Pieter Soffers

My name is Pieter Soffers, and I was born and raised in Rijsbergen, Brabant, on my parents' farm. I have been working for Tensing since November 2018 as a data engineer.

Archeology

After high school in Breda, I started studying archeology in Leiden, which I wanted to pursue since my youth because of my interest in history. During this study, I started digging up a lot in the Caribbean and I was able to experience many islands in a different way than just the sun, sea and beach. The Caribbean is, in fact, a hodgepodge of many cultures from many different periods of time. In addition, I have also followed a specialization in skeletal determination. In the end I obtained both a bachelor's and a master's degree in archeology. For my graduation research I developed an archaeological expectation map for Saba. This was my first introduction to GIS. I found it very interesting to see what options GIS offers and how much you could tell with a map.

Geomatics

After a number of wanderings, I decided to take a master's degree for a second time, namely Geomatics at TU Delft. This master’s gives you a broad view on GIS and spatial data as a whole. Programming, data quality, point clouds and geo-databases are just a few examples that are covered in Geomatics. For my graduation research I did an internship at the Land Registry. I have developed a data model that establishes a link between measurement data and the cadastral map. After graduating, I started working at Kadaster as a product and process innovation consultant, where I worked primarily on improving the cadastral map based on measurement data.

Tensing

After a year and a half, I decided to work at Tensing because I wanted to further develop my technical skills. Tensing gives me this opportunity through the many training courses, the challenging projects and the great geo expertise of colleagues. In addition, the many projects offer the opportunity to get to know different organizations from the inside out. Ultimately at Tensing I want to develop into an all-round GIS professional. I have not completely abandoned my archaeological background; in the future I would like to develop applications that make archeology accessible to a wide audience. Tensing helps me to take the technical steps in this direction.

Hobbies

Since my school days, I have been rowing on the waters around Leiden, the city where I studied and still live. In addition, I often go running and cycling — and I also have a drum set. However, I don't play in a band. Finally, I am also a fan of traveling to beautiful places.