Meet Emil Vidmark – Samuraj's latest addition

Bio

Prefers to listen to… Rewrite The Stars from the movie The Greatest Showman
Preferably looking at…. Titanic, alone, so I get to choose whether to stop watching just before the ship hits the iceberg
Favorite food... Punch rolls

Hi Emil! You’re expanding the small group of proud Boden people in the office, how did you end up in Luleå?

– Hello! My gateway to this city was the Civil Engineering course in Computer Technology at Luleå University of Technology. When I got my degree, there was a natural transition into the working life in Luleå, and I have remained here ever since.

What is your role at Samuraj?
– I spread joy, and sometimes I also work with front-end development 😉

How was your development interest sparked?
– A classmate introduced me to development when I was 12 years old and right then I thought it was complicated and the interest fizzled out after a while. When I was in my senior year of high school, I took it up again and got hooked! The ability to influence anywhere from one to millions of people with the click of a button is absolutely crazy! I was particularly inspired by a project that could help people in Africa discover if they were infected with malaria by taking pictures of their eyes with just a mobile camera, utilizing advanced image processing. It’s technology that really affects people's lives for the better.

What are your strengths as a developer?
– I’m very solution-oriented and can quickly form an understanding of complex systems by gathering new information from both technical and non-technical sources.

How to become a good developer? Is it just blood, sweat and tears?
– Through overconsumption of coffee and daring to fail. I don't know how many times I've tried things that have gone wrong, but they've always taught me something to bring to the next project.

If you weren't working in development, what would you have been doing?
– Simple, actor!

Half past eight at Emil's! Who are your dream guests?
– Ordet drömgäster gjorde detta otroligt svårt, Peter Carlsson från NorthVolt, längdskidåkaren Johan Olsson och Bill Gates kanske? Fast alla kollegor här på kontoret är ju också drömgäster. Svårt!

When you're not developing or spreading joy in the office, what are you up to?
– I love to move around so I get a lot of exercise, but I also like to read a lot of non-fiction about everything possible, for example memory training, machine learning and business processes.

We know you are something of an athlete. You master everything from horse jumping, cross-country skiing and CrossFit to the slightly lesser-known sport of jump rope dancing! How did you find this spectacular sport?
– Haha, I’m not so certain that I master it, I often end up hurting myself in one way or another! But I think it comes from the fact that I love to geek out and grind things until I get them, and doing different tricks with the rope allows me to combine exercise with my geekiness, just a perfect combo!