Students gain industry experience with Stemformatics and Google Summer of Code
University students Glenn and Dmitry have each completed a 3-month programming project with Stemformatics, during the Google Summer of Code (GSoC).
Google Summer of Code is a global program focused on introducing students to open source software development. Students work with an open source organization during their break from university, gaining exposure to real-world software development and techniques.
Glenn and Dmitry enjoyed the opportunity to work on real-life industry projects during their summer holidays. The projects helped them to enhance their programming and software architecture techniques, as well as their technical communication and presentation skills.
Through the projects, the students were able to experience real-world challenges and help Stemformatics to devise solutions for these challenges. Their mentors covered a range of technical areas: Isha Nagpal is a Software Engineer, Jarny Choi is a Bioinformatician and Chris Pacheco Rivera is a Data Annotator.
The projects also helped Glenn and Dmitry with their future planning, as their projects aligned with their area of study and career aspirations. The students also commented that participating in the projects helped them get a foot in the door through gaining industry experience.
As a 2018 GSoC organisation, Stemformatics has gained global visibility in the world of open source software development. Indeed, Software Engineer Isha attended the 2018 GSoC Mentor Summit in California.
Since its inception in 2005, the Google Summer of Code program has brought together 13,000+ student participants and 12,000 mentors from over 125 countries worldwide. Google Summer of Code has produced 33,000,000+ lines of code for 608 open source organisations.
Stemformatics is a web-based resource for stem cell biologists and allows biologists to visually explore data, identify cell-type restricted genes and compare gene expression in multiple cells and tissues. Stemformatics, a research service funded through the Centre for Stem Cell Systems and Stem Cells Australia, is a joint initiative between the University of Queensland and the University of Melbourne.