- B.Sc. (Hons), Computer Science, University of Cape Town
- 7+ years industry experience
- Currently the Head of Software Development at Sensor Networks
Henk van Jaarsveld is currently working with American publicly traded Internet domain registrar and web hosting company GoDaddy, and until recently served as the Head of Software Development at Sensor Networks, an information technology and services company based in Cape Town, South Africa. His expertise spans a multitude of areas from software development and technology-powered problem solving to strategic leadership.
Mr. van Jaarsveld holds an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in computer science with a focus on game design from the University of Cape Town. He was an early-stage core team member at WhereIsMyTransport, a tech startup that developed into the world’s foremost source of mobility data for emerging market cities. Mr. van Jaarsveld worked at the company for over six years, advancing from software engineer to research and development team lead and finally product strategist. His credits at WhereIsMyTransport include product owner of the digital signage management platform AppCampus (later renamed LiveSign), creator of the company’s initial Data Toolkit, and leading the development of statistical and machine learning algorithms to conduct transport network analysis, ETA forecasting, route matching, and transport network simulations.
Since 2019, Mr. van Jaarsveld has served as Head of Software Development at Sensor Networks, where he leads the technology teams while working closely with the business development and operations teams. He has extensive experience working with .NET Core, C#, Java, Node.js, Android, Kotlin, React, Angularjs, Typescript, and Kubernetes.
Mr. van Jaarsveld has spoken at and participated in technology forums and hackathons around the world, including AI Expo Africa, the ShiftSaigon Hackathon, and the Transform Nagpur Hackathon.
He enjoys teaching, especially “explaining technical details to non-technical people.” He encourages people of all educational/professional backgrounds to learn basic coding skills:
“Even if you don’t see yourself becoming a programmer, take the time to immerse yourself as one as you will inevitably work closely with programmers in most industries. Having some experience as a programmer will enhance your career. No matter what your passion is, web development will be able to enhance it. Learning how to code is an ‘in’ to any industry, it also makes you approach problems in a new way.”
Q&A with Henk
What do you enjoy most about your industry?
The people. Group work is difficult, having developers, designers, business analysts, marketing, and business all work together is what I enjoy. Technology is the glue that binds so many different departments together. Just building tech will make something faster, designing something with a cross-functional team can lead to novel products that fix a root cause (or sometimes remove a barrier that is no longer required).
Why did you decide to get involved with teaching and how do you continue to keep things fresh?
I have always enjoyed teaching. I remember vividly how I got involved in software development, my now brother-in-law taught me how to make silly games in Flash (I’m old) when I was a kid. That changed my life completely and I would love to be able to influence someone else in the same manner.
I constantly have side-projects (or games) that I work on. This is to keep my creativity going. I am a very curious person by nature, if I am not sure how something works, I generally try to recreate it for myself.
What are you most looking forward to about Career Semester this fall?
Meeting the students and seeing them grow. Share knowledge and insights, hopefully being able to help students map out their career goals.
How do you see your industry changing in the next year to five years? What skills will professionals need to hone?
A stronger desire to have good business analysts over developers will emerge as writing complex technical solutions are becoming simpler with the rise of no-code tools. Developers will be a lot more focused on writing business rules, and working closely with design to improve user experience.
What skills will Career Semester students have after graduating from your class?
- The ability to create responsive web applications.
- The confidence to continue learning.
- A good understanding and insight into how technology fits together to create complex platforms.
- Insights into the life of a software engineer, what it’s actually like working in tech.
- A bonus would be a career goal and a “clear” path on how to achieve it.
What’s one piece of advice that you have for the Career Semester class of 2020?
There is only one way to become a good developer, and that is to spend time writing software. Write as much code as you can, try to figure out why something is not working by googling, and ask as many questions as you can about the industry.
Even if you don’t see yourself becoming a programmer, take the time to immerse yourself as one as you will inevitably work closely with programmers in most industries. Having some experience as a programmer will enhance your career.
What reasons would you tell students to pursue a career in your industry
Find your passion, and pursue that with all you got. No matter what your passion is, web development will be able to enhance it. Learning how to code is an “in” to any industry, it also makes you approach problems in a new way.
What would students be surprised to learn about you?
I worked as a camp counselor in the US when I was 18.
