Researchers at the Michael Smith Genome Sciences Centre needed a way to efficiently analyze and debug their algorithm, Assembly By Short Sequences (ABySS). Off-the-shelf tools did not support their use-cases and struggled to responsively handle hundreds of thousands of nodes. ABySS-Explorer uses a novel graph representation to address their needs.

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I designed and developed ABySS-Explorer which won an IEEE Best Paper award. I later supervised software engineers to extend its functionality. My contributions included:

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• User research: Met regularly with scientists to understand their evolving analytical needs.

• Interface + visualization design: Designed the graph visualization and later directed all supporting UI design.

• Implementation: Wrote the initial application in Java.

• Supervision: Later supervised junior developers to extend functionality.

• Project management: Planned and prioritized features.

• Scientific writing: I wrote the IEEE VIS paper describing the design, methods, and applications.