Humans of CodeChem: Dushko Klincharov

Humans of CodeChem: Dushko Klincharov

Dushko sends his greetings from Germany! šŸ‘‹

He became part of CodeChem four years ago, having two internships with us and started his ML engineering career one and a half year ago. šŸ˜Š

Guided by his curiosity, persistence, and his passion for this profession, Dushko Šµnrolled in master's studies in the field of artificial intelligence. šŸ¤–

Guided by our mission to show the inspiring stories of our brilliant employees to the world, in this Q&A we ask him how he maintains the balance between work-study-life.

We encourage you to keep reading to find out more about Dushko's inspirational story. šŸ’šŸ¼ā€ā™‚ļø

1. What are the three things that are awesome about you?

It has always been easier for me to be critical of myself rather than acknowledging whatā€™s awesome. I would not say that I always possess the following three characteristics, but I am sure that I always pursue them:

  • Curiosity

  • Humbleness

  • Persistence

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2. In your opinion, what makes CodeChem - CodeChem?

Thatā€™s definitely the people. The people of Code Chemistry create the chemistry inside Code Chemistry (no pun intended). When you wake up in the morning to go to the office, you donā€™t just go there to work, you go there to spend the day with your friends. You go there to exchange ideas and opinions about work-related or life-related topics. You go there to grow, both as a software engineer as well as a human. Itā€™s a privilege to be a part of such an environment and that is why I miss going to the office so much.

3. As a Machine Learning Engineer, what's your favorite aspect of your job?

A lot of ML Engineers would agree with me when I say that in order to be an ML Engineer first you need to be a Software Engineer. And as a Software Engineer, I am still in the early phase of my career where there is so much to be learned. So one thing that I love about my job would be that each day I learn new things and improve my skills.

Another thing that I love about my job is that it is exactly what I want to work on. Since the moment I started working with Computer Vision and Machine Learning I was obsessed with the question of how computers can understand an image. Anything that is in the domain of Machine Learning and Computer Vision is very interesting to me and I am happy that the task that I currently work on which is from the field of Document Layout Analysis and Recognition, is directly related to these topics.

4. You have pretty much an interesting story. Tell us more about Germany and how you manage work, studies, and life.

I am a masterā€™s student of Computer Science at the University of Bonn since October 2020. Here I focus on subjects which are from the field of AI. The studies are completely taught in English which is very good for the international students, including me. This creates a very interesting environment where students from all around the world with different backgrounds can share knowledge and exchange ideas.

Balancing between work and studies can be pretty overwhelming sometimes. You really have to love what you do in order to keep going, otherwise, itā€™s easy to lose motivation especially in the tough periods when you must bring your A game. You must see the studies almost as you see the work. By that I mean you have to stay organized and split the problem into tasks, to plan what you are going to focus on in the following week, to spend 5-6 hours each day studying or writing homework (yes, we do have homework).

Of course, itā€™s not just studying and working. Going out, making friends, meeting new people, visiting new places is what makes studying abroad fun.

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5. Do you find any time for a hobby? šŸ¤”

Basketball is my one and only hobby right now. Itā€™s a good way to relax for an hour or two and also a nice way to interact with new people.

6. What movie or book could you recommend?

One of my all-time favorites is ā€˜Fight Clubā€™. Iā€™ve watched that movie maybe 4 times so far. The last TV series I watched was ā€˜Breaking Badā€™ which is also something I would recommend. One of my favorite TV series is ā€˜The Sopranosā€™.

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