Team
We are seven deaf and hard of hearing people who are working in different areas of the IT branch and have long-year job skills. The team has the vision and the aim to organize the DeafIT conference for exchanging their expertise know-how with more and more people.
Tobias Burz
DeafIT Founder
Location: Munich
Job & Company: Resource Manager and Senior IT Consultant at Atos Information Technology GmbH
What was the reason to take your job?
About 28 years ago I have interrupted my university education in electro technique after 2 years because I have detected that this didn’t meet my professional ideas. I started with a two-year IT education at the Siemens academy as an engineer assistant in Data Engineering, to see if this area suited me. After successful completion, I had made the right choice with IT, and after my successful examination I immediately joined Siemens Nixdorf as a software developer with the C programming language.
What is your task?
After a lot of work as an administrator, software developer (C, JavaScript, PHP, HTML, VisualBasic), configuration manager, subproject manager, responsible supporter, consultant (SharePoint, etc.), as an IT Senior Consultant I have the task to advise and support the project managers for optimization of business processes. Additionally, as a resource manager I am responsible for identifying and using suitable ATOS colleagues for the Tower Manager in various projects.
Why you are in the team?
I know only a few friends and acquaintances who are working in the IT branch. I have founded the team together with Vincent Rothländer because I would like to expand the network with the DeafIT conferences so that we can get to know other IT experts and benefit from our expertise and experience.
Vincent Rothländer
DeafIT Co-Founder
Location: Frankfurt
Job & Company: Freelancer und CEO bei vinrotlab.io
What was the reason to take your job?
My father worked in an international IT company and was traveling the world a lot. At the age of ten, I already had the first computer with the MS-DOS version. I discovered my enthusiasm for IT only through my training as a tax clerk. After graduation, I went to Munich and successfully completed my computer science studies at the University of Applied Sciences. Since then I am traveling as a Microsoft consultant international.
What is your task?
I am specialized on Microsoft collaboration and the Artificial Intelligence (Microsoft Cognitive Services) and support, develop and consult many different international big customers (Financial companies, Train companies, Car manufacturers, …).
Why you are in the team?
I want to give my experiences and knowledge to the hearing impaired. Before I was a consultant, no one did believe that - despite my handicap - I could work as a consultant. Now I am a successful consultant since 2007. With this I want to motivate the hearing impaired people to make impossible possible. I also want to cultivate the contacts with the hearing-impaired people and expand the network.
Nicole Weißkopf
DeafIT Networking & Marketing Enthusiast
Location: Munich
Job & Company: Community Management at The FFanatics GmbH
follow me @NickelPic
What was the reason to take your job?
I have worked in a wide range of areas during my school and training period, including in the commercial area, health care and social services - such as physiotherapy, social care of people in need of care, and care for the elderly. After completing my degree in social sciences, I finished the education as a photo media laboratory technician and then worked for a short time in the photo & advertising industry. By chance I joined one of the most successful German media companies on the Internet as a community manager, where I acquired my skills and know-how in community management for 12 years. I have found my vocation and am a passionate community manager with heart and soul.
What is your task?
As a community manager, I have a diverse and broad range of activities. My work includes, among other things, the administration and moderation of an online community in which I act as an interface between the customers and the brand. In addition of the content, technical building and the further development of the usability and features of a community platform the implementation of CRM measures for customer loyalty through user engagement, interactions, loyalty programs, campaigns and much more are parts of my job in community management. At the same time, user and customer always stand as an individual in the focus of a community manager.
Why you are in the team?
I have noticed in the past years again and again that the exchange with other hearing impaired people in the IT & Online sector is missing and this exchange can be the advantage for all of these people. I would like to take this opportunity to eliminate these deficits by setting up a network for the hearing impaired IT experts and setting up the DeafIT conference.
Manuel Gnerlich
Location: Hamburg
Job & Company: self-employed Software Consultant at Open Mind IT-Training
What was the reason to take your job?
Already in my youth time I was interested in computers and often played with friends on the computer. During my training as an industrial electronics engineer, I first came into contact with the programming languages (assembler) and was immediately fascinated by it. Consequently I decided after my school education, to study at the University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg in order to intensify my interest in this area.
What is your task?
After successfully completing my degree, I gained a lot of practical experience as a Java developer in different small companies. Nowadays, as a freelance JavaEE consultant I consult various renowned companies such as Telekom, VW, Unic, Starfinanz and others and develop the web applications in JavaEE for them.
Why you are in the team?
The desire to solve me from the dependence on a third person (here: interpreters) in professional exchange with IT experts, for example at conferences, gave me the impetus to re-engineer myself professionally - especially with regard to the direct exchange with colleagues. For me, the barrier-free approach is crucial. Furthermore, it is my motivation to give career prospects in the IT area for other deaf people. That's why I'm in the team!
Leif Möhr
Location: Oberried im Schwarzwald
Job & Company: Automation Programmierer
What was the reason to take your job?
My father was a medical informer. So early on I got to know the handling of different computers. The first home computer was a Sharp MZ 80 K. Before I could play anything, I had to program it first. At the age of 23, I started working as a computer nerd in the area of first-level computer support with the Canadian Navy's Department of National Defense (DND). I quickly climbed up there in career and was soon responsible for over 500 workstations as well as for the network and other IT areas. In DND I learned a lot about networks, databases and other program systems. This was a very exciting time for me. For personal reasons, I moved to Germany in 1999, where I worked at Lexware GmbH as an automation. In 2004, I went back to Canada where I joined Intuit Inc. as a Software Quality Assurance Engineer. Since 2009 I live again in Germany and am employed at Kofax Development GmbH.
What is your task?
At Kofax I am responsible for many areas for example for the Administration of the SQL networks and database, for the protection of the software quality and am working as Automation programmer (JavaScript, VBScript, Python, Power Shel, etc.) and so on…
Why you are in the team?
I am starting in your team because I am interesting in the IT area since a long time ago and it is important for me that the DeafIT community should be always updated with IT. Therefore I want to support this community, promote and to talk with each other.
Christina Gebhard
Location: München
Job & Company: Business Analyst
at Siemens
What was the reason to take your job?
With my apprenticeship as a clerical assistant for office management and the subsequent part-time study for Bachelor of Business Administration and various in-house trainings, I am now working as a business analyst in the back office of the account management for central research and development at Siemens AG in Munich.
What is your task?
In the Back Office I am responsible for the reporting, the planning as well as the efficient conduction and coordination of all administrative and operating processes of the Back Office. Additionaly to it I am responsible for the recruitment and support of our students and trainees.
Why you are in the team?
I attended the DeafIT for the first time as a participant in November 2018 and was impressed by the interesting lectures and the possibilities which offers the digitization for the hearing impaired. Since I am convinced of the further development and the potential of DeafIT in the German-speaking area, but also in the international area, I am pleased to be part of the team and to be able to contribute my knowledge, especially from the commercial sector.
Anne Zander
Location: Hamburg
Job & Company: Freelancer in the Entertainment Industry
What was the reason to take your job?
As an actress, I have worked on various projects and also looked behind the stage and behind the camera and gained some experience in the various departments. As a cross thinker, I enjoy discovering opportunities, creatively combining and improving things. At the Film University Konrad Wolf I studied digital media culture and gained practical experience in the film production. After breaking off, I found a job as an agency assistant in a casting and acting agency in Potsdam. In 2017/2018, I gave performances at the University of Hamburg with the subject Sign Language with the focus on Sign Language Theater and Film. As Account Manager, I still work for barrier-free seminars and advanced training for people with hearing impairments. My preference and interests are strongly in the moving image.
What is your task?
Networking and Media Communication.
Why you are in the team?
With my current job, I was able to attend the annual DeafIT conferences. Information technology and research is much more creative than you think. Nowadays, the opportunities in the IT industry are almost limitless. I am interested in the games culture and above of all in the MoCap area. The IT does not include programming only, but has been everywhere since the digital revolution. Above all, the social media area is accessible for everyone. AI is becoming increasingly easier and more important in professional life. I see myself as an interface between the IT and the entertainment industry. Networking is everything and I am happy always to meet new people, to present projects or to discover new talents or opportunities. The DeafIT community has so much potential and should appeal to a lot more young people. We also need young developers / interested people in the media industry.
Florian Erfurth
Location: München
Job & Company: IT-Manager emmasbox GmbH
What was the reason to take your job?
My passion for technology started in my early childhood when I started to experiment with the Philips VR2334 programmable video recorder. To the "enthusiasm" of my parents some recordings on VIDEO2000 video cassettes had to believe after my "programming" with the bright red button on it. I found out my first command `LOAD '*", 8,1` at the age of six years alone. From that point on, I sold my soul to IT. I studied computer science at Augsburg University of Applied Sciences and worked in the area of IT administration. After graduation, I started as a software developer with C / C ++ and Java and went up to the project management and finally to the IT manager. With 20 years of know-how in software development, IT administration, project management as well as team management, I gladly to pass on my experience.
What is your task?
As an IT manager, I take responsibility for all IT issues and work closely with the team, other departments, and the management. The IT projects include client-server architecture, webstreaming and hybrid clouds with Linux and Windows servers.
Why you are in the team?
After more than 20 years in IT, I would like to share my wide-ranging know-how with the team and, conversely, learn from the experiences of others. Networking is everything and DeafIT is an ideal platform for this. Among other things, I would like to give other hearing-impaired people the courage to venture into a leadership position and consider the hearing impairment not as a disadvantage, but in the sense of Deaf Gain as an advantage!