Curriculum Vitae–Steffen Nissen

Curriculum Vitae
Steffen Nissen
Address
Seoul, Korea
+82 (0)10-7226-8671


Personal Details
Date of birth: 2nd of November1977
Citizenship: Danish
Fluent languages: Danish, English

Profile
I am software developer at heart, who thrives on working in a highly professional environment, where you are constantly pushed to new limits. I have astrong theoretical background with a Master’s degree in Computer Science as well as more than ten years of software development experience. I am keen on accepting fresh challenges and adaptable to changing and dynamic environments. I have strong communication and presentation skills combined with an open minded nature and strong analytical capabilities.

I haveworked within such diverse fields as development of hospital monitoring software, game client-server development and financial software development, all fields, where quality, availability, performance and time-to-market is essential. During my education I have been focusing on mathematical challenging subjects such as algorithms, combinatorial optimization and artificial intelligence, where the latter have led to a highly successful Artificial Neural Network library ( which today is used in research, education and commercial applications around the world.

Extensive experience with Software Development:

  • C#.Net 3.5 with WCF, WPF, LINQ, LLBLGen Pro, NHibernate, StructureMap and Winforms
  • C++ with STL and Boost on the Windows and Linux platform
  • SQL and complex stored procedures and triggers in Oracle and other RDBMS
  • Java, PHP, Perl, C, Shell, XML and UML
  • Multithreaded Development (C++, C# and Java on Windows and Linux)
  • Performance Engineering in Code and RDBMS
  • Distributed computing using TCP/IP, MQ and Web services
  • OOA and OOD using Design and Architecture Patterns
  • Test Driven Development using Unit Testing and Continuous Integration

Extensive experience with all aspects of Project and Team Management:

  • Agile Methods and Scrum
  • Estimation and Planning
  • Risk Management
  • Test and Quality Assurance
  • Team Management
  • Customer Relations

Career History

Senior Software Engineer| Zenitum

Sep. 2010 –present

Developing image based 3D reconstruction solution as part of an R&D project. The development is done in C++ and C#.Net on the windows platform, in a highly professional environment, where the ability to comprehend complicated problem domains is valued very high.

Senior Developer & Project/Team Manager| BankInvest

FEB. 2005 –AUG. 2010

Working with development of line-of-business application, supporting the full end-to-end trade flow from the portfolio manager to the accounting department. Software development based on design patterns, service oriented architecture and test driven development using C#.Net and C++ in combination with the Oracle database and PL/SQL.

In this period I have worked on several different software systems, including client, server and integration systems. Much of this development has been focused on the BankInvest internally developed trading and portfolio management platform (C++ and Oracle), the SWIFT integration and parsing system (C++ and Oracle) and the surrounding systems (C#.Net / C++ and Oracle).

Since 2007 I have also worked as a Project and Team Manager for a small team of three software developers, using agile methods and scrum. The largest project handled in this period was a calculation engine for calculating the Net Asset Value of all the company's portfolios in real time (equities, bonds, FX and derivatives), along with an integrated validation system checking the validity of the underlying data. This product was a distributed multithreaded server application which was required to run 24x7. The application was written in C#.Net 3.5 using the Oracle database.

At BankInvest I have worked closely with all levels of the organization from Portfolio Managers, Traders and Fund Managers to Operations, Accounting and external partners such as software vendors and custodian banks. While doing this I have gained an insight into how an asset manager functions and the demands that are put on the line-of-business applications. This business insight and thorough system knowledge, is put to use in the latest project where I am implementing Charles River as the primary Compliance, Portfolio Management and Trading platform at BankInvest.

Chief Developer | Softman/PH Ware

AUG. 2001 –JAN. 2005

Working in all phases of the software development process of rich websites and client-server applications with programming in C++/Java/PHP and SQL, primarily on the Linux platform. The websites developed in this period was and The most recent project was GammonGame, where I was the Chief developer. This project included client-server programming, with a C++ game server connected to a MySQL database, communicating with Java clients. I was the sole developer of the server software, where one of the key features was the ability to restart the server, without interruptions to running games. Furthermore I was in charge of maintaining the company's web-servers which were running Debian Linux.

Software Engineer | Math-Tech

May 1999 –July 2001

Development of a large multi threaded project for use in central surveillance of patients attached to bedside patient monitors. Implementation was done in C++ with the use of STL and Qt on the Linux platform. Extensive testing was used in this project since the system should run 24 hours a day all year round and since failure to report alarms from the patient monitors was not an option.

Software Engineer | Context

JUNE 1998 – APRIL 1999

I have been working on a multitude of smaller and larger projects, in all phases of the software development process, from analysis and estimation to implementation, testing and integration. Implementation in the languages C++, PHP and Perl using MySQL and DB2 databases, on the Windows, Linux, AIX and DOS platforms.

Education

Master’s Degree in Computer Science (2007)| The University of Copenhagen, Department of Computer Science

During my education I have specialized in artificial intelligence, algorithms, optimization, performance engineeringand software development and was involved in the development of The Copenhagen STL ( During an undergradalgorithmic course I won first prize in a competition to make the fastest combinatorial optimization implementation of the travelling salesman problem. I participated twice in theDTU RoboCup, with a robot doing real-time image-processing on a Compaq iPAQ, andthe need for fast artificial intelligence on the underpowered 206MHz iPAQ, led me to develop the open source Fast Artificial Neural Network Library ( which today is used in research, education and commercial applications around the world.

My master thesis concerned advanced reinforcement learning in combination with cascading neural networks, where a computer program learned to play backgammon by continuously playing against itself. The thesis was awarded with a perfect grade of 12 (A+).

Thesis available at:

Mathematical High School (1996)| Ishøj Amtsgymnasium

Danish mathematical oriented high school (gymnasium).

COURSES AND CONFERENCES

Besides the university degree, I have taken a number of courses within Software Patterns, SOA, BizTalk, Agile Methods, ScrumMaster Certification, Project Management and Financial Software.

Additional Achievements

In 2005 I wrote an article introducing my artificial neural network library, which was published in Software2.0 and translated into three languages (

In 2007 I was mentor for a group of students who participated in the Google Summer of Code 2007 program, and made projects based on my neural network library.

RECOMMENDATIONS AND REFERENCES

References and diplomas are available upon request.

Recommendations from LinkedIn (

“I've had the pleasure of working with Steffen for a little more than two years in BankInvest. At that time Steffen hold the role as developer. Steffen is very bright and is among the best developers I have ever worked with. He is very clear focused and good at finding pragmatic solutions to complex problems. Steffen is always keen on taking up new challenges and always embraces changes with a positive mind. An example is that Steffen took the role as Kaizen coach for group of rather sceptic developers. He actually did a really good job because of the enthusiasm he put into the task but also because Steffen refuses to do a bad job, as a rule of life. Steffen has a balanced and very friendly nature and I am glad to give him my absolute best recommendations.”January 30, 2009

Martin Buhl Svanum, Project Manager , BankInvest
worked directly with Steffen at BankInvest

“As a Senior Project Manager Steffen and I have worked together on actual projects as well as the overall development and implementation of BankInvest project methodologies. Steffen is a bright project manager with strong analytical skills, a pleasant and open-minded being who pays attention to knowledge and experiences he might learn and benefit from. Never letting the ego get in his way, he has a natural authority and the ability to make project participants feel safe.”January 26, 2009

Søren F. Stryhn, Senior Project Manager, Business Controlling , BankInvest
worked with Steffen at BankInvest

“Steffen is the person who can link divisions together to get the best possible result out of an IT project. It is my belief, that it is only when you put a personality type as Steffen in charge of a project, that you will get the high degree of productivity out of a project. And in the end that is what IT budgets is all about.”January 24, 2009

Kenneth Hallum Knudsen, Senior Fund Manager , BankInvest
worked with Steffen at BankInvest

“I have had the pleasure of being responsible of several projects where Steffen was project manager. Steffen is good at organizing his projects making sure that everybody involved knows what are expected from them. He has a good understanding of the importance of balancing the needs and whishes from the business with the time and recourses available. Steffen is also good at keeping the steering group for his projects in the loop thereby making such group able to adjust the priorities if there is a need for that. This means that the projects Steffen was in charge of always have delivered strong results. In addition to the work within the framework of formal projects, I have also done a lot of ad hoc work together with Steffen. In this, he also showed that, he is able to find the right solutions on the problem on hand even though things sometimes got quite hectic. Steffen is good at keeping the focus on the issues that needs to be solved and in a kind manner, he gets the job done. I am convinced that Steffen will always be a strong asset for the organization he is working in and therefore I give Steffen my highest recommendations. Mikkel”January 23, 2009

Mikkel Kroeyer, Head of Operations and Operational Risk , BankInvest
managed Steffen indirectly at BankInvest