Your Django Story: Meet Kaja Milanowska
This is a post in our Your Django Story series where we highlight awesome ladies who work with Django. Read more about it here.
Kaja is the co-owner of the bioinformatics company VitaInSilica and graduated with a degree in bioinformatics from Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań. During her PhD research in a bioinformatics laboratory she worked mainly on the development of new biological databases, analysis of RNA maturation and degradation pathways and pathways of DNA repair. She is an expert in the field of programming web applications in Django. She is interested in further education in the field of computer science (mainly web design, web applications and databases). In her spare time, as she is full of energy - her passion is running (half-marathons, marathons, orienteering) and hiking in the mountains.
How did your story with code start?
During my studies. In the 1st year I had algorithmics. And that’s how it all begun. Although when I was a little kid and I got my first computer (well the first one was ZX Spectrum or Commodore, I can’t remember now, and games run by playing a cassette) my dad forbid me to use it on my own and wouldn’t show me how to switch it on. I figured that one out on my own. And later when I learned how to use DOS commands to pack and unpack games to/from floppy disks - that was it :)
What did you do before becoming a programmer?
Hmm. I was a student ;) Well - I still do not think I am a programmer. Not in a pure meaning. I am a scientist, I program on a daily basis - I need it to process the data. I did my PhD using Django. I have finished bioinformatics and before that I was just a teenager in love with math, physics and biology.
What do you love the most about coding?
First of all it makes my work easier. Hmmm. But to tell the truth - I could not work without coding. It is really hard to say. I like solving problems and coding gives me the opportunity to do that. You can see how the code evolves, how it starts to work, how something is created from a few written statements. It is really a nice feeling when you run your own code and it gives you the expected results.
Why Django?
Because Python :) The real story is that I ‘inherited’ the project from a colleague. He chose Django. I already knew Python, I needed a tool to do my PhD thesis, which was focused on new biological databases that were to be shared in a scientific community - mixing it up together gave me Django.
What cool projects are you working on at the moment/planning on working on in the near future?
Cool projects? Ha! I think dealing with the big data from next generation sequencing is a great project. You can see what is in the genome, how cells react, what genes are responsible for diseases. It is a new era for personalised medicine. Analyzing live inside out is fascinating. With the usage of programming :)
What are you the most proud of?
Hmm. I am really proud of my PhD thesis. I have designed, written, filled with data and maintained two new biological databases. It was really a heck of a lot of work.
What are you curious about?
I am curious about lots of things - from biology to the universe (that’s maybe why I am a scientist). But in everyday life I am curious about my future. According to coding. Will I still be using Python in the future, what will change in programming languages, what new possibilities will come?
What do you like doing in your free time? What’s your hobby?
Running! I love it - half-marathons, marathons, ultra, mountain running, orienteering. I spend a lot of my free time training - now the season just started - lots of work ahead for my planned runs. And geocaching :) And reading - mainly fantasy books. And lately Diablo 3 (some time ago it was WoW and WoW tcg).
Do you have any advice/tips for programming beginners?
Be passionate about what you do. If you do not feel it change the programming language or start something else, but do not be afraid of trying! There are always obstacles in our life - if you meet one while coding learn from it as much as you can.
Thanks Kaja! :)
