From Battery Data to Web Scrapers and Circular Economy: The Developer Journey of Michael Haar (Denovo GmbH)

Introduction: A grounded, human path into Full Stack

In “Michael Haar, Full Stack Developer bei Denovo,” Michael Haar (Denovo GmbH) offers a refreshingly practical account of becoming a full stack engineer: from an electrical engineering foundation at an HTL in Weiz, through hands-on data analysis at AVL, then three startup years building EV charging systems, into web development—and today, into projects with a strong link to the circular economy.

Listening from the DevJobs.at editorial seat, we heard a throughline: watch for real problems, build small tools that relieve friction, and let those successes pull you toward the next domain. That’s exactly how a simple web scraper for a real-estate friend turned into a gateway to web development, client collaboration, and end-to-end delivery.

Early foundations: HTL Weiz and first steps in code

Michael calls himself “a bit of a career changer,” yet he started with a robust technical education: HTL in electrical engineering in Weiz. There, he began programming—C, PLC/SPS, and C-Sharp—building small games and gaining a tangible feel for logic, structure, and debugging.

That mix matters. PLCs and C/C# expose you to the hardware edge while shaping the discipline to reason about software. It also foreshadows later moves into data work, IoT, and cloud. For many engineers, this hybrid vantage point is what makes full-stack thinking feel natural rather than forced.

University and industry exposure at AVL: MATLAB, Excel, VBA, and battery aging data

Michael then studied electrical engineering and worked at AVL in the battery development department for electric vehicles. Tooling there centered on MATLAB, Excel, and VBA—unmistakably data-heavy. The team dealt with large datasets, especially battery aging measurements, and he leaned into analysis and automation. He also completed his master’s thesis at AVL with MATLAB-based data analysis. Looking back, he describes this work as what would now be called “data science.”

It’s a crucial arc. When domain knowledge (battery technology) meets the right tools (MATLAB, spreadsheets, scripting), software becomes leverage: evidence-based insights, faster iteration, fewer manual errors. For engineers coming from non-CS backgrounds, this is an accessible on-ramp: start with problems you understand deeply, and let software amplify your impact.

Startup years: MBT software and EV chargers

After the thesis, Michael became an MBT software developer at a local startup building EV chargers, staying for three years. While he doesn’t detail the stack, the context speaks volumes: electric mobility, real-world devices, and the convergence of hardware and software.

He notes that he increasingly worked with IoT and cloud systems. This is a familiar transition: once devices exist, connectivity, telemetry, and remote management follow. Data pipelines need modeling, dashboards want building, and web experiences come into play. Many developers discover their “full stack” stride precisely through this continuum from device logic to services and interfaces.

The pivotal side project: a web scraper for real-estate listings

One scene stands out for its clarity. A friend in real estate, working in Graz, was buying, renovating, and selling apartments. During the years around “2012, 2020,” as Michael phrases it, the market was intensely demand-driven. The friend’s pain was simple: refresh listing pages every five minutes to catch opportunities.

Michael’s response was equally straightforward: build a “webscriber”—a web scraper—to collect, process, and notify automatically when relevant listings appeared. No hype—just an application that removed daily friction. That small, targeted tool accelerated Michael’s shift into web development. It turned real data and simple automation into user-facing value.

For us, the pattern is instructive. The best developer learning loops begin where real annoyances live. If you can automate a task someone dreads, you gain both motivation and meaningful feedback.

A career move through relationships: a message from an army friend

Another insight is about people and timing. At some point, a friend from his army days messaged him: “We’re looking for a developer—interested?” That outreach led Michael to a different company in Graz focused on web development. As he puts it: “And that’s how it went from there.”

Networks matter. In a fast-moving field, former teammates or classmates often provide the bridge to the next challenge. Not as a shortcut, but as a signal of trust and a shared baseline.

The everyday reality: bridging requirements and implementation

Michael sums up the role of a developer plainly: clients bring requirements, often to digitize processes, and “as a developer you’re the link between requirements and implementation.” That’s the heartbeat of full stack work. It’s not only about mastering tools, but about translating business intent into robust, maintainable systems.

Questions arise naturally: What needs to be captured digitally? Which requirements are essential versus nice-to-have? What data and interfaces are necessary? Michael’s background—from electrical engineering to data analysis to IoT and web—strengthens this bridge-building. He’s used to thinking end-to-end.

“Programming is a little like being able to do magic”

One line sticks:

Users experience well-built software as magic: steps vanish, errors decline, time returns to them. But the craft is grounded—requirements clarified, data parsed, logic stitched together, notifications tuned, and operations kept healthy. The magic is the feeling at the other end of careful, end-to-end engineering.

Today at Denovo GmbH: circular-economy projects with end-to-end ownership

Michael notes that at Denovo GmbH, many products and projects focus on the circular economy—an “am Zahn der Zeit” direction. The working style is equally contemporary: he describes being deeply integrated across the entire development process, from start to finish, in constant contact with clients, clarifying and implementing requirements.

We hear two core themes:

• Ownership: developers stay with a product from initial scoping through to delivery and iteration.
• Communication: client contact is continuous, not an afterthought—questions, priorities, and feedback loops are part of the daily job.

In circular-economy contexts—where business processes often span organizations—this pairing is crucial. Technical outcomes depend on understanding real workflows, responsibilities, and data flows.

Benefits of the craft: freedom, balance, and focus time

On the plus side of software development, Michael points to:

• Work-life balance
• Flexible working hours
• A lot of home office

These freedoms enable deep work: uninterrupted blocks, personal productivity rhythms, and space for creative problem-solving. They don’t magically make things easy—but they create the conditions for craftsmanship. With those freedoms comes responsibility to structure time, prioritize well, and communicate clearly.

The trade-off: end-to-end also means constant alignment

What’s demanding about the role? Being integrated across the whole development process means constant client interaction, ongoing requirement clarification, and diligent follow-through into implementation. It’s a dual challenge: technical depth plus communication discipline. Those who embrace both don’t just ship features—they deliver systems that people genuinely use.

Formal education: helpful but not a hard prerequisite

Michael is frank: a specific formal education isn’t strictly necessary. He mentions colleagues who completed university studies but don’t use much of it day to day. That’s not a dismissal of degrees—it’s a reminder that the field is broader than curricula and that practice, curiosity, and self-driven learning often matter most.

At the same time, he stresses the speed of change. His keyword: continuous learning. “It never gets boring,” he says—there are always new technologies.

The lesson: cultivate a steady routine of upskilling. Small, regular learning beats occasional, oversized ambitions.

Learning inputs: YouTube as a window into real-world problem solving

Michael keeps his learning sources pragmatic: YouTube videos by “Primagen, Deo, wie auch immer.” He describes them as recognized senior software developers at companies like Netflix, Uber, and Twitch. The value, to him, is that they wrestle with problems similar to those many of us face—and they show their thinking. That makes for actionable insights and rich material for team discussions.

We take a simple principle from this: find learning content that shows authentic trade-offs and architecture decisions, not only final answers. Seeing how experienced engineers reason through constraints helps you build pattern fluency rather than recipe dependence.

Actionable lessons for developers

Drawing from Michael Haar’s path, here are concrete takeaways:

• Start with real pain: A web scraper that stopped constant refreshing turned into a force multiplier for learning and impact.
• Leverage your domain: Understanding batteries and measurement data made his analysis at AVL genuinely useful—domain insight drives good software.
• Be the bridge: Treat requirements translation as a core skill. Listening well is half the work.
• Own end to end: From scoping to operations—carrying the thread through sharpens judgment and builds better systems.
• Nurture relationships: A message from an army friend became a career step. Networks signal trust.
• Learn continuously: Favor a steady cadence of small wins over sporadic sprints of study.
• Watch experienced practitioners: Real-world sessions by seasoned developers reveal patterns you can immediately apply.
• Communicate with intention: Flexibility (remote, hours) raises the bar for clarity in alignment and documentation.

Quotes that stay with us

A few lines capture the spirit of Michael’s journey:

They underscore a craft built on empathy, translation, and relentless learning.

Why this path resonates

Michael Haar’s route is a testament to coherent growth through varied contexts: HTL and university in electrical engineering, industry-grade data work at AVL, three startup years in EV charging, a practical web scraper born from a friend’s real need, a move into web development via personal networks—and today, full stack work at Denovo GmbH, with projects connected to the circular economy.

For fellow developers, three signals stand out:

1) Practicality beats theory alone: Start where the pain is, and let software reduce it.

2) Translation is the secret weapon: Bridge people, processes, and code deliberately.

3) Learning is the job: Keep your cadence, and the market’s pace becomes manageable.

“Michael Haar, Full Stack Developer bei Denovo” is more than a résumé walk-through. It’s a reminder that credibility accumulates when you repeatedly solve problems others care about—and that the sense of “magic” users feel is built from careful analysis, crisp communication, and end-to-end stewardship.

Next steps you can try now

Inspired by Michael’s story, here are immediate, low-friction steps:

• Pick one recurring annoyance and automate a sliver of it (scrape, parse, notify).
• Rewrite requirements in your own words before coding; it strengthens the bridge mindset.
• Schedule short, weekly learning blocks; consistency compounds.
• Learn from engineers who share their real-world reasoning, not just polished outcomes.
• Discuss what you learn—debate turns ideas into durable understanding.

Do this long enough and you’ll see what Michael describes: a path that may look nonlinear on paper but feels coherent in practice—and that delivers value where it counts, in the real processes people run every day.

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