My story actually began with two things at once: school and music school. From 1996 to 2003 I spent seven years learning music, including about two years playing in a string orchestra. I never became a professional musician, but the orchestra was probably the part I enjoyed most. There was something special about sitting among other people, everyone following the same piece of music and somehow creating one thing together. I still have enormous respect for musicians. And if one day my future children decide that they absolutely need to learn an instrument, I suspect I will be the father carrying them to music lessons rather enthusiastically.
I studied architecture and construction in Minsk and later civil engineering at Belarusian National Technical University, while working alongside my studies. The degree was originally supposed to be shortened. It wasn't. Apparently, the university and I had different interpretations of the word “shortened”, so the adventure lasted six years.
In 2015 I graduated as a civil engineer, learned German well enough to survive the TestDaF, and moved to Germany in September 2016.
From 2016 to 2019 I studied Civil Engineering at HTWG Konstanz, specializing in structural engineering. My Master's thesis was about BIM in membrane construction. Since 2019 I have been working as a structural engineer in Konstanz, mainly dealing with membrane structures, CAD, 3D models, finite-element calculations and parametric modelling.
So, professionally speaking, I spend quite a lot of time thinking about how structures behave under wind, snow and other things that are usually better kept outside.
Outside work, I prefer to test gravity personally.
I enjoy bouldering, climbing, cycling, hiking, stand-up paddling and windsurfing. I like being outdoors, learning new things, reading, and occasionally disappearing into a train of thought that was supposed to take five minutes and somehow lasts an hour.
I am quite persistent, probably too analytical for my own good, and genuinely curious about people and personal development.
I live in a quiet apartment on the outskirts of Konstanz. It is peaceful enough to hear yourself think, but not so remote that you need an expedition permit to leave: the nearest train station is about five minutes away.
As for the rest of the biography, let's just say that the corresponding chapter is currently between editions. 😄
Somewhere in the future there is probably a lively household, a ridiculous number of children, and at least one room that was originally intended to be tidy.
For now, however, my life is nicely full without being overcrowded.
A small culinary footnote: my diet has gradually moved in a very plant-based direction. No dairy since 2017, no meat since 2018 and no fish since around 2020. I occasionally still eat eggs or honey, so I don't call myself strictly vegan. For me, though, the ethical side of what I buy has become increasingly important.
One warning for caffeine-powered travelers:
There is no coffee here. ☕🚫
Herbal tea, yes. Other non-alcoholic drinks, absolutely. Coffee, unfortunately, has never received a key to my apartment. Guests are welcome to bring their own survival supplies.
I can, however, be surprisingly useful when a bicycle decides to become a mechanical puzzle. I repair my own bikes, so small bicycle emergencies usually fall somewhere between “I can fix that” and “let's at least find out why it is making that noise.”
And then there are languages.
I am most comfortable in German, Russian or Ukrainian. German is by far my strongest language when it comes to work, technical discussions and complicated thoughts.
Private, spontaneous German is another story.
I sometimes call the missing part “Haushaltsdeutsch”: those tiny informal, emotional expressions that people normally absorb naturally from family, friends and everyday life. I can explain a complicated engineering problem in German without blinking, but occasionally need several seconds to figure out how Germans naturally say something ridiculously simple.
English works too, of course. Mine is just a little rusty and occasionally needs lubrication. 🔧
