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If you can't decide between two career paths, try exploring both. Krithika Chandramouli found biomedical engineering to be a sweet spot between health sciences and technology and was able to explore both pursuits before she found her way to software engineering. Join us as we speak about Krithika's path to software engineering, contributing back to the community through her work and mentorship, and going from a love-hate relationship with running to completing a half-marathon.

About Krithika Chandramouli 

Krithika Chandramouli is a Software Engineer at Meta. She comes with over 8 years of experience working in a range of industries like video streaming services, fintech, and social media. She is an expert on JS and full stack engineering, and is a technical and thought leader. She thrives when she is working on solving complex people problems that lead to innovation in products. She mentors young professionals, especially women, in the areas of career development in the tech industry. Outside work, Krithika is a runner, rows crew, practices Vipassana for mindfulness, a Veena player and an aspiring writer!

Show Notes (<a href="https://steampoweredshow.com/shows/krithika-chandramouli">link</a>)

(00:00:56) Biomedical engineering is the sweet spot between health sciences and technology when deciding whether to pursue med or tech.

(00:03:30) The opportunity to study a broad range of subjects.

(00:04:33) Bioengineering and nano drug delivery.

(00:06:28) Being drawn to wearable medical technology.

(00:09:05) Krithika's path to computer science through wearables.

(00:09:50) Crowdsourced labelling and gamification of medical images.

(00:11:38) Observations of the human element of crowdsourcing data.

(00:14:10) A desire to use her skills to give back to the community.

(00:16:16) Building tools to help build communities at Meta.

(00:18:58) Buy Nothing groups and the importance of community in times of crisis.

(00:21:26) Krithika's passion for mentoring and career development. Wanting to pay it forward.

(00:22:43) Finding mentors.

(00:26:59) Nerdy Girl Success.

(00:27:43) Becoming a mentor or advisor in organisations like Nerdy Girl Success.

(00:31:34) Bonus Question 1: What hobby or interest do you have that is most unrelated to your field of work?

(00:31:38) Running and marathons.

(00:34:39) With a love/hate relationship with running, why a half-marathon?

(00:38:02) Bonus Question 2: Which childhood book holds the strongest memories for you?

(00:38:14) "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini and reflections on who and where we are in this world.

(00:40:53) Kumar, R. (2022, Nov 1). The enduring sexism of India’s tech industry. Rest of World.

(00:42:58) Bonus Question 3: What advice you would give someone who wants to do what you do? Or what advice should they ignore?

(00:43:03) Advice for Life: Be bold.

(00:45:08) Reflect on your own qualities, skills, and objectives, and be intentional about it.

(00:49:56) Finding out more about Krithika.

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Biomedical to software engineering and paying our experiences forward through mentoring with Krithika Chandramouli

Conversations with women in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine) about their journeys, work, passions, and what they learned along the way.

We’re a diverse group of people with unique personal and professional journeys, and I want you to meet some of us. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy Podsights - https://podsights.com/privacy

STEAM Powered

Compassion in healthcare is about operating with respect in more ways than one. We've spoken previously about the cultural side of medicine and the program Operating With Respect, but today I speak with Leah Elson about developing technology and procedures that can create psychologically and physiologically better patient outcomes, and also about getting people excited about science again.

About Leah Elson 

Leah Elson is an academically-published clinical development scientist, public science communicator, and non-fiction author. Her research career in human medicine has included the fields of orthopedics, oncology, and neuroscience.

Show Notes (<a href="https://steampoweredshow.com/shows/leah-elson">link</a>)

(00:01:06) Sportscasting in college.

(00:02:24) Adventures in pre-med.

(00:03:01) Leah's early interest in surgery, but realising she could do more upstream.

(00:04:43) Research is playing the long game.

(00:05:44) Leah's current work with peripheral nerve repair and its compassionate applications.

(00:08:43) Taking a more holistic view of patient outcomes.

(00:10:28) Allowing researchers to actually see the impact of their work.

(00:11:18) STEMM can be a social equaliser because you're working towards the same goal of humanity.

(00:12:30) How Leah determines the direction of her research focus.

(00:14:59) The beauty of research rabbitholes. The best discoveries are accidental.

(00:15:51) The importance of maintaining connections and networks. You never know where you'll find convergence across fields.

(00:18:15) Hyperspecialisation and the globaliser that was COVID.

(00:20:45) The future is in unpacking genetics.

(00:24:58) The science that divides advances us.

(00:26:01) The impact of market (and climate) forces and the reminder that humans are creative and resilient.

(00:29:27) '60 Seconds of Science' and the importance of supporting the voices that inform.

(00:32:35) Science doesn't have an alignment, it's what we do with it.

(00:35:01) Science is fluid and has so much scope.

(00:36:43) Fake science and the narrative around it is evocative.

(00:38:13) Science fiction into science fact.

(00:39:05) Writing 'There Are (No) Stupid Questions … in Science'.

(00:42:05) Making people excited about science again.

(00:45:39) The accessible nature of a book like this.

(00:47:10) Being selective about what community questions to answer.

(00:48:11) Randall Munroe (xkcd).

(00:49:35) Bonus Question 1: What hobby or interest do you have that is most unrelated to your field of work?

(00:50:18) Powerlifting is complementary to Leah's optimal workflow.

(00:51:35) Bonus Question 2: Which childhood book holds the strongest memories for you?

(00:52:51) Michele's favourite childhood book.

(00:54:10) 'Where's Waldo?'

(00:55:18) Bonus Question 3: What advice you would give someone who wants to do what you do? Or what advice should they ignore?

(00:58:54) Finding out more about Leah and their work.

<a href="https://steampoweredshow.com/shows/rhea-liang/">Listen to our conversation</a> about Operating With Repect with Assoc Prof Rhea Liang.

Connect with STEAM Powered

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