about Cyril
"Cyril Cecchinel is soon celebrating four years at Datathings, so we took this opportunity to highlight his talented profile that reflects perfectly the values of DataThings. He answered the questions of Clotilde for our LinkedIn interview series with simplicity and sincerity.
Thanks, Cyril for being part of DataThings adventure!"
→ Hello Cyril, what’s your position/role at DataThings?
Cyril: Hello Clotilde, I am currently Project Manager at DataThings. I am responsible for the implementation of some of our projects (time, budget and quality) and I also participate in their development, a bit of a ‘dual-hatted’ position in a way.
→ That sounds big! In a few words, for what kind of clients and what kinds of projects do you work on?
Cyril: I've been at DataThings since the earliest days of the adventure, and I can say that I've seen many different projects and clients. Today I work mainly with customers from the automotive and aeronautical world to address their needs for optimizing their production means and improving the quality of their products. We are in the heart of the Industry 4.0 paradigm. And in parallel to these industries and big machines, I also work with a French company in charge of monitoring the health of plants and making watering recommendations according to very specific indicators. One can say we work in diverse fields. 🙂
→ Which technologies/programming languages do you use on a daily basis?
Cyril: I’m using our flagship product "GreyCat" on a daily basis to handle our customer data and meet their needs with data analytics. I work every day with time series and graph databases and I also develop very often in Java, C and Typescript. Recently I had a training on OpenCV to realize a computer vision project. Less linked to the technical aspects, I write some development offers and project reports.
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→ What is the best aspect of your job?
Cyril: There are so many that I'll take the liberty of choosing two of them. The first one is that we are constantly learning by working closely with our clients to understand their needs and to fulfill them as best we can. If I had been told after my computer science studies that I would have to understand plastic injection or broaching processes, I wouldn't have believed it immediately! The second one refers directly to our working conditions and the atmosphere in the office. Everyone is very accessible and does not hesitate to take some time to help others or to bring fresh ideas.
→ Are you more formal or relaxed at the work?
Cyril: Most often relaxed I would say.
→ What professional experience has shaped you the most?
Cyril: In technical terms, we had a project in 2018 for a duration of 4 years where we had to connect production lines and design an in-house collection, storage and analytics solution from scratch. It was a real challenge, but the results are there today. On the human side, I had the opportunity during a summer student job to work in a prison and give office automation courses to inmates. It was an amazing experience.
→ Home office or on-site?
Cyril: A bit of both. I like to go to the office regularly to find my workspace and colleagues, but I also enjoy the tranquility of my home when I have to be deeply focused.
→ DataThings we have collaborators from very different backgrounds, can you tell us where you come from?
Cyril: Compared to my Brazilian or Lebanese colleagues, you could say that I come from the next door. I grew up in the heart of the French Alps in the Chambéry area. Then I moved on the French Riviera (nearby Antibes) before arriving in Luxembourg in December 2017.
→ Let's start with lighter questions: Are you more of a Beaufort / or Reblochon guy?
Cyril: Sorry, not wanting to start a war in my birthplace valleys (the subject of cheese being very sensitive), I choose both :-) I like a good farmhouse Reblechon as much as a Beaufort from the mountain pastures.
→ Sea or mountains?
Cyril: Mountains, without hesitation.
→ What is your background?
Cyril: Since I was very young I was interested in everything computer and electronic related. Naturally, I followed that with an engineering degree in Computer Science from Polytech Nice-Sophia Antipolis (with a major in computer security). Then, attracted by the research environment, I did a Ph.D. thesis in computer science on software engineering for the Internet of Things at the University Côte d'Azur. Besides these hard science degrees, I also have a master degree in Business Administration from the Institute of Business Administration of Nice and I have completed the doctoral school in entrepreneurship of the EIT (European Institute of Innovation & Technology).
→ At the office's table soccer, do you rather play with “attackers” or “defenders”? Are you more into "mean diagonal attacks" or more a "brute force" guy?
Cyril: I'm more of a defender, but I like to try to put a goal in from the back in a fairly strong manner (aiming at getting the ball out of the opponent's goal to make him lose a point).
→ How do you come to work on a daily basis?
Cyril: We are lucky to be in a country where all public transportation is free (train, bus, tramway) without time or distance limits but I find that I still take my car too often. That’s something I should work on.
→ What is your favorite hobby?
Cyril: I am a big lover of open spaces, so I think hiking is one of my favorite hobbies. On a geekier side, I really like everything that has to do with 3d printing.
→ What attracted you to DataThings?
Cyril: I met the cofounders during my PhD thesis since we had interlinked research topics. Thanks to the EIT, I benefited from one semester at their research faculty when they were working on Many World Database, ancestor from GreyCat. When they founded DataThings in 2017 to promote this technology, renamed GreyCat, I did join them as part of the EIT Business Development Experience. Since then I've stayed beginning as a research engineer and working now as a project manager.
→ What are the 3 emojis you use the most?
Cyril: 😀 🥳 😍
→ What would you say to someone willing to apply at DataThings?
Cyril: Be curious and be open to learning new things every day. Come see us, we don't bite.
→ Great! Cyril thank you for your time, and one last question. What is your favorite place to walk or relax in Luxembourg? 😎
Cyril: The Mullerthal region for all its hikes and the «Lac de la Haute-Sûre» (Stausee) to take a dip in summer.
join the team
Are you passionate about machine learning, AI, and software engineering? Do you like to code and work on hard problems? Are you determined and motivated to find the best possible solutions? And above all you are a great team player? We are looking forward to hearing from you!