished projects
    • 18 studied topics
    • 12 completed quizzes
    Python
    Introduction to Python
    JetBrains Academy
    2023/04
    • 4 finished projects
    • 50+ studied topics
    • 600+ solved problems
    Learn Python 3
    Codecademy
    2019/10 – 2020/01
    • 13 finished projects
    • 15 studied topics
    • 12 completed quizzes
    Numerical Python
    Center for Information Technology (CIT)
    University of Groningen
    Groningen, The Netherlands
    2017/05
    0.5 ECTS
      Introduction to Python
      Center for Information Technology (CIT)
      University of Groningen
      Groningen, The Netherlands
      2017/05
      0.5 ECTS
        C/C++
        Learn C++
        Codecademy
        2019/11 – 2019/12
        • 12 finished projects
        • 19 studied topics
        • 8 completed quizzes
        Programming in C/C++
        Center for Information Technology (CIT)
        University of Groningen
        Groningen, The Netherlands
        2016/09 – 2017/04
        12 ECTS
          Introduction to Programming Using MPI
          Institute for Computational Science and Engineering (DCSE)
          Delft University of Technology
          Delft, The Netherlands
          2017/02
          0.5 ECTS
            Other
            Introduction to SQL
            JetBrains Academy
            2022/11
            • 25+ studied topics
            • 250+ solved problems
            Learn SQL
            Codecademy
            2019/10 – 2019/11
            • 4 finished projects
            • 5 studied topics
            • 4 completed quizzes

            Teaching for PhD Students
            Educational Support and Innovation (ESI),
            Graduate School of Science (GGSS)
            University of Groningen
            Groningen, The Netherlands
            2015/03 – 2015/06
            2 ECTS
              Introduction to Teaching
              Educational Support and Innovation (ESI),
              Graduate School of Science (GGSS)
              University of Groningen
              Groningen, The Netherlands
              2014/06
              1 ECTS

                Science Communication and Public Engagement
                Graduate School of Science (GGSS)
                University of Groningen
                Groningen, The Netherlands
                2017/09 – 2017/10
                1 ECTS
                  Popular Science Writing
                  Graduate School of Science (GGSS)
                  University of Groningen
                  Groningen, The Netherlands
                  2017/06
                  0.5 ECTS

                  • Awards

                    Doctor of Philosophy – PhD, Mechanical Engineering

                    • Became second runner-up for the 2020 Best Engineering Thesis Award (BETA) of the Groningen Engineering Center (GEC).
                    • Awarded participation in the 2018 conference on Symmetry and Computation.
                    • Awarded participation in the 2018 summer school on Symmetry, similarity and conservation laws in solid and fluid mechanics.
                    • Received the Young Scientist Award for the best oral presentation at the 2017 International Workshop on Complex Turbulent Flows.
                    • Awarded participation in the 2016 CTR Summer Program of the Center for Turbulence Research (CTR) at Stanford University for the research proposal entitled “Exploring nonlinear subgrid-scale models and new characteristic length scales for large-eddy simulation”.
                    • Awarded participation in the 2014 Mathematics of Turbulence long program of the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

                    Master of Science – MSc, Theoretical Physics

                    • Obtained the MSc degree in Theoretical Physics with the distinction cum laude (with honor).

                    Bachelor of Science – BSc, Physics

                    • Obtained the BSc degree in Physics with the distinction cum laude (with honor).
                    • Received the 2008 Holland Society Young Talent Incentive Award for the best first-year study results in Physics in the Netherlands.

                  • Software

                    See Software.

                  • Publications

                    See Publications.

                  • Presentations

                    See Presentations.