Nicolas Ruiz, Ink’s back-end developer, reflects on how a single internship at Ink Innovation led him from hands-on coding to leading a tech team.
Back in 2019, I was finishing university in Colombia and browsing through a long list of tech internships. Most of them looked the same—generic tasks, nothing exciting. But one caught my eye.
Microservices and Docker.
That stood out. It felt real, technical, and new.
I had never considered working in aviation tech before, but something about that offer made me curious. I applied, not knowing that this would be the start of a journey that would shape both my career and my passions.
I became Ink’s first intern.
It wasn’t just symbolic—they threw me straight into real projects. I was working with Docker, Go, Angular, AWS–platforms I had never used before.
It was a steep learning curve. I learned more in those six months than in years of university.
When they offered me a full-time role, I said ‘yes’.
I started out as a software developer. But as time went on, I found myself drawn to something new.
Cybersecurity and Computer Engineering.
I started as a software developer, but I became curious about how we secure and maintain the systems we build over time.
It began with a practical need—penetration testing introduced me to tools like Burp Suite, which sparked a deeper interest. I went on to complete a diploma in cybersecurity and earn my ISO 27001 certification as an internal auditor.
About a year ago, I moved to Valencia, Spain, to begin a master’s in Computer Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. While my studies have shifted focus, I continue to build on my cybersecurity knowledge alongside my current role.
My role is about three things: Develop, fix, guide.
Although I’m now involved in developing our load control system, which is used by clients like Jet2, Radixx, and Nauru Airlines, I’ve also joined Ink’s SRE (Site Reliability Engineering) team. Our responsibility is to keep Ink’s services stable and running smoothly from the application side, ensuring they stay reliable as we scale.
I love the culture at Ink.
We have colleagues from all over—Serbia, Argentina, Spain, the Philippines, and Venezuela. I learn something new every day just by working with them.
For me, what matters most in any role is culture, respect, and balance. Those are non-negotiables.
Ink offers all of that.
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