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https://github.com/kitestring/playing-with-git-hub

Learning to use GitHub
https://github.com/kitestring/playing-with-git-hub

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Learning to use GitHub

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README 

          
# hello-world

Learning to use GitHub



Hello



I think of myself as a scientific jack of all trades with an extreme passion for all things related to data manipulation and software development.  I have a master’s degree in Physical Chemistry (molecular physics) from Illinois State University, where I researched and wrote a thesis in Laser Spectroscopy.  This is where I got my first exposure to advanced data handling.  I was generating data faster than is reasonable for a human to handle.  My initial efforts at data automation were rudimentary, yet effective.  I utilized the macro recorder within excel.



My first job out of school was in R&D as a Systems Scientist at company called OptiMedical, located of north of Atlanta.  We developed sensors used in blood analyzers in the medical device industry.  In short, my primary responsibilities was to run experiments to determine methods for optimal sensor performance.  In doing so I generated huge quantities of data that our instruments would export as text files.  Initially, I managed this information by copy and pasting into excel and manually analyzing the data.  This workflow proved to be a very meticulous and a time consuming endeavor.  Pre-recorded macros were of no use as the data exported from the instruments was not always formatted the same way.  So I taught myself VBA and wrote “smart” data mining algorithms within the VBA editor of excel.  In doing so I learned the foundations of basic coding such as utilizing loops, data structures, classes, and object orientated programming.  I became so adept at this skill my responsibilities grew to include automating the data analysis procedures used by our technicians.  I quickly learned that writing code for other people has to be far more robust than code written for yourself.



My next job was at a company called LECO that developed and manufactured time-of-flight mass spectrometers, which is a type of chemical analyzer.  My initial role was as a software S.M.E. (subject matter expert) as the software interface to our instrument was highly complex.  I was responsible for software testing in collaboration with the developers, software education both internally and externally, generating training curriculum and supplemental materials (written documents, PowerPoints, videos, and entire curriculum), as well as customer support.  This role created fewer opportunities for data automation and software development however, my passion and love for it drove me to seek it out.  Using VBA I automated high level administrative duties which would analyze customer information maintained on a spreadsheet by our secretary, which would then generate reports in a word document, and finally e-mail the report using outlook to the management team.  Additionally, I wrote an application that would track which customers where owed yearly preventative visits and it would e-mail the corresponding field service engineer and their manager 8 weeks prior.  I also automated the data handling that would evaluate whether a refurbished instrument could pass acceptance criteria and thus resold.



My ability to routinely go far above and beyond the expectations placed upon me earned a promotion.  I was placed in charge of a newly created validation department.  This department was responsible for designing experiments to evaluate new instruments and major upgrades to existing instruments as well as their associated software platforms.  Our mission was to find any major software bugs and performance issues.  Again, I find myself in a position where the team I led was generating data at a rate that by far exceeds what can be handled manually.  The data analysis needs of my team had out grown what VBA editor on the MS office platform.  I therefore taught myself python and SQLite and well as the necessary API to design far more advanced and elegant software to handle this need.