Jaan Tollander de Balsch


Problem-solving with computational methods and software engineering.


Education

2018 - 2023
MSc in Computer Science, Aalto University
Track: Algorithms, Logic, and Computation
Master’s Thesis: Monitoring parallel file system usage in a high-performance computer cluster
2014 - 2018
BSc in Applied Mathematics, Aalto University
Minor: Computer Science
Bachelor’s Thesis: On the Pointwise Convergence of Legendre Polynomials
Details
For details about my studies, see the transcript-of-records.pdf.

Experience

2021 - present
CSC - IT Center for Science

Currently, I work as an application specialist at CSC in the computing environments team. My responsibilities include developing and maintaining the Julia language environment, containerizing user applications, and improving user workflows on HPC clusters. Previously, I wrote my master’s thesis regarding monitoring and analyzing parallel file system usage on the Puhti cluster. As a trainee, I worked in the cloud team, which provided me with experience in CSC cloud services, the OpenStack virtual machines on Pouta, and the OpenShift container platform on Rahti.

Supervisors
Sebastian Von Alfthan, Kalle Happonen
2016 - 2021
Systems Analysis Laboratory

During my studies, I worked as a summer and part-time research assistant at the Systems Analysis Laboratory (SAL) at Aalto University. At SAL, I wrote multiple scientific software packages using the Julia programming language around mathematical models produced by the research group. Developing software packages included interpreting scientific research, designing APIs, writing documentation, and creating tests. We used GitHub for the centralized repository, GitHub actions for automating testing, and document deployment to GitHub pages. I also have experience in Python, but I prefer to use the Julia language for its superior performance and modern features for scientific computing.

Supervisors
Fabricio Oliveira, Anton von Schantz

Technical Skills

Natural Languages
Finnish (native), English (professional)

Computer Science
Algorithm design, Data structures, Logic, High-performance computing, Parallel computing, Constraint programming

Applied Mathematics
Mathematical modeling and optimization, Numerical analysis, Computer algebra

Programming
Julia, Bash, Python, C

Software Engineering
Linux, Git, SSH, Ansible, Docker, Apptainer, Buildah, Lmod, Slurm

Technical Writing and Communication
Markdown, LaTeX, Static websites

Developer Tools
Terminal, Tmux, Vim, Visual Studio Code

Projects

Projects that demonstrate my technical skills.

github.com/gamma-opt/DecisionProgramming.jl
Julia package for decision programming, an optimization model for decision making developed at Systems Analysis Laboratory.

github.com/jaantollander/dotfiles
Shell scripts for installing Arch Linux and configuring a development environment on it.

jaantollander.com
Personal website for technical writing built with GoHugo using Wowchemy theme and deployed on Netlify.

youtube.com/jaantollander
YouTube channel for video tutorials for communicating technical knowledge.

Contact

You can contact me via email.


The resume is available as a webpage and as a printable PDF. The source is on GitHub.