WIMTACH Student Profile: Jaeuk Kim

Throughout his time with WIMTACH, Jaeuk Kim has been a valued team member and an essential contributor to an industry partner’s project. He came to WIMTACH looking for a co-op placement, mandatory in his Software Engineering Artificial Intelligence program, without many expectations. Before long, Jaeuk began learning new skills every day, evolving his software engineering abilities to a professional level. “WIMTACH experience was vital in my growth as a professional developer,” he said.

Within a team of like-minded peers, Jaeuk began work on a project in collaboration with an innovative organization aiming to inspire the new social media generation. This project challenged Jaeuk, yet he persisted, looking to grow and gain something from each task. In collaboration with other student researchers, Jaeuk was developing a mobile app for an industry partner and specifically worked on the front-end development of the Android version. However, to effectively collaborate with the rest of the team, he had to gain basic knowledge of back-end development. “I had to use new software like Kotlin and AWS (Amazon Web Services), which is commonplace for back-end developers but was new for me,” he said. “I learned a lot from my team members and started understanding the nature of server-side programming.”

Crucially for Jaeuk, upon joining WIMTACH, he was given an opportunity to work using the SCRUM framework. Working in a SCRUM team enabled him to polish his communication and teamwork skills while gaining experience vital for his future employment. The independent nature of completing tasks in a SCRUM team became crucial for Jaeuk to feel comfortable completing his tasks without continuous oversight. “As time went on, I grew to become more independent in my work but more collaborating in major tasks,” he said. Moreover, the regular team meetings with the client enabled Jaeuk to practice his client relations skills, which are key for a successful professional in any industry. During such meetings, Jaeuk would present his work to the client, answer any questions and accept valuable feedback that he would later implement. “[Client meetings] helped me to take critique as what it is – a chance to improve,” he said.

Working on the project at WIMTACH had a major long-term impact on Jaeuk as he became especially passionate about Android mobile app development. He fondly recalls the research he had to conduct for certain assignments and how enthusiastically he learned more about the niche specifics of mobile development. “The nature of practical learning, which is the core of WIMTACH, is that it is very effective and extremely fun,” Jaeuk said. “As I had my own tasks to complete, it was my job to conduct the necessary research and implement the new knowledge I obtained into my work.” Through learning and immediately implementing the newly found skills, Jaeuk quickly grew as an Android mobile app developer but also as an effective specialist. “The full credit for my skills in mobile development goes to WIMTACH,” he added.

Jaeuk is terrifically proud of his work and happy to see the app he helped develop being released into the market very soon. “One day, I want to download [the app] and know that I helped make it happen,” he said. Moreover, the experience, new knowledge and networking opportunities that Jaeuk has gained during his co-op at WIMTACH can not be underrated. Due to his experience at WIMTACH, he excelled as a mobile developer and plans to make it his career, with a skill set enabling him to grow and become a full-stack developer. Within the next five years, Jaeuk plans to grow as a software engineering specialist and become a back-end mobile app development expert. “I want to be able to contribute to projects that make an impact on users and the mobile app industry,” he said. As Jaeuk is already on his path to graduation, he is fully prepared for life after college and has the necessary experience making him a highly lucrative employee. “WIMTACH is the right place for you if you want to become a better professional every day,” he said.

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