Mag. Michael Föls, MSc.


Software Engineer - Web Developer

Michael Föls

Based in Vienna, Austria

Contact me: michael.foels@gmail.com
Academic Profile: Google Scholar
Background Image: In Frame

Short Bio

I was born in Waidhofen/Ybbs, Austria, on August 12, 1986 where I attended the Primary School, Sports High School and Federal Higher Technical Institute for Education and Experimentation (HTL) with a major in Automation Engineering. I graduated from the Vienna University of Economics and Business in December 2015 as Master of Science in Information Systems with a specialization in Information Systems Engineering. My master thesis was written in cooperation with AK Wien about the topic "Privacy by Design" and focused on the introduction of a privacy framework to fully include privacy in every aspect of the Software Development Life-Cycle. The build up to the master thesis was a cooperation with the famous Austrian privacy activist Max Schrems which resulted in a Privacy Awareness App that was covered in Austrian (ORF , Der Standard) and International (Computer Bild, Chip) media outlets and was awarded with a Best Student(s) Award in 2013/2014. In parallel I also completed the master’s degree in Theatre-, Film-, and Media Studies at the University of Vienna with high honors in 2015. In my master thesis I evaluated and discussed mobile design principles and developed a responsive mobile data visualization framework in cooperation with Weblyzard.

In 2005 I started the film website Filmering.at which became one of the most frequented film related sites in Austria. During my bachelor studies in Business Informatics I had the opportunity to start working for the Institute for Information Business at the Vienna University of Economics and Business as a Software Engineer, Web Developer and Researcher. I have been part of the research projects DIVINE, uComp, Decarbonet, CommuniData and ReTV and was the leading frontend developer on our side in a cooperation with NOAA and the White House during the realization of the Climate Resilience Toolkit, which was presented by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in 2014 and was nominated for a Webby ("Internet’s highest honor" - New York Times) in 2015. In 2013 I also started to work for consol.Media, which was the biggest video game magazine company in Austria. I was the Web Development Leader of the company until the business was closed. During that time I completed web projects for partners like Microsoft, Nintendo and Ubisoft. In 2015 I joined the private university Modul University Vienna as a Software Engineer, Web Developer and Researcher. Besides my work as a Researcher, I was also responsible for a refreshment and make-over of the university website.

In 2016 I founded the company Martina Fotografiert together with my wife and since then I am responsible for the IT infrastructure and also working as a photographer. In 2017 I rejoined Weblyzard as a Software Engineer and Web Developer and the Vienna University of Economics and Business as a Researcher to work on my doctoral studies - with a research focus on Recommender Systems. I am also working as a freelance Software Engineer and Web Developer, focused on full stack PHP development and mobile applications (iOS and Android).

Hire me

If you are interested in hiring me as a Freelancer, please contact me at any time at michael.foels@gmail.com. I am an accomplished full stack PHP developer, with a special focus on web design and web development, especially with the CMS frameworks Joomla, Drupal, Wordpress and Typo 3. I am also experienced in developing Android and iOS Apps with Java and Swift. I put a special emphasize on mobile and responsive design and I am obsessed with details. I can also help you with your SEO and Social Media activities.

Career

Weblyzard
October 2017 - Current
Software Engineer & Web Developer
My main focus is full stack web development in PHP and JavaScript, with a special focus on responsive design and performance optimization. I am the responsible frontend developer in cooperations with WKW and NOAA.
PHP
JavaScript
AWS
jQuery
Bootstrap
CSS
HTML
Responsive Design
Wordpress
Drupal
Linux
Freelancer
February 2017 - Current
Software Engineer & Web Developer
Active in the area of full stack web development, from web design to the programming (mainly using PHP and JavaScript). I am also developing mobile applications for iOS/tvOS in Swift and Android in Java. I am specialized in frontend development with a special emphasize on mobile design (using mainly the concepts of responsive web design). Additionally I help clients with web hosting, backup solutions and performance optimization using AWS technologies. Furthermore, I am supporting customers in their long term IT integration and also with their SEO and Internet Marketing strategies.
PHP
JavaScript
jQuery
Bootstrap
CSS
HTML
Facebook API
Twitter API
Google API
Swift
Java
Responsive Design
AWS
Joomla
iOS
tvOS
Android
SEO
Internet Marketing
Social Media
Linux
martina.fotografiert
November 2016 - Current
Photographer & Co-Owner
Together with my wife I founded Martina Fotografiert. I am responsible for the whole IT infrastructure, Accounting & Controling and I am also working as a photographer. I covered various events for business partners like Generali, EuroVienna, Green Finance and Abbott.

In recent years I have specialized in wedding photography where I have won multiple national and international awards, including a Masters of Wedding Photography Award in 2020, a Bronze Medal and two Finalists at the World's Top 10 Wedding Photographers 2020 from One Eyeland, first place at the Vienna State Wedding Photography Awards in 2020, five Wedisson Best Photography Awards in 2021, four Wedawards in 2021, two silver medals at the WPE International Photography Awards in 2021, three Merit Awards from the Federation of European Professional Photographers in 2021 and achieved a second place finish at the Austrian Wedding Award (Best Captured Moment) in 2021 and a third place finish at the Austrian Wedding Award (Best Detail Shot) in 2021. With 7 total awards from the Wedding Photographer Society I am also currently ranked in the Top 100 wedding photographers of the world list.
Photography
Adobe Lightroom
Adobe Photoshop
PHP
JavaScript
AWS
Vienna University of Economics and Business
October 2017 - October 2018
Researcher at the Institute for Information Business
Active in research projects with a focus on "Recommender Systems" during my doctoral studies.
Research
Modul University Vienna
April 2015 - October 2017
Software Engineer, Web Developer & Researcher at the Department of New Media Technology
The main focus was PHP and JavaScript driven web and mobile development in various projects using Drupal, Wordpress, Typo3 or custom solutions. Other tasks include the administration of Linux servers, minor social media and Google AdWords related marketing effort and also performance enhancement using AWS services like CloudFront. Minor programming efforts were done in Java and Python. Furthermore, I was doing research in various projects about the topics "Recommender Systems", "Games With a Purpose" and "Mobile Design".
PHP
JavaScript
jQuery
Bootstrap
CSS
HTML
Facebook API
Twitter API
Google API
Python
Java
Responsive Design
AWS
Drupal
Wordpress
Typo 3
Linux
Vienna University of Economics and Business
August 2011 - December 2016
Software Engineer, Web Developer & Researcher at the Institute for Information Business
I started as a Researcher and Web Developer for various projects in the area of "Games With a Purpose". After that my focus area shifted towards more general Web Development using PHP, Python, JavaScript and various CMS and frameworks. I completed projects in cooperation with NOAA, WWF and the WKO.
PHP
JavaScript
jQuery
Bootstrap
CSS
HTML
Facebook API
Twitter API
Google API
Python
Java
Responsive Design
AWS
Drupal
Wordpress
Linux
Filmering.at
August 2005 - March 2016
Founder & Core Developer
I founded the website in 2005 and remained CEO, Editor in Chief and Core Developer until March 2016 when it was discontinued due to other responsibilities. The development was done in PHP, JavaScript and a little bit of Python in the backend, using the CMS Joomla and frameworks like jQuery and Bootstrap. Furthermore, I was solely responsible for the technical infrastructure and for 18 freelance authors who contributed to the site. Also I took care of the SEO, Internet Marketing (mainly using Facebook & Google) and also wrote many of the film reviews myself.

Major development milestones were:
  • Recommender System: I developed a custom recommender framework using the existing metadata of the movies and user ratings to recommend users movies which they might like (using a customized k-nearest neighbor approach). Furthermore, I also calculated the closeness of certain movies by comparing their metadata (Cast & Crew, Genre, Mood, etc.) and ratings-profile to display related movies to a given movie. Also the user list system and the TV, DVD and cinema showtimes of the site (as discussed below) were used to enable filtering for the user (e.g. show me the best movies in cinema for me right now).
  • TV & Cinema Showtimes: In cooperation with all major german speaking TV stations (including Pro7Sat1, ORF, SRF, ARD, ZDF and many more) I developed a custom data retrieval system which pulls the TV program from the partners and renders it for our users. I also extended the same functionality for nearly all Austrian cinemas (e.g. UCI, Hollywood Megaplexx, Diesel Kino) and integrated the showtimes with our notification and recommender system. I also developed a cinema finder to enable users to find the closest cinemas in their area and display their program.
  • Custom Video Component: I developed a fully customized component, which allowed me to upload video files, and converts them to playable formats for all users. Furthermore, the frontend system for this component and the video playback system including pre-roll ads was integrated with an existing video player.
  • User Lists & Notifications: A component was created to enable users to put movies and TV-shows on their watch list and to create custom lists. The data was used to enhance the recommendations for the users, and to send them notifications, when movies they want to watch appeared on TV, DVD or in cinemas.
  • Joomla Customization: The website was based on Joomla, but nearly all components, modules and plugins where custom developed to enhance the performance or to enable new features that existing components were not able to handle.
PHP
JavaScript
jQuery
Bootstrap
CSS
HTML
Facebook API
Twitter API
Google API
Python
Responsive Design
AWS
Joomla
Film Critic
Social Media
Internet Marketing
SEO
Linux
consol.Media
March 2013 - December 2013
Web Development Leader
I took over the existing web infrastructure of the media network and as the leading web developer was responsible for maintaining and extending the websites. The tasks mainly involved extension development for Typo 3 for the big websites of the network like consol.at, gamers.at or comic-hive.info, but also the extension of the custom social network myconsol.net. Furthermore, I realized web projects for partners like Microsoft, Nintendo and Ubisoft. I was in charge of the development process until the business was closed.
PHP
JavaScript
jQuery
Bootstrap
CSS
HTML
Responsive Design
Typo 3
Linux
Weblyzard
July 2013 - September 2013
Software Engineer & Web Developer
To complete some web projects that were started during various research projects I was hired by the company Weblyzard to work as a web developer and software engineer. The tasks mainly included frontend programming using PHP and JavaScript, but also backend programming using Python and Java. The cooperation with Weblyzard was continued afterwards during my work at the Vienna University of Economics and Business and Modul University Vienna.
PHP
JavaScript
jQuery
Bootstrap
CSS
HTML
Python
Java
Responsive Design
Wordpress
Linux
Welser Profile AG
August 2005 - November 2005
Internship - Quality Assurance
Welser Profile AG
August 2004 - September 2004
Internship - Office, Digitalization
Welser Profile AG
August 2003 - September 2003
Internship - Tool Manufacturing
Welser Profile AG
August 2002 - September 2002
Internship - Production

Education

Vienna University of Economics and Business
October 2016 - Current
Doctoral Program in Social and Economic Sciences
Currently I am attending the Doctoral Program in Social and Economic Sciences at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, specialized in Information Systems with a research focus on Recommender Systems. During my studies I attended the Internet Science Conference 2016 in Florence and the European Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (EACL) 2017 in Valencia as a presenter.
Vienna University of Economics and Business
October 2012 - December 2015
Master of Science in Information Systems
Specialization in Information Systems Engineering. Master Thesis about "Privacy by Design" in cooperation with AK Wien. Winner of the Best Student(s) Award in 2013/2014.
Universtity of Vienna
October 2006 - March 2015
Master's Degree in Theatre-, Film- and Media-Studies
Focus on film studies and media design (with a special focus on mobile design). Graduation with high honors. Master Thesis about "Success Criteria of Web Intelligence Services on Mobile Devices".
Vienna University of Economics and Business
October 2006 - May 2012
Bachelors Degree in Business, Economics, and Social Sciences
Major in Business Informatics. The bachelor thesis was about the challenges of translating services of the Learn@WU e-learning service to mobile devices. It was written in cooperation with the Learn@WU team.
HTL Waidhofen/Ybbs
September 2000 - May 2005
Matriculation (Matura) in Automation Engineering
Sports High School Waidhofen/Ybbs
September 1996 - June 2000
High School Diploma
Primary School Waidhofen/Ybbs
September 1992 - June 1996
Primary School Diploma

Skills

Programming / CMS / Frameworks

PHP10+ years
JavaScript10+ years
HTML / CSS / XML10+ years
jQuery10+ years
Joomla10+ years
Facebook / Google / Twitter APIs7 years
Python7 years
Java7 years
Bootstrap5 years
Wordpress5 years
Drupal5 years
Typo 35 years
Amazon Web Services4 years
Swift1 year

Languages

GermanMother tongue
EnglishFluently

Tasks

Web Development10+ years
SEO10+ years
Internet Marketing10+ years
Web Hosting (Linux)10+ years
Performance Enhancement10+ years
API Design and Implementation5 years
Android Development3 years
iOS/tvOS App Development1 year

Showcases

Kiesa
2018 - 2018
Kiesa
I created the product photos, image video and also the web design and marketing material for the Austrian automation engineering company Kiesa.
Photography
Videography
PHP
JavaScript
jQuery
Bootstrap
CSS
HTML
iOS
Responsive Design
Joomla
Linux
Grex Gym
2016 - Current
Grex Gym
I developed the website and infrastructure for the gym Grexgym.com. The site is realized in the CMS Joomla. Besides of the frontend work, major backend and internal components were created. The first step was to create a sales app which connects an iPad point of sale with the billing system in the backend. Later the whole member area of the gym was created. The member area consists of an infrastructure for members and coaches to handle course registration, a personal feedback feed (with videos and images) and also the whole schedule management for the gym and the coaches, which is integrated with the billing system.
PHP
JavaScript
jQuery
Bootstrap
CSS
HTML
iOS
Responsive Design
Joomla
Linux
GamesweltTV
2015 - 2017
GamesweltTV
In 2015 I created an Android TV and Fire TV App for the german video game magazine GamesweltTV. Afterwards it was decided to port the App to regular Android phones and tablets. The App supports the Twitch API to show when Gameswelt is live on twitch and to directly play the Twitch stream. Furthermore, the Google IMA SDK (for Android and iOS) was used to supports pre-roll ads for the videos. In 2017 the Web Media Publishing AG contacted me to also develop an iOS and tvOS App with the same functionality. Following modern design principles and providing support for iOS features like multitasking, split-screen and Picture in Picture, the App was brought to iPhone, iPad and AppleTV in March 2017.
Android
Java
FireTV
iOS
tvOS
Swift
iPhone
iPad
AppleTV
Google IMA SDK
Martina.Fotografiert
2016 - Current
Martina.Fotografiert
I did the web design, the coding of the site and created the backend infrastructure that is used for photo distribution to clients and billing. Furthermore, I am also hosting the site and perform constant SEO optimization and internet marketing efforts, mainly using Facebook, Instagram and Google AdWords.
PHP
JavaScript
jQuery
Bootstrap
CSS
HTML
AWS
Responsive Design
Facebook
Instagram
AdWords
SEO
Linux
Filmering.at
2005 - 2016
Filmering.at
I am the founder of the project and was responsible for the whole technical infrastructure of the site for more than 10 years. Besides the programming efforts for various custom Joomla extensions, I also managed the freelance authors of the site and took care about the hosting, SEO and internet marketing by myself.
PHP
JavaScript
jQuery
Bootstrap
CSS
HTML
Facebook API
Twitter API
Google API
Python
Responsive Design
AWS
Joomla
Film Critic
Social Media
Internet Marketing
SEO
Linux
Shock2
2014 - 2015
Shock2
After the end of consol.Media the community was transferred to the newly launched property Shock2. I helped the founder Michael Furtenbach to set up the site and created a custom ad plugin for Wordpress. Furthermore, I provide technical help, troubleshooting and advise regarding the hosting of the site. I also appeared in one podcast as a film expert.
PHP
JavaScript
jQuery
CSS
HTML
Wordpress
Podcasting
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