Article last updated on March 5, 2025
We’re celebrating our IBM Champions Walter van der Heiden, Andy Lapping, Martin Stockl, and Johannes Trageser! In case you're wondering what makes an IBM Champion: All IBM Champions are enthusiasts who enjoy sharing their deep knowledge and extensive expertise in IBM technologies with others at conferences, seminars, and any other opportunity to interact in the technical communities.
IBM highly values these experts with the IBM Champions program and issues the IBM Champions badge, which only officially confirmed IBM Champions are allowed to use in their digital profiles. At SodiusWillert, our IBM Champions are characterized, among other things, by years of expertise in modeling and IBM Engineering Systems Design Rhapsody, which they have successfully applied in many projects. Get to know our IBM Champions!
Walter van der Heiden – Our CTO and UML/SysML Guru
Walter is a recognized expert in UML/SysML and related standards. For decades, his focus was on improving the development of embedded systems and software through modeling techniques, end-to-end integration into the lifecycle and effectively controlling risks in the development of complex systems. In addition to working with customers and partners, Walter also enjoys sharing his expertise as an author, coach, consultant, and trainer. The epitome of the IBM Champion!
Andy Lapping – Technical Fellow and shaper of IBM Rhapsody
Andy has also been focused on model-based development of systems and software for decades and is a recognized expert in the application and customization of the IBM Engineering Lifecycle Management portfolio. He is the mastermind behind many add-ons and helpers that simplify or accelerate the use of IBM Rhapsody in daily project practice, or increase user acceptance of IBM Rhapsody. His presentations, training courses, and webinars are legendary and are always characterized by a clear structure, excellent comprehensibility, and professional design. A genuine IBM champion!
Martin Stockl – „it’s crazy how much he knows about Rhapsody"
… as a customer said after a training with Martin. Martin has put his heart and soul into the development of embedded real-time systems for 35 years. Whether it's application development, the internals of numerous real-time operating systems, or model-based system and software development through to the automatic generation of source code – he feels at home. Consequently, his real hobbyhorse is the optimization of automated code generation from UML models for real-time systems with deterministic time behavior. Together with our customers, he develops best practices and tool enhancements to automate frequently occurring design patterns in the best possible way. A true IBM champion!
Johannes Trageser – Our Modeling and Code Generation expert
Johannes Trageser is Product Owner for Modeling and Code Generation Solutions at SodiusWillert, where he has worked since 2015. Model-based software development for safety-critical embedded systems is a topic that has been close to his heart for many years. Johannes is a person who really enjoys passing on his expertise. He does so through the training courses he delivers, but also as a lecturer at conferences such as REConf, MESCONF, ESE Kongress, and more.
Feel free to contact our IBM Champions here or on LinkedIn:
- Walter van der Heiden linkedin.com/in/waltervdheiden
- Andy Lapping linkedin.com/in/andy-lapping-mbse
- Johannes Trageser linkedin.com/in/johannes-trageser
- Martin Stockl linkedin.com/in/mstock
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