Hi, I am Dr. Kevin Schaal, Software Developer and Architect in the .NET universe. I am interested in challenging problems as well as clean code and software architecture. In my free time, I enjoy working on open-source libraries.
I worked for five years at rescuetrack GmbH, where I implemented the backend of a map application for emergency medical services. The software, which is similar to Google Maps, is used by numerous dispatch centers across Europe. During my time there, I tackled a variety of interesting challenges and implemented features such as fuzzy string search, a digital elevation model, and an algorithm for computing vehicle isochrones. Additionally, I developed spatial indices for containment and proximity relations and designed a specialized geographical query language.
I had a great time studying physics in Tübingen, and later on, achieving a PhD in Astrophysics in Heidelberg, where I made friends for life.
For my diploma thesis, I joined the computational physics group in Tübingen and implemented code from scratch for simulating fluids using a moving Voronoi mesh. A Voronoi tessellation is calculated from a cloud of mesh-generating points (Voronoi particles) at every time step using Steven Fortune's sweep line algorithm. The Euler equations are then solved with a finite-volume method on the grid provided by the tessellation. At the end of each timestep, the particles are moved according to the velocity field of the fluid to ensure Lagrangian behavior. The code is available online (MIT license).
I completed my PhD at the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies, where I studied cosmological structure formation, focusing particularly on hydrodynamic shocks. I implemented a shock finder and analyzed simulations using the Arepo code. In my second PhD project, I explored and implemented a higher-order Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method for solving the fluid equations in the Arepo code, demonstrating its high potential for astrophysical applications.