CSpotlight: Applying CS to Real World Problems

Why did you choose to pursue a degree in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (BICB) specifically at the University of Minnesota?

I joined the University of Minnesota back in 2019 for my master’s degree. The BICB program is not offered in a lot of universities. The program here stood out to me, and the biggest deciding factor for me was the program chair Dr. Yuk Sham. He was very responsive when I reached out to him before applying, and when I applied he was helpful and responsive. When you join a program, you always want your advisors to be helpful and cooperative. 

How did you become interested in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology? What are your specific interests within the field?

I did my bachelor's degree in botany, which is plant science, and during that time I had courses involving bioinformatics and programming, which I really enjoyed. I thought it would be nice to be in a program where I can apply programming to actual real-world problems and biology is filled with such problems. I thought the combination of biology and computer science would be really interesting to pursue. 

Tell us more about your internship experiences.

In 2019 when I joined the program, I started interviewing and applying to jobs, and I got a technical round assessment from Goldman Sachs for the summer of 2020. This was when COVID-19 was starting, but not prevalent. It was a bumpy ride because they shortened the internship time and everything was remote at the time, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Are you involved in any student groups? What inspired you to get involved? 

I was involved in a few student groups during my master’s, the one I remember the most is IEEE, which is a student branch for the engineering society. I’ve been a part of it for a while. What drove me to be a part of IEEE is getting to know about conferences and events happening near me.

What do you hope to contribute to the Bioinformatics and Computational Biology community at the University?

Since I am a PhD student now, one thing that I do a lot is mentor undergrad and grad students. I would love to continue that and collaborate with junior students on projects we are both passionate about. That is what I will continue doing and what I’ve been doing for the past six months. I also will participate in events that are arranged by the program and be an active member within the community. 

Have you been involved with any research on campus?

The project in my lab is being funded by National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the VA. I do research work involving working with data sets of people injured in line of duty. In particular, I analyze medical image data, like MRI or CT scans, and analyze those data and try to find patterns. For example, if it’s a brain MRI, determining if the patient has a brain tumor or a hematoma. 

What advice do you have for incoming Bioinformatics and Computational Biology students?

The biggest advice I have is to start early. If you plan to have an internship next summer, start interviewing as soon as possible. If you plan to apply next year, then you should already be interviewing and having your resume ready and talking to people. My second biggest advice is to network and meet a lot of people. The reason that you join this university is because you have all these resources that the university provides you and you should take advantage of that - your advisor, and your resources. Don’t delay doing things that you could have done earlier. 

What are your plans after graduation?

I am already a full time employee at Apple. I will be doing my work as an engineer in the industry and then be part of UMN until I finish my PhD. Once I am done with my PhD, I’m sure I will be involved with the university in some way, such as collaboration or doing research work. I graduated with my MS in 2021 and since then I’ve been working in the tech industry. 

Are there any additional experiences you did that you would like to highlight in the article?

My master’s was cut short because of COVID-19, and I didn’t have much time around campus. But with what I had it was definitely better to be around campus in person than being remote. Enjoy that, don’t stress too much, and enjoy your time in university, because it will end, and you are going to step out in the real world and have a job and everything. I would say enjoy whatever you have present at the university and try to network and socialize.