About

Quantum Fluctuations @ gloudemans.info is a site with mixed content. Part personal and part professional. I, Roel Gloudemans, am the site maintainer. I have one son named Tim. My wife Annemieke (deceased 11-10-10) provided some content to the site as well, mainly in the form of pictures and some scientific articles in the "Whitepapers" section.

I have been in IT for more than 10 years. After finishing a study in Astronomy in 1997 I went to work in IT. First with Pink Elephant and later with i-to-i. I started out in a technical role, climbing from mainframe operator to technical consultant with specialisations in Unix and Internet Security. At the end of 2000 I made the switch to the new founded i-to-i company. This proved to be a major challenge. Next to helping to build the company the line of work also changed. First with a focus on project management, later on service management and program management.

Starting 2005 I returned to the technical side of IT. I was not bad at the project/program/service management stuff, but the quality was average. Technology is were my hart is and I'm damn good at it, even if I say so myself. In March 2005 I started on a project that I'm still running and is, I think, the most fun project in my whole career. Furthermore, this project brings me in contact with my roots in Astronomy. That project is the LOFAR radio telescope. For that project I have the role of network architect and I spend also some time in managing relations with vendors for that project. LOFAR has brought me in contact with the technological edge in IT, where I tend to stay. Next to LOFAR I am also working on the Square Kilometer Array, again as a network architect and the European Expres program.

LOFAR only occupies me for one to two days per week. The other days are mostly spend in some financial institute in the role of (Infrastructure) Architect. In the past years I also had a project as lead Linux Engineer. I think that I will do some more engineering projects in the future since it helps me to be a better Architect. In my role as Architect I am mainly looking on how new technologies can better support the current business processes or how new technologies can improve current business processes.

The name for this site, Quantum Fluctuations, is derived from the title of my masters' thesis "Quantum Fluctuations in Water Maser Spectra". Only after stumbling upon the Wikipedia page about Quantum Fluctuations, I realized that this was a great name for a blog. Most blogs, mine included, are just informational noise. But now and then you can find some great information just out of nowhere.

The picture on this page was taken in New Zealand. We went there in 2006 and 2007. Those were the most relaxing vacations we ever had. On top of that, we are also Lord of the Rings fans. We went on various LOTR tours on the North and South Island. This picture was taken at the exact same spot where Arwen faces the Ring Wraiths at the river Bruinen in the Fellowship. I have the role of Asfolath (her horse) and Annemieke plays Arwen.

The backdrop of the header of this site is a picture of Mount Aspiring also known as Caradhras to LOTR fans. The picture was shot by me from a helicopter while on a LOTR tour.