Pavel Šimerda

Pavel Šimerda

I care about systems that stay reliable, fast, and easy to change

I work on C++ and Linux systems: debugging hard problems, stabilizing legacy code, and modernizing it without breaking what already works. I also teach Rust and speak about systems programming.

My background includes network device drivers and low-latency systems. I previously worked with Red Hat and SUSE on network-related components of the Linux ecosystem and have been active in open source systems development for more than a decade.

Services

Professionally, I work on technically demanding C++ and Rust projects where reliability, performance and long-term maintainability matter, usually as short, focused engagements. Past work has included reviewing and stabilizing legacy C++ codebases before major releases, investigating difficult production crashes, reviewing architecture before scaling systems software, and running technical workshops for teams moving to modern C++.

For ongoing Rust or Modern C++ mentoring for your engineering team, or a workshop covering either, see devskills.eu, my dedicated mentoring and training site.

Explore mentoring and training →

Training

I’ve been teaching professional IT courses since 2008. From 2012 to 2017 I worked at Red Hat on core Linux networking, and kept teaching on the side, staying in touch with ICT Pro, a training company active in the Czech Linux community that I regularly ran into at OpenAlt in Brno. In 2018 I revived ICT Pro’s Linux kernel and user-space courses. In 2020, during the COVID shutdown, when Petr Slavík and I were figuring out how ICT Pro could get through the crisis and be ready once companies started asking for training again, I redesigned its Python courses and created its C++ and Rust courses from scratch, the same material that later grew into devskills.eu.

Teaching

It all started with a student, Damian Waloszek, asking me to teach Rust at MatFyz, Charles University’s Faculty of Mathematics and Physics. I loved the idea of bringing a genuinely new language into the curriculum, and in 2021 Michal Vaner and I turned it into a real course together. Lukáš Hozda later took it further with a dedicated lab for every lecture; the course is still running today, and I stay involved as a substitute lecturer and behind the scenes.

See my MatFyz profile →

Beyond university teaching, I also contribute to programming education in primary and secondary schools.

See my eduskills.cz profile →

Speaking

I speak at European open-source and systems conferences including FOSDEM, LinuxCon, DevConf, LinuxDays and OpenAlt, on Linux networking, debugging, systems architecture and modern C++/Rust development. Selected talks:

Conference talks

Education talks

  • InstallFest 2024Programování na základní školevideo
  • Mozaika Vzdělávání #22S Pavlem Šimerdou o vzdělávání v roli žáka, rodiče, lektorapodcast

Other appearances

  • EVOLVE! StoriesJak být dobrým recruiterempodcast
  • OldschoolersTři obyčejní chlapi pomáhají Ukrajiněvideo

Community

I revived the Prague Rust Meetup in 2024, with Jakub Beránek, and stay active in the Czech Rust and C++ communities.

Contact

Have a C++ or Linux problem worth a second pair of eyes, an idea for a talk, or a question about working together? Feel free to write, I answer emails myself.

✉️ business@simerda.eu

Based in Prague, Czech Republic, working with clients remotely and on-site across Europe.

  • eduskills.cz: my work in primary and secondary school programming education.
  • ICT Pro: the training company I’ve worked with since 2018, see their Linux courses.
  • navolnenoze.cz: my Na volné noze freelance profile.
  • LinkedIn: professional updates and a place to connect directly.