Vanessa is a software engineer at Boston Scientific working within the field of neuromodulation.
Roadmap.
.jpg)
"Don’t give up! With programming I had a hard time at the beginning (took C programming) and then when I took C++ and Java the next semester it felt SO much easier and i’m glad I didn’t give up. Also familiarize yourself with some scripting language (bash, batch, powershell, etc.)"
.jpg)
Vanessa Ulloa
Class of 2008
@veethesarcasticmoth (its private so also DM me)
This is a project I contributed to with my team at Boston Scientific , Vercise Neural Navigator 3.0 that was recently approved by the FDA in Spring of 2020. The image above displays a directional lead and the SFM field, this is used by clinicians to program and treat DBS (deep brain stimulation) patients with motor disorders.
MILESTONES
My career roadmap has been all over the place.
My father is a mechanical design engineer with a Computer Science Bachelor’s from CSU Dominguez Hills. So, I grew up around technology and tinkering.
AOC introduced me to a different High School environment and to other kids my age who also had goals and wanted to learn. This was very motivating. Began teaching myself photoshop and web development and design.
I was part of the Senior Leadership during my senior year in the AFJROTC program at Valencia High School which gave me a lot of confidence in myself, I also received a Scholastic JROTC medal at the end of my Junior year for my grades at AOC.
Completed my first AA in History at COC in 2012 which helped me achieve a better job at Boston Scientific and I was able to use their tuition reimbursement to finish my Math AA and CSU GE certification in 2014.
2014 Transfer to CSUMB CSIT (Computer Science Information Technology) online program.
Hired as a Software Engineer I at Boston Scientific in June 2016, while I still had 1 class left of my B.S. program. Graduated August 2016.
Promotion to Software Engineer II August 2018.
Spring 2020 began a M.S. degree in Computer Science , concentration in Software Engineering at Georgia Tech (online).
EXPERIENCE
Here are my extracurriculars relevant to this pathway
DURING MY HIGH SCHOOL CAREER
AFJROTC (at Valencia High School)
DURING MY COLLEGE CAREER
AA in History and Math
Being in Cohort #1 of the CSUMB CSIT Online program
Attended SCALE 18x Conference for the first time Spring 2020
General experience at work where the development team is mostly senior engineers with 10+ years experience.
CAREER
What I'm currently doing/hope to do
I currently work as a Software Engineer at Boston Scientific in the Neuromodulation division. I primarily work on a C# WPF .NET Desktop application for DBS (Deep Brain Stimulation) patients. I am also working on my M.S. in Computer Science from Georgia Tech (via distance learning). I really enjoy my job and the challenges that it presents to me everyday, since I started 4 years ago I really feel like I have grown a lot in this small team of very experienced developers and look forward to the next challenge I have to face. Everything I have learned over the years (C#, Java, C++, PHP, Python, scripting, etc.) has been very useful in different ways at work.
ADVICE
How to maximize my time in high school?
Advice #1: Teach out to individuals who work in the career you are interested in pursuing, this will give you a better idea of what exactly the field is and what they do and help you decide which direction to go.
Advice #2: There is nothing wrong with continuing on at COC or any community college and then transferring to your choice of school.
Advice #3: Take lots of interesting classes at COC! You will never know if you like psychology unless you take it or other subjects you take in general ed.
Advice #4: Don’t give up! With programming I had a hard time at the beginning (took C programming) and then when I took C++ and Java the next semester it felt SO much easier and i’m glad I didn’t give up. Also familiarize yourself with some scripting language (bash, batch, powershell, etc.)
Advice #5: Try different areas of software, there is Web Development, Windows Desktop Apps, Mobile Apps, etc. Mobile Apps seems to be what everybody is doing but don’t feel discouraged from trying other areas, I went from wanting to do Web to now loving Windows desktop development.
