Alexander Borsuk: Software Engineer, MScEng
🖨

Hi! I’m a software engineer and researcher, a co-founder of Organic Maps (offline maps for iOS and Android), a founding investor in VibroBox (prescriptive maintenance for machinery), and one of the creators of the MapsWithMe (MAPS.ME) app.

Originally from Belarus, I now live and work in Switzerland. I have more than two decades of experience leading development teams and building scalable, cross-platform software for mobile devices, servers, and desktops. I like open source and love to learn something new every day.

Alexander Borsuk

Contacts

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hidden
Gmail
me@alex.bio
LinkedIn
linkedin.com/in/alexanderborsuk
GitHub
github.com/biodranik
Facebook
fb.me/biodranik

Personal values and interests

My strengths

I’ve worked in a variety of roles across different projects. My strengths include:

As a Software Engineer:

As a Team Lead:

As a Product Manager:

As a CTO/VP of Engineering:

Software skills

Languages

Education

Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics, Minsk, Belarus

List of publications

Functional Programming in Scala Specialization, Coursera

Coursera certificates

Other education

Work experience

– Staff Software Engineer at Hexagon Robotics (Zurich, Switzerland)

Hexagon Robotics is a Swiss company developing advanced robotic solutions, including autonomous humanoid robots (see AEON), for industrial applications. Its solutions integrate AI and machine learning technologies to enhance automation and efficiency in manufacturing processes.

Making robots reliable and efficient as part of the Mission Team
Technologies:
C++23
Python
ROS2
Nix
CUDA
CMake
Boost
Bash
VSCode
Linux
Isaac Sim
CUDA
Windows
MSVC
Claude
Codex
Copilot
BehaviorTree.CPP

– C++ and Mobile Performance Engineer at Phenix Real Time Solutions, Inc. (Zurich, Switzerland)

Phenix Real Time Solutions’ technology publishes and streams synchronized, real-time video at scale with a delay of less than 0.5 seconds and a time to first frame (TTFF) of less than a second, broadcasting to millions of viewers across continents.

Improving and fixing bugs in the iOS/Android SDKs and C++ core engine.
Technologies:
C++14
iOS
DRM
Android
CMake
Boost
Bash
zsh
Node.js
JavaScript
WebRTC
Live Video Streaming
Broadcasting
FFmpeg
Docker
YouTrack
Gerrit
TeamCity
Android NDK
GTest
Google Cloud
BigQuery
BDD
TDD

– Co-founder and maintainer of Organic Maps (remote, free-time hobby project)

Organic Maps is a free, open-source, donation-based, and privacy-focused offline maps app for Android and iOS. It is based on crowdsourced OpenStreetMap data and is designed for travelers, tourists, drivers, hikers, and cyclists.

Organic Maps is a fork of MAPS.ME (MapsWithMe). My friends and I created MAPS.ME in 2011, and it was open-sourced in 2015 under the Apache 2.0 license. All unnecessary “features,” such as tracking and statistics collection, were removed from Organic Maps. The main focus is on speed, stability, and up-to-date OpenStreetMap data, with the goal of making it the most secure, fastest, and most battery-efficient offline maps app.

Download and install Organic Maps from the App Store, Google Play, Huawei AppGallery, or F-Droid. You can also install the APK directly from GitHub.

In my free time, I contribute to Organic Maps, maintain the app, and coordinate its development.
Technologies:
C++23
Rust
Swift
Java
Objective-C/Objective-C++
OpenStreetMap (OSM)
JavaScript
TypeScript
Python
CMake
Cloudflare Workers/Pages/Functions
GitHub
F-Droid
Google Play
Huawei AppGallery
App Store
iOS
Android
Linux
Mac OS X
protobuf
GTest
CI/CD
Claude
Codex
Automated code reviews

– C++ Performance Engineer at Phenix Real Time Solutions, Inc. (Zurich, Switzerland)

Phenix Real Time Solutions’ technology publishes and streams synchronized, real-time video at scale with a delay of less than 0.5 seconds and a time to first frame (TTFF) of less than a second, broadcasting to millions of viewers across continents.

Development and bug fixes for the C++ core engine, including optimization of the build toolchain.
Technologies:
C++14
CMake
Boost
Bash
zsh
JavaScript
WebRTC
Live Video Streaming
Broadcasting
FFmpeg
Docker
YouTrack
Gerrit
TeamCity
Android NDK
GTest
Google Cloud
BigQuery
BDD
TDD

– Video Backend and Frontend Engineer at Zenia (remote, part-time project)

Zenia - Interactive Fitness & Yoga is the world’s first virtual assistant app for iOS and Android that uses AI to give real-time feedback on yoga practice.

Implemented scalable live video lessons on desktops and mobile phones for yoga instructors and their students.
Technologies:
WebRTC
Janus Media Gateway
Docker
JavaScript
TypeScript
HTML5
iOS
Android
Python
nginx
AWS
iOS
Android
TensorFlow
React

– Software Engineer and Tech Lead at Qnective AG (Zurich, Switzerland)

Qnective is a leading provider of sophisticated communication solutions and services, with deep expertise in wireless technologies, networking, IoT, infrastructure, and highly secure encryption mechanisms.

Projects I worked on:
  • Qtalk, a secure messenger for enterprises and governments (iOS, Android, and Windows)
  • Qnet, a secure voice and messaging app for low-end Android devices
  • Wearable body sensors for sports and medical applications (ESP32 embedded chip)

Work highlights:

Technologies:
C++17
C11
Swift
iOS
Java
Android
Go
DTLS
TLS
Java
Bash
Qt
OpenSSL
CoAP
Opus
WebRTC
Ubuntu
iOS
Android
ESP32
Docker
Bitbucket
Jira
Bamboo
Jenkins
GTest
protobuf
Unity
Catch2
OpenSSL
mbedTLS
SARA R4
qmake
Kanban
Scrum

– Founding Investor in VibroBox

VibroBox is a vibration-based diagnostics service for scalable prescriptive maintenance, IIoT, and Industry 4.0. The team of scientists, engineers, and industry experts is focused on digital signal processing, wavelets, machine learning, and other algorithms to prevent failures of industrial equipment by providing timely and automated maintenance instructions.

VibroBox works with a wide range of rotary equipment, including pumps, turbines, compressors, generators, rotors, engines, bearings, gearboxes, rolling mills, wind farms, and wheel pairs for cars and trains.

My responsibilities at VibroBox:

Engineering highlights:

Technologies:
AWS Lambda
AWS SES
Docker
Hugo
HTML5
CSS3
Bash
Linux
Travis CI
PHP7
YII2
OpenAPI
MATLAB
Simulink
OpenVPN
MariaDB

– Co-founder, CEO, and CTO of MAPS.ME

MAPS.ME is an open-source offline maps app for iOS and Android. Crowdsourced OpenStreetMap data is used for walking and cycling directions, car navigation, discovering new places, and local sightseeing. As of April 2018, MAPS.ME had been installed by 100 million users worldwide.

I worked in many roles and gained extensive experience in engineering, team and technical leadership, product and project management, business development, user support, marketing, public speaking, hiring and interviewing, and teaching.

Technologies:
C++11
Boost
Qt
Objective-C
Java
C
iOS
Android
Linux
Windows
macOS
Bada
OpenStreetMap
OSRM
clang
gcc
Python
Bash
protobuf
Go
App Engine
– System Architect/VP of Engineering at MAPS.ME (Mail.Ru Group)

After the acquisition of MAPS.ME, we hired a new engineering team of 25 people in Moscow and transferred all our knowledge to them. I served as VP of Engineering in the Maps department at Mail.Ru Group:


– Co-founder, CTO

I continued to grow the startup until its acquisition.


– Co-founder, CEO

The most challenging period for MAPS.ME was when we grew our team and user base while trying to sell a paid app in the App Store and on Google Play.


– Co-founder

At that time, I led our small team of 3 in Minsk and was responsible for a cross-platform build environment, code reviews, iOS, and Android. The most notable tasks included:

– CTO at BLRSoft

BLRSoft, the R&D subsidiary of Abaxia, developed Launcher software and firmware for Vodafone, Orange, and other EU network operators. BLRSoft was acqui-hired by HTC in 2010 and renamed HTC BLR.

I held several roles, including Senior Software Engineer, Team and Technical Lead, Project Manager, and Technical Director, while developing mobile software for Symbian and Windows Mobile.

Work highlights:

Technologies:
C++
C
Symbian
Windows Mobile

– Senior Software Engineer at InfoTechnology

InfoTechnology was a Belarusian division of XIM, a company based in San Francisco.

I developed a music, humming, and singing recognition app for Symbian devices called Midomi for SoundHound Inc.

Work highlights:

Technologies:
C++
Symbian
Solaris
XSLT
Pair Programming

– Software Engineer (freelance)

Development of the DVD Ripper/Player Station project, a Windows application that allows users to play and rip DVD content easily on touchscreen devices.

Together with another developer, I implemented:

Technologies:
Visual C++
DVD
AVI
WinAPI
FFmpeg
DirectShow

– Software Engineer and Team Lead at Belsoft-Borlas Group

Development and support of "Smart IP," a transparent TCP/UDP network optimizer and switcher for desktop and mobile platforms, for a US-based customer.

Work highlights:

Technologies:
Visual C++
Windows Mobile
WinNT
NDIS
IP Networking

– Software Engineer at Credo Dialogue

Credo Dialogue is a scientific and industrial company developing CAD systems that form an integrated workflow for information processing (topographical and geotechnical surveys, engineering design, terrain modeling, etc.).

I worked on Topoplan and Genplan CAD software, 3D terrain and building modeling and editing, computational geometry algorithms, and project documentation.

Here I met my future MAPS.ME co-founders Yury Melnichek and Viktar Havaka.

Work highlights:

Technologies:
Visual C++
STL
IncrediBuild
Doxygen
Borland StarTeam

– Software Engineer and Team Lead at Spark IT

I organized and managed a team of 5 engineers to develop “Messenger2” (“M2”) for a customer in the UK. This internet messaging app, similar to Trillian, supported the ICQ, AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and IRC protocols, chat encryption, file sharing, and video and audio conferencing.

Technologies:
C++
TCP/UDP sockets
STL
WTL
WinAPI
ICQ
AIM

Hobby projects

– Cross-platform IRC news feed publishing bot

I designed and implemented a configurable IRC bot for Windows and Linux that parsed RSS, Atom, and XML feeds with support for a full range of character encodings. It remained active until 2016.

Technologies:
C++
Linux
Windows
curl
Atom
RSS
XML

– Co-founder and coordinator of the ByNets IRC network

ByNets was the largest IRC network in Belarus, connecting thousands of people from universities, dormitories, companies, and residential districts in Minsk.

Technologies:
IRC
UnrealIRCd
Linux
Drupal

– Home network administrator

I built, administered, and maintained an Ethernet network in Minsk with more than 300 users in my neighborhood (and more than 1,500 users in total, including nearby neighborhoods).

Technologies:
Debian Linux
Windows Server
DNS
DHCP
Bash
Perl

– Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics

Optimization (10× speedup) and statistical visualization of random number generators based on linear feedback shift registers.

Technologies:
Visual C++
Assembler

Publications

  1. Algorithms for refinement of the shaft rotational speed for solving the problems of vibration diagnostics of rotary equipment / Y. Aslamov, I. Davydov, A. Borsuk, A. Aslamov // First World Congress on Condition Monitoring, London, 13–16 June 2017, Session 6E: Vibration condition monitoring methods and technologies / The British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing.
  2. Sparse wavelet decomposition of signals for solving vibration diagnostics problems / Y. Aslamov, I. Davydov, A. Borsuk, A. Aslamov // First World Congress on Condition Monitoring, London, 13–16 June 2017, Session 7E: Vibration condition monitoring methods and technologies / The British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing.
  3. Sparse wavelet decomposition in problems of vibration-based diagnostics of rotary equipment / Y.P. Aslamov, A.P. Aslamov, I.G. Davydov, A.V. Borsuk // Doklady BGUIR [BSUIR reports], 2017, no. 8 (110), pp. 91–98. (in Russian)
  4. Formation of informative features of shock processes using wavelet analysis of non-stationary vibration signals: the author’s abstract. Diss. MSc in Engineering: 1-39 81 03 / A.V. Borsuk; scientific adviser I.G. Davydov // Minsk: BSUIR, 2018. (in Russian)