About me

TitleDipl.-Inf. (FH)
NameDirk Burkhardt
StatusResearcher
Age39
ResidenceDarmstadt, Germany
LanguagesGerman (native)
English (very good)
Russian (basic)

Curriculum Vitae

Practical Experience

  • Since 2022: Researcher at Software AG

    Researcher in the field of Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data Analytics.
    Project participation (selection): CliCE-DiPP (Project leader for SAG, deputy project coordinator), E2COMATION (Project leader for SAG), InnoSale, EuProGigant.

  • Since 2018: Research Associate at research group Human-Computer Interaction & Visual Analytics at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences

    Senior researcher in the field of data mining, machine learning and visual analytics.
    Project participation (selection): VisCOST, AVARTIM, Digitallabor.

  • 2021-2022: Research Associate at Department of Computer Science at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences

    Researcher and lead of network and technical infrastructure in the project fast electronic proof of identity (SeIn).
    Focus: Creating an AI-powered solution and infrastructure for secure and trusted personal authentication over the web.
    Project participation (selection): SeIn.

  • 2017-2021: Associate at Research Center for Applied Informatics at Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences

    Scientific-technical associate to strengthens the research activities at the university.
    Focus: Requirements engineering, requirement analysis and IT service setup for research or research groups, especially for use in R&D projects; Furthermore, acquisition, installation and launch of servers, applications and web-services

  • 2011-2017: Research Associate / Project Manager and Software Architect at Fraunhofer IGD

    Researcher in the field of information visualization and visual analytics.
    Focus: Research and development on visualization concepts for semantic data, as well as research on process-oriented adaptive user interfaces for user support.
    Project participation (selection): EU-IP project FUPOL (Project leader for IGD), Smarter Privacy, VIntEL, RURALeNTER (Project leader for IGD)

  • 2008-2010: Technical Associate / Software Developer at Fraunhofer IGD

    Software planning, development and research in the department “3D Knowledge Worlds and Semantics Visualization”. Work on the establishing of the field semantic-visualization.
    Project participation (selection): THESEUS CTC-WP5, THESEUS TEXO

  • 2008: Diploma Student at Fraunhofer IGD

    Diploma thesis in the field of e-Learning & Knowledge Management within the framework of the THESEUS-project on the subject of gesture recognition to support intuitive interaction on computer-based systems.

  • 2005-2008: Network Administrator at Studentenwerk Dresden (branch office Zittau/Görlitz)

    Network administrator for the residences in Görlitz, responsible for technology and user administration

  • 2006-2007: Research Assistant/Trainee at University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz

    in the VESUV/IKAROS Project
    Participation in the development of a dynamic tour guide (DTG). The scientific and practical emphasis of this program lies in the research and development of a mobile personalized city guide.

Certifications and Seminars

  • IREB Certified Professional for Requirements Engineering (CPRE-FL)
  • UNIcert Level II in English (European Level B2): Engineering language
  • Time and self-management for project managers

Education

  • Since 2017: Ph.D. Student at TU Darmstadt

    Planned Degree: Doctoral degree in computer sciences

  • 2004-2008: University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz

    Finished with diploma degree in Computer Sciences (master of science equivalence) – Dipl.-Inf. (FH)

  • 1995-2003: Gotthold-Ephraim-Lessing-Gymnasium, Kamenz (Germany)

    Finished with A-Level Certification – Abitur,
    Advanced Courses: Math and Physics

After reaching his A-Level Certification (Abitur) on the Gotthold-Ephraim-Lessing-Gymnasium Kamenz, he accomplishes the general military service at the German Army Forces (Bundeswehr).

Subsequently, he starts to study computer sciences at the University of Applied Sciences Zittau/Görlitz. He works during his praxis semester in the VESUV/IKAROS research projects on the Dynamic Tour Guide (DTG) under the leadership of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Klaus ten Hagen. The scientific and practical focus lays on the exploration and development of a mobile personalized tour guide. He wrote his diploma thesis at the Fraunhofer-Institute for Computer Graphics Research (IGD) in Darmstadt to the topic of “Gesture Recognition for supporting intuitive Interactions on computer-based Systems” within the THESEUS research project under the leadership of Dipl.-Ing. Kawa Nazemi (advisor) and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Klaus ten Hagen (supervisor). In this work he developed a method to use the WiiMote-controller, as a representative intuitive interaction device, in (Web-)Applications by the use of human gestures (see WiiGesture).
Besides his study, he worked as network administrator for the dormitories in Görlitz and was responsible for the entire network and network components, next to the administration of the users.

Afterwards, he works and researches as scientific worker at the Fraunhofer-Institute for Computer Graphics Research (IGD) on several national and international research projects as well as on industrial projects, such as the BMWi funded projects THESEUS-CTC and THESEUS TEXO, the BMVg funded projects VIntEl, state Hesse funded project Signal Tracing, the European Union funded projects RURALeNTER and FUPOL and others. The main research focus lays on Semantic and Adaptive Visualizations for enhanced access to semantical information. Later, the focus extended on Visual Analytics and Business Analytics, in particular on Visual Trend Analysis in Digital Libraries. The developments are primary done on the SemaVis-Framework (see SemaVis Visualization Cockpits and SemaVis for Digital Libraries), which become a standard visualization technology for a wide range of data processing and visualizations.

Since 2017, he worked at the Research Center for Applied Informatics with the major goal to strengthen the research activities and building an research infrastructure at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences. Furthermore, he works and researches in the research group on Human-Computer Interaction & Visual Analytics at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences in particular in the area of Business Analytics to develop visual solutions for innovation, technology and risk management.

In 2022, he moved to the Software AG as researcher.