From

Cube

to

WorldSkills

Shanghai:

Niek

Geerligs

Finishes

11th

at

the

World

Championships.

Looking back together.

As we look back on his adventure together, Niek pulls out one photo and video after another. He talks about the competition, the people he met, and the moments that have stayed with him. You can tell he’s proud of what he’s experienced, even as he talks about it in his own down-to-earth way. At Cube, we’re proud to have been able to experience part of his preparation up close. But how does a student who had never built an app before end up at a world championship? That story begins, surprisingly enough, with a major defeat.

Motivation and drive.

Niek is from Daarlerveen, a village in Twente, and is studying Software Development at ROC van Twente. His first competition was Web Development, at school. He didn’t make it through that one. Still, that wasn’t the end of his competitive journey. Teacher Loni Gojani then asked him to participate in the Mobile App Development competition. At that point, Niek says he couldn’t even put text on an app. The teacher saw, above all, his motivation and drive. As Niek explains: “It’s not really a case of someone telling a student, ‘You’re really good; you should compete.’ It’s more like, ‘I think you have the motivation and drive. Do you want to compete in these contests?’”

Learning to deal with setbacks.

In November 2025, he traveled to Taipei for WorldSkills Asia to practice against the top Asian competitors. There, the competition didn’t go as well as he’d hoped. He chose to develop for the iPhone; “in hindsight, I should have chosen Android.” It was an experience from which he learned, including how to deal with setbacks. After Taipei, his motivation dipped a bit. A third international training session brought it back: once again in Neubrandenburg, this time during the Albert Einstein Cup. There, Niek realized he could keep up well with the other competitors. That gave him new confidence, and with that feeling, his next destination became Shanghai.

Twenty hours of training alongside school.

To compete at the highest level, Niek had to put in a lot of hours. In addition to his studies, he trained about twenty hours a week. That required making choices. Ultimately, his part-time job no longer fit alongside school, training, sports, and friends. Moreover, the preparation went beyond programming. With Team Netherlands, he took training courses in areas such as teamwork, stress management, and dealing with the media. During one exercise, participants had to keep working while a lot of noise was deliberately made around them. For the technical part, Niek needed guidance from someone with specific knowledge of app development. At school, knowledge and guidance in Flutter (the framework Niek uses to build apps) weren’t readily available. His teacher therefore looked for an organization in the region that worked with Flutter, and that’s how Cube came into the picture.

Every Tuesday at Cube.

At Cube, Niek could go every Tuesday to work on his preparation. Cube builds apps in React Native and Flutter, which allowed him to continue developing his skills in a dedicated space and bounce ideas off developers when needed. The rest of the week, he trained on his own. For Niek, it was precisely that combination that worked well: being able to work on his own, but also having someone nearby he could ask questions of. He wasn’t working on an assignment with someone constantly looking over his shoulder; instead, he remained in control of his own preparation and could use Tuesdays to make progress.

That set day also provided structure during a period when he had a lot on his plate. In addition to his studies and training sessions, he was working step by step toward the world championship. At Cube, we saw firsthand just how much time and attention he put into it. On his participant page at WorldSkills Netherlands, Cube is now listed alongside ROC van Twente as one of the organizations that supported him. It’s a small mention, but one we’re proud of. Shortly before the WorldSkills competition, Niek also began his internship at Cube. There wasn’t much time to settle in: after two weeks as an intern, he left for two and a half weeks in Shanghai. Time for that one big challenge: WorldSkills.

Among tilers, chefs, and florists.

WorldSkills is much more than just a competition for IT professionals. The world championship brings together young skilled workers from all kinds of vocational training programs. In Shanghai, over 1,400 participants from more than 70 countries competed in 64 skills competitions. In addition to the digital fields, there were, for example, tile setters, chefs, hairdressers, florists, landscapers, and mechanics. Niek was one of the participants from an IT field, just like Wessel van der A, who competed in Web Technologies.

It was precisely that mix that made the experience special. In Shanghai, he met participants from all kinds of countries and fields. He talks about it at length while showing footage of the people he got to know along the way. Take, for example, the footage of the Dutch lion, the mascot of Team Netherlands, which popped up during events and drew everyone’s attention. As Niek talks about the opening ceremony, the other participants, and everything he experienced between competitions, you can see his enthusiasm grow. The results are just one part of his story. So much more happened during those days in Shanghai.

Four days, seven apps, and no AI.

The competition itself was a world of its own. The atmosphere reminded Niek of elite sports: countries came together, flags were flying, and during the opening ceremony, the competitors stood together as teams. For four days, Niek had to show what he could do. In those four days, he built seven apps: two functional apps, two designs in Figma, two apps he had to replicate as accurately as possible based on a design, and one app he had to build and automatically test within a limited time. Even as he was checking his workspace, it turned out the packages on his laptop weren’t correct. Niek stayed calm and adapted. And this time, he worked on Android (a valuable lesson from Taipei).

Replicating a design, in particular, requires an eye for detail. Colors, dimensions, animations, and proportions must be exactly right. An app may work perfectly from a technical standpoint, but if the design doesn’t match the assignment, you lose points. And the clock is ticking. The assignments are so challenging that virtually no one manages to complete everything. So it’s also about setting priorities and making the right choices under time pressure.

During the competition, Niek didn’t use any AI. He also stayed off the internet, even though participants were allowed ten minutes online once per competition to look something up. “I’d rather spend that time building than looking something up,” he says. He preferred to rely on his own knowledge and the skills he had built up during his preparation. The first task didn’t go quite as Niek had hoped. The second one, however, went well: he finished sixth out of all the participants.

Three points short.

After four days of competition, the awards ceremony took place. Niek finished eleventh out of eighteen competitors in Mobile Applications Development, in a field that included China, Korea, Japan, Germany, and Brazil. A minimum of 700 points was required for a Medal for Excellence. With 697 points, he fell three points short. Proud or disappointed? The answer is simple: “Both.” Of course, the result could have been better, especially after all the hours he’d put into his preparation. At the same time, there was plenty to be proud of, both when he looks back on his own performance and on that of his teammates. The Dutch team didn’t make it onto the podium, but they earned a total of ten Medals for Excellence.

A family cheering him on from afar.

There was plenty of support off the competition floor as well. Niek’s father and mother were in Shanghai to cheer him on. His mother sent updates to Cube during the competition, allowing us in Oldenzaal to follow along with what he was experiencing. His family was incredibly proud of him. Especially when Niek talks about his grandfather, a big smile spreads across his face. That pride speaks volumes about what this journey meant to him and the people around him. It wasn’t just about those four days in Shanghai, but also about the years of training, the choices he made along the way, and the journey he undertook to even get there. During our conversation, the photos and videos keep popping up. From the competition floor and the opening ceremony to the lion and the people he met: Niek captured it all. The technical aspects are important, but the encounters and everything he experienced outside of the challenges are just as much a part of his memories of Shanghai.

From training on Tuesdays to his internship at Cube.

After WorldSkills, Niek resumed his internship at Cube. Whereas he previously spent one day a week with us working on his preparation, he is now an integral part of the day-to-day operations at the office. He can continue learning, gain experience, and discover what it’s like to work on a development team. He appreciates that the internship ties in with his WorldSkills adventure. “If I hadn’t had anything lined up after WorldSkills, I really wouldn’t have known what to do. Now I’m back in a good rhythm.” He hasn’t decided yet what he wants to do after he graduates. Continuing his studies, getting a job, or maybe even starting his own business someday, he’s keeping his options open. First, he’ll finish his Software Development program.

For Cube, it’s great to see how Niek continues to develop. We’ve come to know him as someone who worked independently on his preparation, asked questions when necessary, and continued to build on his skills every Tuesday. His development as a developer will simply continue here in Oldenzaal. Now, during his internship, he’ll have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the day-to-day realities of software development.

Photos: WorldSkills Netherlands and ROC van Twente.