Software engineering is formed by a set of methods, tools and techniques that are used in the development of computer programs, better known as software.
In today’s world, Software Engineering transcends programming, which is the basis for creating an application. Software engineering encompasses the entire management of a project. From the previous analysis of the situation, the design approach to its implementation, through the recurrent tests for its correct operation.
The software engineer is responsible for all the management of the project so that it can be developed within a certain period and within the planned budget.
Saquan Anthony works as a Software Engineer for the Biomedical Engineering Department at Duke University. Considered one of the most prestigious schools in the south, Duke University is located in Durham, North Carolina and is also one of the nation’s largest research universities.
The 26-year-old who is originally from Raleigh, North Carolina, first started his venture into the tech field after graduating from North Carolina A&T University with a degree in Computer Science.
“In some ways, I feel as though I lucked into tech. I was unsure what to choose as a major and happened to stumble upon computer engineering/computer science. It was listed as one of the better programs at NC A&T. I was able to grasp coding fairly easily and always had a knack for problem solving. So, at the very least, I knew I was going to do something engineering related.”
After graduating, Saquan started a job at IBM as a software developer for the Watson Health project, an AI Healthcare Solution. Watson Health is a company that provides industry-leading data, analytics, and AI solutions to help providers, payers, governments, and life science companies modernize operations and get more value from ever-expanding health data. (source: Watson Health)
“I worked on the automation framework with Watson for the oncology tool and other various products within Watson Health eSciences.”
From there, he began working as a Software Engineer for Duke Universities Bio-Medical Engineering Department. Biomedical engineering applies the principles and techniques of engineering to the field of medicine or life sciences. This engineering is mainly dedicated to the design and construction of tools and technologies such as medical equipment, prostheses, medical devices and diagnostic and therapy devices. We asked him a little about his experience with Duke:
“The work is very interesting! Typically, the day to day involves a series of meetings. After the meetings we take the insight gathered and use it to develop software applications based on current need.
I work in a computational lab that deals with running and developing various blood flow-based simulations to help better understand and treat various cardiovascular diseases. I mainly work with various PhD students/holders and resident doctors to develop portable applications for this work.”
His advice for young minorities aspiring into computer science and software engineering is:
“Be open to exploring and talk to as many people as you can in the field. Tech is very large and can have you doing any number of things. Because there isn’t a common ground that means you can break into tech any number of ways and you can find out those ways just by having chats with people in the field.”
