Leo Matak joined the NSF Unidata Program Center as a student summer intern on May 20, 2024. He received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Zagreb, Croatia. Currently, he is pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Houston, where he is part of the Environmental Fluid Mechanics lab, focusing on atmospheric boundary layer dynamics.
“My experience at Unidata has been nothing short of amazing!” says Leo. “The people here are incredibly kind, open, and always willing to help or socialize.” Leo's summer project focuses on expanding the capabilities of the the netCDF Java library. “This is particularly interesting to me,” he says, “because during my Ph.D. work I have frequently used this data type but never knew who developed it or how it functioned 'under the hood.' Getting to know the developers behind it and contributing to the project has been an incredible experience.”
Leo continues, “With the deeper understanding of the netCDF file format and the overall skills I am gaining in Java and software engineering, I have no doubt this experience will play a pivotal role in my future career. I truly appreciate what Unidata is doing for the community, and I hope to continue contributing to these efforts in the future.”
Please join us in welcoming Leo to the Program Center for the summer!
