Jobs in Singapore: “How I went from coding on Minecraft to building software that advances healthcare”

Muhammad Shazrin Bin Shoffie is a Software Developer at German MedTech company BIOTRONIK, which has its Asia Pacific Manufacturing and Research Hub located in Singapore. As part of BIOTRONIK’s software development team, he’s involved in developing new software components for its medical devices. Shazrin holds a Bachelor of Computing in Computer Science from the National University of Singapore.
 

1. Tell us about what you do at BIOTRONIK.

I’m part of BIOTRONIK’s new software development team which was established in 2024. The company has been in Singapore since 2012 and has been steadily growing its presence in areas like manufacturing, R&D and most recently, software development.

My main project at BIOTRONIK is to design and build a new software component for our Home Monitoring system. BIOTRONIK manufactures devices such as implantable pacemakers and defibrillators.
 

For patients with a BIOTRONIK device, data about the device's performance and the patient’s biological metrics are extracted remotely by our software component under the Home Monitoring system. The information is then processed and transmitted automatically to their doctors on a daily basis, so they can constantly monitor the patient's condition and the device's functionality. This enables healthcare professionals to make timely and more informed decisions about patient care.

I also work closely with other team members to see how we can better optimise development workflows and integrate new ideas into the Home Monitoring system. We foresee an increasing need for this product in the global market – that is why we are constantly looking at how we can make our software component more efficient so that it can lead to better and more responsive patient management.
 

2. How did you end up in this role at BIOTRONIK?

My interest in programming started from playing Minecraft when I was young. Seeing content creators on YouTube play mini games on Minecraft made me curious to learn more about how code can be used to build these digital worlds. This led me to pick up Java so that I could develop my own custom games on the platform. Watching my ideas come to life showed me the power of code and the ability it has to transform and build anything I can imagine. With this realisation, I decided to pursue software development and went on to major in Computer Science at university.
 

I was job-hunting for around two months after graduation. While I did consider positions in other sectors like e-commerce and aviation, I found myself particularly drawn to roles in the MedTech industry as they align with my belief in the Japanese concept of ikigai. Ikigai is about finding your purpose in life by seeing how your passion and skills can intersect with what the world needs and what you can be paid for. BIOTRONIK, being in such a niche sector, offered me a unique chance to delve deeper into my passion for software engineering while allowing me to use the skills I had to work on technology that directly improves lives.
 

3. What have you learnt through your experience at the company?

At BIOTRONIK, I had the chance to be involved in building a new team from the ground up, which helped to accelerate my learning and growth as a first jobber. As the manufacturing, R&D and software development departments are all located within the same building, I can interact directly with colleagues from different disciplines and gain deeper insights into the entire lifecycle of our products. It felt like the best of both worlds for a young software developer – I was able to enjoy the dynamic hands-on environment typical of a startup, while benefitting from the resources of an established global company.
 

On a work trip to Berlin, I visited BIOTRONIK’s facilities there and spoke to senior staff members. The knowledge-sharing sessions gave me a better understanding of how our software component integrates with our hardware devices and provided me with international exposure early on in my career. This really drove home for me the impact I could make in the MedTech industry through my work.
 

4. What’s most meaningful to you about your role?

During World Heart Day, I met a patient who shared how the Home Monitoring system helped improve his quality of life and gave him a sense of comfort. It was a surreal moment where I was able to see for myself how the solutions I have created are being used all over the world. That’s what I find most meaningful about my work – it’s not just about writing code, it’s about building solutions that can address real-world challenges in patient care.
 

Being part of BIOTRONIK’s growth here has been an exciting milestone for my career. I see the Singapore team playing an increasingly crucial role in contributing to advancements that can help improve healthcare for our patients. I hope that one day we can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our global counterparts in terms of innovation and impact.