MacLochlainns Weblog

This week I attended the first ACM conference on Bioinformatics and Computational Biology in Niagara Falls, NY. The next conference is in Rome next January. It was interesting to note who’s using what technology in their research.

Here’s a breakdown:

• Databases: MySQL is the de facto winner for research. Oracle for clinical systems, mostly Oracle 10g implementations. That means moving data between the two is a critical skill. Specifically, exporting data from Oracle and importing it into MySQL. Oracle was criticized for being a DBA-preserve and unfriendly to development. When I probed this trend, it seemed to point to DBAs over managing sandbox instances at companies with site licenses. Microsoft SQL Server didn’t find a lot of popularity in the research community.
• Programming Skills: C#, C++, Objective-C and PHP were high on the list. C# to import data into Microsoft SharePoint and develop Windows SmartPhones. C++ to extend MySQL. Objective-C to develop iPhone and iPad applications. PHP to build applications to manage studies and facilitate input, but there were a couple using Perl (not many).
• Collaboration Tools: Microsoft SharePoint won handily. It’s made a home in the clinical and research communities.

Overall, they want programmers who understand biology and chemistry. They’d like knowledge through Medical Microbiology and Introductory Biochemistry, and they want strong math and statistical knowledge in their programming staff. They like Scrum development frameworks. They seem to emphasize a chief engineering team, which means the developers get maximum face-time with the domain experts. The developers also have to speak and walk the talk of science to be very successful.

As to Niagara Falls, I’m glad that I took my passport. The Canadian side is where I spent most of my extra time and money. It has the best views of the falls, the best food, and ambiance. Goat Island and the Cave of the Winds are the only two features I really liked on the U.S. side of Niagara Falls. The U.S. side is dreary unless you like gambling in the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel. Since I’m originally from Nevada, I never entered it to check it out. Technically, when you step on the casino property you enter the Seneca Nation of New York. The New York state government in Albany really needs to address the imbalance or they’ll continue to see Canada score the preponderance of tourist dollars.