TomTom is hosting their annual Hackathon in Eindhoven, The Netherlands November 19 – 21. This is a gathering of over 500 engineers working on cutting edge, safety critical systems. Working in teams they solve some 40 challenges dealing with real world problems over a 24 hour period.

This is where the brightest minds come together to solve the hardest problems.

I’m really excited about this trip for several reasons:

Getting to interact with the best and brightest in our industry is always worth the trip. I learn a tremendous amount from the engineers creating the safety critical systems of tomorrow, today.

As a member of the C++ ISO Standards Committee it’s an opportunity not only to represent the committee in the safety critical industry but also to hear their feedback and get their perspective on how Modern C++ language is evolving.

And, I’ll be going home. Even though I was born in the US, I grew up in The Hague and Holland is home. My family moved back to the US when started high school so it’s been about 40 years since I’ve been home and I’m looking forward to seeing old friends and making some new ones.

The schedule is TBD but if you’re planning on attending or going to be in the area please stop by and say hello.