Do you already know Ruben and Bruno?

Nazka Mapps specializes in developing location-based services and digital map applications. This requires skills in geography related to data processing and geo-analysis, as well as developer skills to develop web applications. Our projects are highly relevant to both fields of study. Interns at Nazka Mapps get a taste of "work life" and insight into the potential jobs and roles their studies could lead to.

Both interns start with a similar trajectory at Nazka, which then evolves into their own specific projects depending on their study and profile.

Let's delve into the various phases of our internship program.

1^st phase: onboarding

Interns get acquainted with their personal mentor and, by extension, the entire Nazka team. Over a period of two weeks, they immerse themselves in the most used technologies at Nazka Mapps. They start working with the Mapframe and, through exercises, achieve a local deployment of a digital map with their own data. They are further introduced to the general workflow of projects and get their first notion of our DevOps.

2^nd phase: the individual project

The specific scope of each project is presented and refined. The students continue working using the scrum approach and gradually engage with the entire project chain: from data analysis to functional analysis, wireframing, and finally, the development and cloud deployment of a component, feature, or entire application.

Now, let's zoom in on the specific projects of both individuals.

Ruben investigates and implements various vector visualization options on maps for various use cases within Nazka Mapps. Tileserver-gl, Protomaps, Maptiler, Mapbox API, Geoparquet, ... are all explored and analysed based on specific key requirements for each use case: lightweight code, performance, design and styling options, functionality, interoperability, et cetera. Through the development of some demos, different use cases can be illustrated and tested.

Bruno continues to work on the development of a content management system (CMS) compatible with the Nazka Mapps Mapframe. A CMS makes it easy for clients to add points, lines, polygons and associated data (title, text, date, photo, ...) to the map. A rapid setup of the data model and of the architecture, reusability of the tool for other maps, and a user-friendly interface are some concrete requirements taken into account.

3^rd phase: finishing and presentation

In this final phase, focus is on completing and testing the application or feature. We place great importance on delivering an operational application of feature within the internship period, with direct mentor assistance of course. It teaches the intern to achieve a finished result within the given time and scope, and to make the right choices. This also ensures that the result can be further developed relatively easy. Thus, the investment in an intern truly contributes to Nazka's operation and is a win-win for both parties. Traditionally, the internship ends with a presentation and a demo for the rest of the team. 

We're already looking forward to the presentations in late May. 

Good luck Ruben and Bruno.