My background
In 2013, I joined JLG Consulting, where my first project was ASMT — EUROCONTROL's tool for detecting and analyzing safety-related events in European airspace. I helped deploy it across air navigation service providers throughout Europe, sitting with the analysts who used it and learning early what it means to build systems where the data has to be right.
During my career, I worked across maritime safety, rostering, banking, and identity management. Different industries, same question: how do you build software that stays useful long after the original team has moved on? Maintainability is a design decision, not a cleanup task — and it shapes every architectural choice I make.
I am currently leading a small team on the next-generation flight safety alert distribution system. AI changes what is possible. Figuring out how to use AI effectively without compromising code quality or developer skills is the most interesting problem I have worked on.
Current engagement - Java Tech Lead contracting for EUROCONTROL
I am currently leading a team of 5 developers building a safety-critical, event-driven system in Java, Quarkus, and Kafka that processes millions of flight safety alerts across Europe in real time.
My role spans hands-on technical leadership and architecture. I work closely with project architects on system design, produce software requirements documents, contribute directly to the most demanding feature work, and drive AI adoption within the team. Working with this team on Claude Code adoption, we achieved a 25% improvement in delivery efficiency, with every team member reporting 20%+ productivity gains.
Teaching
I have been teaching almost since I started writing code — interns, junior developers, anyone willing to learn. Watching someone go from uncertain to confident never got old.
That led to a blog, a YouTube channel, and, in 2018, a Pluralsight authorship. Pluralsight changed how I think about teaching. Quality has to be top-notch — not just technically correct but genuinely useful to the person watching. You think harder about your audience, about what they actually need to walk away with, about earning their attention rather than assuming it. That standard stayed with me. Eight years and 70,000+ students later, the thing that still makes me stop and smile is a comment from someone saying something finally clicked after watching one of my courses.
AI adoption feels like the natural next chapter. Helping a developer grow and helping a team adopt AI effectively are the same work at different scales — both require iteration, honest feedback, and the development of good habits. But adoption has a shadow side too: technical debt that accumulates quietly, and developers who gradually lose the foundational skills that made them good. The fundamentals still matter. Part of my job is making sure they don't disappear in the process. I can't see myself not teaching. In a way, I never stopped.
How I work
I work with one team at a time and give it my full focus. That means learning the codebase, understanding the business, and figuring out what the software actually needs to do for its users. I integrate with the team, contribute to its culture, and care about how we work together as much as what we deliver.
I am pragmatic about technology — I care about using the right tool for the job, not the most fashionable one. Foundational concepts matter more than ever to me: patterns, SOLID, clean architecture, and testing are what keep a codebase healthy as it grows. I will share my opinions and push for what I believe is right, but what ultimately matters is what works for the product and the people using it.
I enjoy working with open-minded people who care about building something great for their customers. I value transparency and honest conversations — the earlier we surface a problem, the better for everyone.
I am based in Brașov, Romania, and work fully remote within European time zones.
Fun fact
Brașov has a great ice hockey culture, and at some point, I decided to go to a match just to see what it was about. I knew nothing about the sport. I loved it immediately — the pace, the emotion, the way everything can change in a split second.
I joined an amateur team shortly after and have been playing ever since. I made some great friends on that ice and realised that it is never too late to try something completely new — even if it means falling on the ice more than you would like to admit.
What others are saying about me
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Carlo - Human Factors
I've been working for a long time with Dan on a challenging project for the development and implementation of a software tool in the air traffic control domain and cannot praise enough his work.
In this project it is critical to successfully translate operational needs into functional requirements. Moreover, issues like variety of data formats and different constrains for deployment architectures require outstanding ability to address rapidly a huge range of different usage contexts. Dan has always been able to address the challenges associated to the project, never refusing to go the extra mile for the sake of the team.
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Florin - Director of Business Development
Having Dan teach you anything is like already mastering any programming subject. He has all the right skills to be a great mentor! His patience and calm make you feel comfortable with what you don't know. His pedagogical skills help you navigate the sea of unknowns by gently helping you cover the gaps with a consistently positive and sympathetic attitude.
Besides being a great mentor, Dan is a top coder, as well, the most productive software engineer I've met so far. Compared to the programming trainers and mentors who have never written a line of production-ready code, Dan teaches programming from his working experience, preparing you for your real life as a top programmer.
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Bogdan - Flight Data Processing Software Engineer
I have started my software development career more than 7 years ago, and as a non computer science graduate this field can be quite intimidating and challenging. I was one of the lucky ones who was blessed with having a mentor such as Dan. Si the the first day he has taken care of guiding me on the right path, by telling me what to expect, what will be the downsides but moreover what will be the satisfactions of writing great quality code. His personal skills are outstanding, giving you comfort and confidence that you can tackle any technical challenge in the way. I think that Dan is the definition of a teacher, proving not only amazing and various technical skills but also having a great personal approach in guiding a career path and supporting the ones who he teaches. And what I think is most important, he makes everything fun
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Liviu - Manager/QA Engineer
I have known Dan for almost 5 years, and I can't express enough the value that he brings to the team with his experience and knowledge of web applications. He joined the team while we were struggling with modernizing the Management Portal, one of the product's components. Our struggle became more and more manageable, challenges started to unfold along the way and things started to progress as we hopped for. His knowledge along his mentoring/teaching skills made this possible.
I won't make a list of technologies that Dan masters - his profiles got this covered, I'll just say that the team now loves web apps.
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Cristian - Software Developer
I started my first serious project guided by Dan. He guided me in the first steps of developing my programming skills. I am grateful for that. What I appreciated was that he offered me explanations and help when I was in difficulty. At the same time, he gave me the opportunity to experiment and test my ideas. The code review sessions held together were very welcome, and I learned countless things from them. I think he is a very good teacher, guide, and team leader.