Hi, My name is Salome

My journey into programming started in 7th grade, when I was introduced to coding through CodeHS. My main responsibility at the time was controlling a virtual dog named Karel by writing JavaScript to move it around and collect or place balls. It felt more like solving small puzzles than actual programming, but somewhere between guiding a dog through a grid and debugging why it refused to move, I realized this was something I genuinely enjoyed. That small introduction ended up shaping the direction of everything that followed.

I later continued this path during my Computer Engineering studies at San Diego State University, where I built a strong foundation. However, I quickly realized that simply attending university wasn't giving me enough exposure to the kind of work I wanted to do. Even then, I could see that the real industry often looked very different from what we were being taught in class.

So, during my freshman year, I enrolled in an iOS bootcamp. After successfully completing it, I began working at Space International, a digital bank in Georgia, as an iOS developer. For almost three years, I worked in an Agile environment, gaining hands-on experience building real-world applications and collaborating closely with cross-functional teams.

After finishing my bachelor's, I realized that opportunities in embedded systems in Georgia were limited. I had discovered a real passion for microcontrollers, combining coding with the ability to see tangible results doubles, if not triples, the joy of programming. As a typical joyfulness seeker, I wanted to move into this field. Since Georgia didn't yet offer a bright future in embedded systems, I applied for a German DAAD scholarship and moved to Germany to pursue a master's in Embedded Computing Systems, fully diving into the field and leaving my iOS developer career behind.

During my master's, I started working in the real-time systems department, which turned out to be the most joyful and challenging environment I had experienced so far. I was genuinely excited to attend the lectures, as they introduced concepts I had barely heard of during my bachelor's. Here, I began working on meaningful autonomous railway systems from scratch, combining both hardware and software in real-world applications.

Due to my experience from my bachelor's, I was still sure something was not right and that people in the research area were way too separated from actual industry. That is why I insisted on doing my master's thesis in an industrial environment, even though it might mean signing additional confidentiality agreements. This led me to start writing my thesis at ABB AG in Mannheim on “Performance Analysis of the Embassy Framework for Industrial Automation Applications in Rust”

Having finished my master's in Germany, I am now looking for an embedded developer role where I can actually use what I have built across both worlds. I do not claim to have closed the gap. But I have lived on both sides of it, and I know what it looks like from each shore.

That, I think, is worth something.

And if you are wondering how I feel about the current state of things:

“Researchers write papers that only other researchers read. Industry ships products no one in research studies. Both complain loudly about this (at conferences, naturally). Georgians diagnosed it centuries ago: ხიდჩატეხილობა (broken bridge). Nobody budgeted to fix it. But someone definitely wrote a paper on why.”

No researchers or product managers were hurt in the making of this quote. Probably.