Anna Babaryka works for Swedish media company Bonnier Broadcasting

Hi Anna, what are you working on at the moment?

I am currently on maternity leave with my 3-month-old son. I previously worked as Android development chief and Android developer at the Swedish media company Bonnier Broadcasting. My team and I are responsible for TV4 Play and C More video streaming applications for Android, providing Swedish households with high-class entertainment.

TV4 Play is an AVOD (advertisement-based video on demand) service that requires the user to watch commercials before streaming the desired content. TV4 Play has over 4 million registered users so taking care of such a vast community of users is a big responsibility. At the same time it's a real pleasure to work for the local market and have such a close relationship with the customers. There is hardly anyone in Sweden who hasn’t heard of TV4 or hasn’t used our services before. C More is a SVOD service, i.e. subscription-based video on demand – our Swedish answer to Netflix.  

What is a regular day like at your job?

My role combines both management and actual computer programming. Some days the management part takes over and I have meetings with other development teams to plan and discuss current and upcoming developments to ensure that we deliver the best product possible to our customers in time.

Luckily, the majority of my time I spend coding, which I enjoy the most, either on my own, with my peers from the Android team or in the form of mob programming with colleagues from other teams. Together with my team we develop Android applications for mobile, tablet and TV devices. There are always lots of new features for development in our backlog, as well as day-to-day maintenance to ensure that current versions of our applications are not error prone and are stable.

Have you worked on anything else since you graduated?

I have been working as a full-time developer since I graduated in 2012. For the first two years, I worked as a consultant at Android development for companies such as Viaplay, Oriflame, Seamless and Millicom, to name but a few. Then in 2014 I joined TV4 and Bonnier. Since January last year I have also been responsible for all Android development at TV4 and lead a team of six developers.

A couple of years ago I got my Scrum master certification and help different development teams to setup and manage their development processes.

Why did you choose this programme at KTH?

At KTH I studied on the joint master’s programme in Computer Simulation for Science and Engineering in cooperation with TU Berlin, where I spent the first year of my first master’s.

I really enjoyed the fact that the programme was very hands-on; there were a lot of practical tasks and group tasks. I think this hands-on approach is important on a master’s level because it gives you the chance to use all the theoretical knowledge you have gathered over the years to solve real problems.

I worked for Samsung R&D before joining the programme at KTH and was conducting research in augmented reality and image recognition. At the time, only a few universities in the world conducted research in this area, and KTH was one of them. There were no doubt I would be heading for KTH.

What was the best aspect of your studies at KTH?

My studies at KTH were modern and relevant. Once I graduated and got my first job in Sweden I didn’t feel the gap between school and the industry, which is quite common. I received a first-class education and my knowledge and skills were in demand on the market.

The university also has great facilities. Some of my favourite places are the roof-top cafe at the library and the stunning view from the tower of the courtyard building on the main campus. I made friends for life during my time at KTH. Coming from abroad, I really appreciated the open and welcoming environment and all the events that the university holds for international students in order to make them feel at home and also make connections. I can now speak Swedish fluently. However, it was at KTH that I took my first Swedish language course and I’m very grateful for this.

Last but not least, I thought I had moved to Stockholm simply to pursue my degree. Seven years later and I’m still here. I hope that in the future my son will also choose KTH.

What would you want to say to a student who was thinking of applying for this programme?

I envy you in a way. You have exciting times to look forward to! My time at KTH was defining for my career and I will always remember my days at the university with great warmth. 

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Master's programme in Computer Simulations for Science and Engineering