Colin Ebneth

2017

Current job title and employer and briefly describe what it is you do: I am currently employed by Bayer Pharmaceuticals as an Associate Developer. My job entails a variety of different responsibilities. My primary responsibility is to manage a team of developers to write automated test scripts to review and monitor our applications and websites. I am also responsible for managing an iOS & Android App used for meetings, as well as large events. Additionally, I also lead a team which is responsible for creating FDA-mandated updates for health care providers. Lastly, I am working on a project to create a virtual store for our consumer projects to be integrated with virtual reality goggles.

Academic experience at Saint Michael's College help prepare you for your career: My academic experience has helped me in two ways. The first piece being the knowledge I learned in and out of the classroom. From the intro course of CS111 to Advanced Algorithms, every class helped me in some way. Programming is a discipline. You need to have a strong fundamental base in order to build upon those skills and learn more advanced concepts. The second piece I received in my senior Software Engineering class, was the ability to learn new concepts on my own. Computer Science is a constantly developing area of study. New computer languages are coming out every other year so it is important to be able to learn new concepts and more importantly, to be able to build them on top of what you already have learned.

Favorite memory or class from your time studying at St. Mike’s: My favorite class would have to be Bioinformatics Algorithms. Briefly put, Bioinformatics is the study of biological data through the use of algorithms and biological practices. In essence, it combines Computer Science and Biology to study genomes. I enjoyed the class because we could have candid discussions with our professor and at the same time learn cutting-edge concepts. The class itself was composed mostly of seniors, people who I have been around for 4 years so we knew each other quite well. I particularly enjoyed the section on comparing DNA sequences to see just how related we are to other species. The entire class was a blast and I would take it again in a heartbeat.

Other information you would like to share or advice for incoming or current students: The best advice I can offer is to never stop learning. This applies to inside and outside of the classroom. What sets you apart in interviews is what you know and how well you can demonstrate it. Even after you graduate, school is never over.