The Apache Software Foundation
TAC
Student and Academic stories from past Travel Assistance Recipients ¶
This is part of our series of stories from past ApacheCon and Apache Big Data attendees whom the Apache Travel Assistance committee helped be at the event. To learn more about TAC, visit the main TAC page. For more stories, see the TAC stories index page.
Bhargav Golla ¶
What’s your name?
Bhargav Golla
What Apache project are you involved in?
I was involved with Apache PhotArk (Retired project), and Apache Isis, as a Google Summer of Code Developer
Were you a student/academic at the time of ApacheCon?
Yes, I was a student.
Where in the world are you from?
I am a student at Clemson University, Clemson, SC.
What was the best bit about ApacheCon?
Being able to meet all the great committers from the community, and listening from each of them first hand about their experiences.
What was the most interesting thing you learned at ApacheCon?
Though working on ASF Projects, I wasn’t aware of the reasons why many open source projects like to get under the umbrella of ASF. The session on “But we’re already open source! Why would I want to bring my code to Apache?” was very informative, and so were the other sessions which were tuned towards people to understand more about ASF.
What was the best new project you heard about at ApacheCon?
Kafka. I had vaguely heard about it, but realized how widespread this tool is in many enterprises.
What was your favourite non-talk part of ApacheCon?
The Committer Receptions and the closing reception where all the committers and attendees could hang out and share things in a very informal and comfortable way. And also the free goodies provided by the ASF and sponsors.
How did the Travel Assistance program compare to your expectations?
The Travel Assistance program exceeded my expectations. I assumed that this program was about just a way for conference attendees to get sponsored. But all the recipients were expected to help in the organization of sessions. This led to increased involvement in the conference, and also more relations forming among the Travel Assistance recipients.
What would you say to someone thinking of applying to TAC for the first time?
Take your time to answer the questionnaire in detail so that the TAC can understand your case well and make sure that you are funded.
Rafael Weingärtner ¶
What’s your name?
I am Rafael Weingärtner.
What Apache project(s)/Open Source Software project(s) are you involved in?
Apache CloudStack and IOTA
Were you a student/academic at the time of ApacheCon?
Yes, I was a Ph.D. student in Computer Science
Where in the world are you from?
Brazil
What was the best bit about ApacheCon?
The opportunity to meet great people from all around the world. Not just technical folks, but also people who know how to create and manage huge projects on a daily basis.
Also Lightning talks; I swear that I am not only saying that because there were free beers and snacks ;)
What was the best new project you heardabout at ApacheCon?
Chronix, a database system based on Lucene and Solr that is optimized for timeseries. That was kind of unexpected to see a project like that that can solve some of the problems I am facing in my Ph. D. It was also interesting to see other scholars actively participating and engaging in the Apache world. The Chronix was a nice example; it is mainly developed by a Ph.D. student.
What was your favourite non-talk part of ApacheCon?
The event at the Steamworks Brewing Company. Great beer and lots of fun.
Who was the best person you met at ApacheCon, and why?
Daan Hoogland; this guy is awesome. He is in the Apache CloudStack PMC, and we have been working together for over 4 years. We exchange emails weekly, and ApacheCon NA was the opportunity to meet and share a beer. Daan is not just a great coder and PMC member, but also a great friend.
What unexpected things did you learn at ApacheCon?
Apache Fey, which is part of Apache IOTA. This project is what I was looking for to serve the base for a system that I have been building.
What would you say to someone thinking ofapplying to TAC for the first time?
Go for it ;)
Keren Ouaknine ¶
What’s your name?
Keren Ouaknine
Which ApacheCon/Apache event did you attend?
ApacheCon in Miami, FL 2017.
What Apache project(s)/Open Source Software project(s) are you involved in?
Apache AsterixDB, Apache Pig
Were you a student/academic at the time of ApacheCon?
Yes, Phd candidate at the Hebrew University.
Where in the world are you from?
Israel
What would you say to someone thinking of applying to TAC for the first time?
Apply, Apply!
ApacheCon is a unique opportunity to have great discussions with many open-source-committed people. I was grateful for the privilege to learn about the Apache community and projects. The total number of sessions and topics covered in those three conference days was mind-blowing and I can clearly remember us TAC-ers did not want it to end!
What unexpected things did you learn at ApacheCon?
Quick anecdote: I volunteered to help with the registration desk on the first day of the conference along with a friend. Naturally, I familiarized myself with many of the attenders, their names, workplace/organization. Following which, I no longer felt like a wandering soul, seeking to find a female peer to socialize with (as often happens on conferences of this scale). Instead, I was part of the TAC-ers: a united, incredibly nice, talented and organized group. During the registration process, more TAC-ers joined to help with the load and together we mastered the incoming stream with ease and good spirits!
I cherish the friendship with all the TAC members and organizers and will keep a very fond memory of this conference.
Dammina Sahabandu ¶
What’s your name?
Dammina
What Apache project are you involved in?
Apache Bloodhound
Were you a student/academic at the time of ApacheCon?
I was a student at that time
Where in the world are you from?
Matara, Sri Lanka.
What would you say to someone thinking of applying to TAC for the first time?
If you are a first timer you should never hesitate, because you have the highest chance of getting accepted. And let me tell you, if you are worried because you have never traveled alone before, please don’t be, because when I applied for tac I was a terrified kid who had never traveled out of the country. Trust me, our dearest travel assistance committee guided me through each and every single step to get me over there. So please don’t think twice: this might be the biggest opportunity that you’ll get in your life.
How did TAC and ApacheCon change your involvement in Apache?
Only after ApacheCon I understood the real power of Apache. For me, before ApacheCon, it was just a group of geeks who try to write awesome code to make the world a better place, but now I feel like I’m a member of a huge family that cares very much for each other. It was like, what it seems to be a code base become home for me and now I’m not just trying to improve the code base, but rather to make the family bigger in every aspect.
Gabriel Beims Bräscher ¶
What’s your name?
Gabriel Beims Bräscher
What was the best bit about ApacheCon?
It was one of the most intense weeks in my life, as I was constantly learning about new cultures, projects, people, places, technologies. To be honest, at first I was afraid (as a young guy, a mere masters student); however, everyone treats you equally, it does not matter who you are and where are you from, because everyone knows that you are part of the ASF community. That feels great and made me confident to interact and learn even more.
Who was the best person you met at ApacheCon, and why?
It is hard to tell; lots of great persons!
TAC: For sure Melissa from the TAC program is one of them; she treats every “TACer” (people – as lucky as I – who were selected by the TAC program) as a son; Sergio Fernández and Christofer Dutz helped us all.
Speakers: Many of the speakers that I helped were very charismatic and generous, some of them: Luciano Resende (also Brazilian); Shane Curcuru; Daniel Izquierdo; Dzmitry Pletnikau; Giles Sirett; Will Stevens.
TACers: Andrea Patricelli (my roommate) a very friendly Italian; Svante Shubert, a guy who could make anyone laugh (note: he is German); Pedro Giffuni; Paul King; Darshan; and many others.
What was your favourite non-talk part of ApacheCon?
The interaction with people: the first night when the TAC gathered us at a bar; the last night of the Apache Big data, when we got another good time to get to know each other and enjoy a good beer/wine with snacks; going out to explore Seville.
How did the Travel Assistance program compare to your expectations? First of all: I had high expectations! However, I received more than expected. The travel was great, the process after I was selected was easy and all information was clear.
What would you say to someone thinking of applying to TAC for the first time?
It is a great experience for a programmer, researcher, and human being. This opened my mind to new cultures, Apache projects, technologies and contacts from Apache and the project that I am involved in (Apache CloudStack). As a speaker and also invited by the TAC program, I gained confidence for presenting projects and interacting with people from different cultures.
In exchange we, as “TACers”, have to help with the conference, mainly introducing speakers. The TACer has to help the speaker set up, and make sure that he/she is ready and comfortable for the presentation. That also helps us learn how to interact with the audience.
What did your project get from having you at ApacheCon?
With the TAC project, I got the chance to travel and present as speaker a bit more about Apache CloudStack. My presentation (Why Apache CloudStack) provides feedback of why people should consider CloudStack and a discussion of why it is not as popular as it should be (considering how great piece of software the ACS is). Additionally, I presented a bit of a project that I am working on, which is a plugin for the Apache CloudStack.