The challenges that lead to limitless possibilities
The beginning of a journey
Our laboratory wanted to design a new animal behavioral experiment.
However, this required the programming of operant conditioning chambers
written in a programming language that I had to learn and master on my own.
Overcoming this challenge is when I initially discovered the power of
coding and programming.
Next steps on the path
Began learning Python due to its versatile applications in the scientific field.
Realizing Python's ability to automate tasks, I decided to try and solve the problems
of tedious data collection and entry that plague most data dependent laboratories.
This resulted in the creation of numerous programs that saved countless hours
of data aggregation and processing time.
Wanting to share these solutions, presented the next problem of how to empower
colleagues so that they too might use these programs for their projects. This is when I began
learning how to construct and design GUI applications. These efforts culminated in the creation of many
standalone executable and sharable data processing files with user interfaces for non-technical
lab members.
To further supply solutions for lab members brought me to my next challenge.
There are many tasks in the lab that require correct calculations, that are routine, yet
prone to error. For example, drug dosing calculations or converting between different
chemical solution percents. To solve these problems, I created sharable mobile applications
so lab members could solve these on-the-spot right on their phones to ensure speedy calculation accuracy.
Last step that leads me here
Although automating data collection and calculations saved much time, there
is one more step essential to the scientific endeavor, the analysis of the data.
I began learning data analysis and visualization while also making these sharable
programs to ensure my colleagues could perform these analyses themselves through
user friendly GUI designs.
The path that lays beyond
I now endeavor to further my data analysis and visualization skills. Learning
to work with more complicated datasets and further enhance their interpretation
through beautiful visualizations.
