Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Biomedical Informatics As folks who visit this site soon learn, I am very excited about information. I enjoy understanding its flow and more importantly how it can be used by people. I have been studying Biomedical Informatics for a couple of years now, and have made it a more formal pursuit by completing classes in bodily systems and medical terminology, and am now taking classes as Oregon Health and Sciences University. My previous professional experience was a Manger of Support Technology for a consumer electronic business. That was a postion that was created for me by the company. The way it came about was that our department was given an application to use, but it really didn't fit our needs. Mainly, it was cumbersome. So I wrote up a paper about the application, detailing its pros and cons, and sent it to my manager. He forwarded it up, and was amazed to find it didn't make anyone mad. (I was very polite, and specific.) So once a month, I would write up the current issues and he'd send it along. Fast forward a few years, more papers, projects, meetings, managing, responsibilities, etc... and that once a month gig turned into a full time postion that added real value to the company. How does this tie into my ceramics background? It is helpful to know that the "pottery" I do is not so much for storing things, than concepts, information, data. A pot that is a pinhole camera, a scroll, an orrery, something that holds messages, etc...is a container of information. These pieces are well thought out, designed to be useful, allow for interaction, and bring out-of-the-'pot' solutions to a well established area. I hope to do the same with Informatics.  You'll find my various musings, but nothingout-of-school, here. I'll still be doing art. 11:01:26 AM

Splish-Spash- I suppose you could get into all sorts of conceptual, post-modern discussion about these bowls...However, these bowls are just plain fun. 10:21:36 AM