Jessica
Nebgen
University of Pittsburgh
Department of Computer Science
I had first heard of the Cooperative Education program during my CS 0007 – Pascal class. Someone came to explain the program and its benefits to all the potential Computer Science majors. By that point, I had already decided that CS was for me, and, shortly after, so was the Co-op program. I started my first rotation in the second semester of my junior year. My interviews for my first rotation and the first rotation itself turned out to be a quite unpleasant experience. However, my second time around with a new employer couldn’t have turned out any better.
My
First Time Around (January 1999 – April 1999)
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I went into my first round of interviews not really knowing what to expect. They tell you to ask questions about what kind of work you would be doing at each company, but I got a lot of “I don’t know”s when I tried that at the Co-op Fair I attended. I had to wait until the interviews to figure it out. I interviewed with Penn Dot, Pitt’s CIS department, and several departments at SmithKline Beecham. Penn Dot wanted a computer tech to help secretaries with their printers and install phones and television cable on their free time. I was offered that job, but quickly turned it down. CIS wanted someone to man the help desk, including 3rd shift. I was not disappointed when I never heard back from them. Only one of three departments I interviewed with at SmithKline Beecham, the Year 2000 Project Office, sounded promising. Although I was not thrilled about moving to Philadelphia, but time was running out; I accepted the position when it was offered to me. |
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SmithKline Beecham is large pharmaceutical company with 30,000 workers all around the world. This is the company that makes the over-the-counter products Aquafresh Toothpaste, Tums, Vivarin, Nicorette Gum, and Nicoderm CQ patches and prescription medicines like Paxil and Amoxicillin. While the international headquarters are in the U.K., the American headquarters are located in Center City, Philadelphia. I was to work in the King of Prussia offices, about 20 minutes from downtown Philly, helping to stamp out the dreaded Y2K bug. |
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I made the mistake of assuming that SmithKline Beecham knew of and was in-line with the University of Pittsburgh Cooperative Education program. After all, I did give them my resume at a Co-op Fair. So, I was quite surprised when I found out that I was only expected to stay for one four-month rotation, not three. Had I known that, I wouldn’t have picked up and moved. However, after a few more weeks, I would not be upset about not coming back. My work there was limited, to say the least. I was told I was brought in to build an internet site that would monitor Y2K compliance statuses for the overall company down to individual sites. What my boss didn’t tell me at the time was that his grandiose plans were never approved. Regardless, they sent me to an HTML class that was very helpful. Afterward, I spent a month mocking up some pages. The next month the office announced that they would be outsourcing and eventually scrapping the website entirely. My boss presented me as a Palm Pilot expert to our office VP. Needless to say, I became one real fast. I got a few more minor projects to work on during my time. These also proved to be things that no one would ever look at or use. They, too, were grandiose plans my boss hoped to accomplish. So, 90% of my time at work was spent buying stuff on eBay, memorizing every question and answer on Jeopardy online (I won two t-shirts), etc. I would literally get so bored, I would beg for filing, photocopying, and data entry work from the other people in the office. The fact of the matter was that my boss didn’t have any work to do, and, therefore, didn’t have any work to give me. I’m not kidding when I say that he used to hide from me every Monday morning when we were supposed to have our weekly meetings. The best part? When he criticized me during my end-of-semester review for asking for work. Because of it, he said, he wasn’t allowed to have three co-ops the next semester (he currently had two). I got some basic skills there. I learned a little HTML. I played with Visual Basic (VB). I learned all about Palm Pilots. I’d like to say I learned about the culture of large corporations, but I don’t think that the office I worked for fairly represented the typical corporate experience. To me, the few skills that I did acquire were not worth moving across the state and living with strangers (that’s another story). Luckily, things got better. |
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The Second Chance (August 1999 – December 1999, May 2000 – August 2000)
After my return from Philadelphia, I was very tempted to give up co-oping for good. I eventually decided against it, but informed the co-op office that I was no longer willing to relocate under any situation. Since my next rotation was during the fall, instead of using the sign-up sheets, the office simply sends any computer science students’ resumes to any company looking for a computer science student. I was contacted for interviews from three local companies. When I was contacted from Medrad, I had no idea who they were and what they did. The co-op office could only tell me that they made medical devices. I went to the interview and was very impressed. Everyone was very friendly. And, they even arranged for Jon Speicher, the current co-op, to come speak with me. When I was offered the job a few days later, I accepted immediately.
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To borrow Jon Speicher’s description of the company: “Medrad is a world-class company. We design and manufacture automated contrast media injectors for the medical industry. These devices deliver a controlled flow of contrast-enhancing fluid into a patient's bloodstream to improve the clarity of angiographic images, computed axial tomography scans, magnetic resonance images, and ultrasound images. Medrad has offices in countries around the world and employs roughly 1,000 employees at its world headquarters in Indianola, PA. We are the worldwide market leaders in our field.” We even received a Malcolm Baldridge site visit last fall. |
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I work for New Products Development Software Development Department’s Test Group (phew!). When I first got here, I was swarmed with terminology and acronyms I didn’t know, like SDD, CRC, UDP, XDO, ISI, and many others. They started me out with small tasks to help me get acquainted with our injectors, their software, and Medrad’s policies and procedures. As I mastered one, I would move onto something more difficult. First I had to run a script to build a trace matrix, and then I had to modify another script to produce metrics. Then I moved on to test protocols. First I ran several sets of protocols. Then, I wrote several protocols and reports to present the results. I even did some Y2K testing (ugh!). This occupied most of my first rotation with the company.
We were just beginning a new project when I came back for my second rotation. It was an automated testing suite that would allow us to significantly cut testing time. Using this suite, we could write scripts to control injector functionality for validation purposes. This eliminated the need for a human tester to sit in front of an injector and push buttons for hours on end. I was involved in every step of the process from requirement definition to maintenance. Initially, my responsibilities included the software architecture document, the graphical user interface for the R&D configuration, and any scripts we would need. Later, I was also given the task to maintain the Detailed Requirement Specification and put together any training others would need later.
This project required the cooperation of many people. I worked in groups to help define the requirements and later the architecture. Every step of the way, everything is thoroughly documented and reviewed. The FDA audits our design, implementation, and testing. Those documents are our way of showing the FDA we did everything right. After those two documents were complete, I set out to design my GUI. But before I could begin, I had to estimate how many lines of code and how much time was required to finish my unit of the project. Then, I began to research different technologies I could use to fulfill the requirements placed on the GUI. I made use of OLE Automation for logging and report generation and DAO to access databases. Just as I was about to start my design document, tragedy hit.
I was forced to relinquish the GUI when we discovered that the heart of our project, the Script Engine, needed major rework. My GUI went to the new co-op. And, since I had worked the closest with the original writer of the Script Engine, I was given the duty of fixing it. I wrote an analysis on why the current version did not meet requirements. Then I set out on completely rewriting Script Engine. And that’s where I am now. I’m staying on part time at least until I can get a fully functioning, in all its splendor and glory, Script Engine. It will be nice to learn how to integrate Visual Basic for Applications with our application using the Microsoft Application Programmability Component. The Script Engine also includes some nice features like Event Logging and Capture/Replay. Oh, and I also have to establish VB Coding Guidelines before I go.
I really liked working here at Medrad. Not only was I doing actual software engineering work, I got to work with other co-ops: Bill Laboon and John Rovnan. I was the official scorekeeper and stats taker for the Medrad SDE Wiffle Ball league, actually a senior-staff sanctioned activity. I won $9 at Bingo during our Hurricane Party. And who will ever forget the “Studs of Medrad” calendar, Speicher’s puppets (Hello Mr. Munchie), Kalafut’s Cash Register, stories of the Olsen Twins virus, or our friend the Hoothoot.
Conclusion
While my experience started out badly, I learned so much while I was at Medrad. I learned new programming languages like VB and Perl. I gained a ton of experience in Unix. I now have experience in the full software development lifecycle, in graphical user interface design, and documentation. I even got practice with technical writing and presentation skills. What I liked best was that at Medrad, at least in SDE, you are not treated any different than any other employee. You are an equal part of the team. This provides opportunities to learn and practice your skills that you can’t get in class alone. I can’t imagine graduating this fall and going out into the marketplace without any of the experience I gained at Medrad. My decisions to take part in, and later stick with, the Cooperative Education were probably the best decision I’ve made in my college career.
By Jessica Nebgen, August 21, 2000.