We have now had the pleasure of working with Bjørn for 20 years, so it seemed like an ideal opportunity to ask him to look back over the last two decades.

Bjørn first discovered APL when Gitte Christensen and Morten Kromberg invited him to participate in an APL course; he also used it in a few courses during his civil engineering degree.

Over the last two decades, Dyalog Ltd has grown from 8 employees to almost 30, has embraced evolving technology and trends, become a more geographically-distributed company with employees across multiple timezones, and seen a change of CEO. However, the combination of freedom and responsibility that Bjørn enjoys has not changed in this time. This has helped him in his role creating interfaces from APL to other APLs – more generally, developing tools that are not written in APL. For example, he wrote an interface from APL to ODBC so that APL user can access SQL databases. Bjørn derives great satisfaction from providing tools that customers need. His proudest achievement is the creation of Conga, Dyalog’s framework for TCP/IP communications (most new applications uses Conga directly or indirectly through other tools). There have been challenges too, such as developing his cryptography skills to a sufficient level to help colleagues and customers, but he has found that good spirits and persistence usually prevail in such situations.

Bjørn’s motivation at work remains his enjoyment in solving interesting problems and helping others. As he states, “I really like helping the customers”! He intends to continue in this role, although is now reducing his hours so that he can spend more time doing the things that he enjoys outside work, such as sailing in the summer and badminton in the winter. He’s also a very good dancer – his tango is legendary amongst his colleagues!

Bjørn is looking forward to many more years of serving Dyalog Ltd’s customers.

[Editor’s note: Morten started at the same time as Bjørn – his retrospective on how Dyalog Ltd and Dyalog have evolved since then will be published soon.]

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Mike is marking his first year at Dyalog Ltd, so we asked him to reflect on his experiences and the journey so far.

Before joining Dyalog Ltd, Mike spent nearly a decade at Optima Systems in Crawley, West Sussex. Optima’s long-standing relationship with Dyalog Ltd meant that Mike was already familiar with many of the people and had even visited our Bramley office on several occasions. At Optima Systems, Mike’s primary role was in website design, where he developed several iterations of the company website. His responsibilities also extended to handling graphic design needs, SEO, social media, website hosting, email signatures, and print work. This was for both internal needs and clients requirements.

Mike’s introduction to being a member of Team Dyalog was rather intense, as he was thrust straight into Dyalog ’23 (the annual user meeting) in Elsinore, Denmark. He had previously attended Dyalog ’16 as a delegate, but this time he experienced it from the perspective of a Team Dyalog member! For Mike, the chance to spend time in Denmark and meet his new colleagues in person was invaluable, as for him online meetings can’t replicate the real-life connection. With his previous experience working alongside Dyalog Ltd in his former role, the transition was smoother and less scary than it might have been.

Mike has embraced the company culture. He finds the environment at Dyalog Ltd relaxed and collaborative, with a strong drive for success and a commitment to doing things properly that resonates throughout the company. The diversity of the team, with employees from various parts of the world, adds to the richness of the working environment, something Mike finds particularly interesting. The opportunity to travel, both for user meetings and internal meetings, has been a new and welcome experience for him.

Design remains Mike’s true passion, and his role at Dyalog Ltd allows him to indulge in this while also delving deeper into marketing. Although he had touched on marketing aspects at Optima Systems, he now has the chance to truly engage with it and bring his creative ideas to life. Good design remains his primary focus, but branding is another area that captivates him, and he’s eager to contribute to Dyalog Ltd’s success through his expertise.

When not working, Mike enjoys spending time at a local cinema that specialises in screening older films and titles not typically found in larger venues (the last one being the 1974 film The Conversation). Alongside his wife, who is from Canada, he also enjoys exploring cathedral cities, galleries, and museums. At home, Mike is an avid computer gamer and finds joy in playing with their two new cats, Esther and Edie.

During his first year at Dyalog Ltd, Mike has been involved in several key projects. He built the website for the new APL Forge competition and is eager to continue refining and expanding its reach. He also played a significant role in the rebranding and redesign of the website for the APL Challenge. Another major project has been developing a new company website, which is work that he began while still at Optima Systems. He’s also spent considerable time refining Dyalog Ltd’s branding, and is pleased with the results so far. His work in social media has seen him create images for various platforms, and he has ambitious plans to overhaul the company’s YouTube channels, aiming for a fully optimised and visually cohesive presence.

Reflecting on his first year, Mike says, “My experiences at Dyalog Ltd so far have been exciting, challenging, and at times stressful, but never dull. I believe I’ve joined the company at a very interesting point in its history, especially with Stine recently taking over as CEO. I love the travel opportunities and how engaged everyone is in pushing forward. I feel that I add value in ways that perhaps weren’t there before, and I’m eager to lift the company in any way I can. From designing a single icon to rebranding an entire competition, I believe I can make an important and lasting mark.”.

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It has been a year since Abs joined Dyalog Ltd, and we asked him to look back over his first twelve months and his experiences so far.

“A whole year? The time has flown by! It has been an intense journey with a steep yet rewarding learning curve so far, but I can’t wait to see where it takes me.”

Abs joined Dyalog Ltd when the IT workload was at a peak due to the company’s growth. “Andy and Jason have been phenomenal in giving me the support and guidance I needed to make me feel like a part of the team. I have mainly been helping them to deal with day-to-day IT needs, such as setting up machines for new colleagues, dealing with queries and fulfilling colleagues requests, and configuring and general housekeeping of our servers and systems. This keeps me busy for a typical working day, but I have also been helping to implement some long-term plans involving Microsoft 365 that will shape the way we work, and, as Andy puts it, ‘pretty much anything else that needs to be done that no one else is able to do’! I like this description as I like to help wherever I can, even if it’s not in my area of expertise; learning about the subject and providing a solution feels super rewarding and motivating.”

Abs’ first few months were intense, as he found that there was a huge amount of information to absorb, but by committing himself and trying to become familiar with everything that IT uses to keep Dyalog Ltd going technically, Abs has become more confident in tackling issues that come his way. “I have also been making an effort to learn APL through weekly sessions with Adám. I often find myself naturally coming across APL when I work, so it’s important that I can understand the fundamentals. These sessions have been incredibly helpful in grasping the key concepts that make APL different and stand out from other languages, and it’s fun taking a deep dive into the product that we are all so passionate about.”.

When not working, Abs likes to play the guitar, travel, and enjoy the company and conversation of his friends. He stays active by playing badminton, and tries to visit the gym a few times a week.

“Overall, I have really enjoyed my first year with Dyalog Ltd. I really respect and admire my colleagues, and it fills me with pride to help fix their problems and make their lives easier (I hope!). You can tell everyone cares about the work we do and, more importantly, each other. You are treated as a person first and employee second, and that motivates me to do the best job I can.”

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