Welcome Jacek Harazin - Qlik Educator Ambassador Class of 2024!

[HollyJohnson]

This week we welcome Jacek Harazin, one of two Educator Ambassadors from Poland, Jacek is a Lecturer in Big Data and Data Engineering at WSB Merito Universities in Poznań. 

[HollyJohnson]

Jacek first encountered Qlik in October of 2014, when he participated in a Qlikview workshop held by a Qlik partner for those interested in learning more about the product. At this point Jacek had 5 years experience in implementing analytical systems and controlling, but he was ready for a new career path. Through this workshop he started to understand the opportunities of working with Qlik, and by January 2015 he joined the Qlik partner company as a Qlik consultant. During this time he began to document his journey in an online blog (https://qlikblog.pl), all while earning Qlik certifications and reading through a 900 page Qlik view guide to solidify his knowledge, not once but twice! He soon started to train others before going on to teach at universities.

Jacek became more involved with Qlik and in 2017 his team won the first Qlik Hackathon in Poland by developing an app that monitored air pollution data and correlated it with tuberculosis incidence rates. This app then sent SMS alerts when pollution levels had exceeded safe limits. “I then got involved in organizing Qlik meetups in my region and speaking at conferences. I worked on various projects for automotive, construction, and pharmaceutical companies. I was continually uncovering the potential of the Qlik systems and I felt like I was learning something new every day”.

Jacek discovered the Qlik Academic Program in 2021 when the WSB University in Poznan invited him to join as a lecturer in Big Data and Engineering. “I discovered the Qlik Academic Program which offers free licenses and full access to educational materials to students. Within weeks I gained access and began my teaching adventure that still continues to this day”. He also extended his teaching responsibilities to other WSB Universities in Wrocław, Warsaw and Toruń, and even to the University of Warsaw and Łódź University of Technology. “Students are impressed by the capabilities of Qlik, often choosing it for their year end projects.”

While teaching Jacek has collaborated with Sii Poland to organize a contest among students for the most interesting Qlik project, with the prize being a paid internship at the company. Jacek says, “The winning student analyzed satellites orbiting Earth, using API sources, cleaning data, and creating a cohesive model with an Earth visualization. Students who work often talk about it in their companies, further showing Qlik's capabilities. This word-of-mouth marketing is invaluable.”

As well as teaching, Jacek also has a career at Merck Group as an analyst leading a team that supports Qlik analytics across 30 countries, with projects migrating to Qlik Cloud and utilizing AI technologies like the Insight Advisor, GPT API, chatbots, and converting analytics to audio format. A proud moment in Jacks career was in February 2023, “I became the first in the world to publish documentation on integrating a BI system with the GPT API engine, paving the way for further development and exploration of enhancing analytics with AI. I truly believe that today's educational programs must include these topics, as Qlik has great potential to implement them across various industries.” You can read Jacek's article on Qlik & OpenAI API here. 

Jacek's goals for 2024 are to expand the list of universities participating in the Academic Program and encourage other developers to share their knowledge and practice. Outside of the classroom Jacek is awaiting the arrival of his third child along with “the joy and challenge of being father to two sons”. In his spare time, he enjoys exploring the nature of Poland, especially the mountains, and he actively promote mountain tourism and family hiking through a dedicated association.

We are pleased to have Jacek join our class of 2024 Academic Program Educator Ambassadors, to meet our other ambassadors go to qlik.com/academic-program/ambassadors and to learn more about our program visit qlik.com/academicprogram