About Me

Hello there!
I am Dr. Patrick Rathje, a computer scientist fascinated by autonomy and intelligence in distributed systems. I recently completed my Ph.D. at Kiel University, where I worked in the Distributed Systems Research Group under Prof. Olaf Landsiedel. My thesis, From Contact Tracing to Coordination: Autonomy for Mobile Low-Power IoT Systems, explored how communication protocols can boost autonomy in decentralized, resource-constrained environments.

Inspired by mobility and safety in decentralized multi-agent systems, my research spans across embedded systems, opportunistic networking, cooperative localization, and AI-powered decision-making. I enjoy working on problems at the intersection of theory and practice — from simulating coordination protocols to deploying and evaluating them on embedded hardware such as UWB-based IoT nodes and wristband platforms.

Alongside my academic work, I have been a lead software engineer and continue to consult as an IT freelancer. My professional experience includes full-stack development, systems architecture, and DevOps for scalable systems. I also love teaching — I have supervised over a dozen theses and contributed to courses on Distributed Systems, IT Security, and Quantum Computing. Currently, I am exploring new opportunities in multi-agent coordination, blockchains and AI engineering.

Beyond my work in computer science, I am passionate about music. I love singing, and I enjoy playing the piano and drums. I further enjoy science fiction, evolution, and I am still trying to learn Marathi and Hindi with varying success. Currently, I am based between Kiel, Germany, and Liverpool, UK.

✉️ You can reach me at mail@patrickrathje.de