staubmann.eu

Valentin Staubmann · IT Engineer

From Amiga to AI

Building useful technology with curiosity and decades of experience — from mechanical engineering to systems, development, and AI that actually helps people.

See my work →

Hi, I'm Valentin Staubmann — an IT engineer with a background in mechanical engineering and many years of experience in systems, development, and open-source technologies. IT Engineer @ iqoqi.at.

Before moving into IT, I worked as a mechanical engineer. That background still shapes how I approach technology today: with precision, curiosity, and a focus on practical, long-term solutions.

A short history

Growing up alongside the technology

  1. 1985

    A Schneider, a green screen, and games typed from a manual

    One of my first hands-on experiences with computers: typing in programs line by line from a thick manual, on a Schneider with a green monochrome monitor.

  2. 1987

    First computer - Commodore Amiga 500

    Owning an Amiga 500 was a big step. It pulled me deeper into computers and showed me how much creativity there is in technology.

  3. 1990

    286 → 386 → 486 - the PC years

    From DOS to early Windows, I kept learning how computers work, and how the right tools make complex things manageable.

  4. 1996

    First internet access and web development

    Going online for the first time opened up a whole new world. I built my first website from scratch and was hooked on the web from then on.

  5. 2000

    Java, and sending pictures before MMS

    I joined a software company knowing little more than HTML and learned Java on the job. MMS didn’t exist yet, so we built our own way to send pictures between phones: a Java client split the image into packets and sent them, over a protocol we had written ourselves, to a Java server we had also built. A wild time, and one that shaped me.

  6. 2001

    UMTS demos and mobile applications

    I worked on Java applications for a mobile demo environment that showcased early UMTS use cases, video calls among them.

  7. 2002

    Oracle cluster administration for hospitality software

    Hotel systems have to run around the clock. Looking after their Oracle clusters taught me what stable, scalable, and reliable really mean.

  8. 2007

    Joining the IQOQI

    I became the IT engineer at the IQOQI, a research institute. It’s a long chapter, and I’m still writing it.

  9. 2025

    AI-assisted content and new tools

    AI has become part of my toolkit too. This website was built with its help, a natural next step after decades of watching technology evolve.

  10. 2026

    Chief AI Officer programme

    I completed an intensive Chief AI Officer programme: a few packed weeks of strategy, governance, and hands-on practice. I finished with distinction, and came away with a changed view of what responsible AI implementation really takes.

Sunset over the Tyrrhenian Sea near Salerno, Italy
It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.
Robert H. Goddard — pioneer rocket engineer (1882–1945)