Alex Zurek

I've always loved technology, but I didn't grow up with my fingers glued to a keyboard writing programs. Throughout high school, I spent my free time building computers and troubleshooting issues for friends and family.

When I arrived at Grand Valley State University in 2012, I knew that fixing computers wasn’t the optimal career path for me, but I still wanted to be able to help people and give back to my community. This lead to my major in Computer Science. Programming became a form of artistic expression, a way to show people what I had learned and show them that I could help them in more ways than connecting a computer to a wireless printer. It was more than a technical skill, it was an art form that was capable of solving real world problems.

During my senior year of college I interned with the Web/Mobile team at Spectrum Health, getting a chance to work on their Find a Doctor application. I loved working on a project that directly impacted patients in a positive way. For my senior project at GVSU, my team and I worked with Spectrum Health Innovations as well as Butterworth Hospital’s Emergency Department to develop a web application that allows staff members to predict possible patient overcrowding hours in advance based on the current patient volume. Working in such a large healthcare system has connected me with wonderful people and has allowed me to grow as a developer as well as give back to the Grand Rapids community.

After graduation, I joined Atomic as part of their first Accelerator program. I'm looking forward to a career filled with opportunities to strengthen my skills as a developer as well as a business professional.

Outside of software development, I enjoy cooking, amateur photography, and hiking. I also enjoy reading, mainly philosophical authors such as Fernando Pessoa, Alan Watts, and Albert Camus.