Girl Coder Weijia
Kong Weijia, a PhD student in the NTU School of Biological Sciences, finished 1st in Singapore and 12th worldwide (out of more than 6600 participants) in the Code Jam to I/O for Women, a coding competition organised by Google.
Science@NTU caught up with Weijia to find out more about her experience with coding, and her aspirations as a woman in science.
What got you interested in coding?
I got into coding when I was in my first year of junior high. We had a coding class and I noticed that I could code a lot faster than my classmates. Soon after, I signed up for a junior high coding competition, and began to study coding systematically. I’ve always liked challenges, and coding competitions are highly competitive. The joy and satisfaction of when you finally derive a correct solution after cracking your brains is incomparable!
Could you explain what research you are working on in your PhD?
I am solving proteomic issues under the supervision of Dr. Wilson Goh. Mass spectrometry-based proteomics suffer from incomplete proteome coverage issues. This will cause a lot of proteins that are presented in the sample but fail to be detected. My PhD project involves finding a novel way to predict these undetected missing proteins using biological networks. This will highly improve proteome coverage and consistency.
What motivates you?
My parents and my boyfriend. Prior to entering university, I lived in China. Most parents frown upon spending time on activities besides studying for the university entrance exams. However, my parents never stopped supporting me in my coding journey.
My boyfriend, whom I met in university, was an Astronomy major student, which has no relevance to coding whatsoever. He came across a book on C++ programming, and he loved it so much, he spent almost all his free time teaching himself how to code. His hard work paid off – his coding skills improved so fast, and in the second year, he became a team member of our university’s programming team. His persistence and passion for programming has always motivated me.
What do you see yourself doing after your PhD? What is your dream career?
I hope I can establish myself in the biological and computer science interdisciplinary field. I aspire to set up my own company to try out new ideas and develop powerful tools for biologists.
Would you encourage girls to learn how to code?
Definitely! I think it is getting more and more essential to know coding as technology spreads and improves. Coding is not only a powerful tool, but also a logical way of thinking.
What are your challenges as a female coder/scientist?
The older generation still thinks that coding is only for men. However, I think mindsets are changing, albeit slowly. More companies are beginning to pay attention to female programmers. For instance, Google holds coding competitions for women every year, and Microsoft also organises “DigiGirlz” open days to call on more girls to learn about computer science.
Do you have any words of advice for budding female scientists out there?
Compared to men, female scientists usually face more challenges in maintaining work-life balance, due to expectations to carry out other ‘female’ responsibilities e.g. child-rearing. Although I am currently not in that situation, it is likely to be a dilemma that I have to face in the future. Future female scientists should stand firm in working towards their original aspirations!
About Code Jam to I/O for Women
Code Jam to I/O for Women is a contest that brings women (students and professionals) from around the globe together, working to solve tough four algorithmic challenges in a 2.5 hour, single-round coding competition. Participants are required to write code to solve algorithmic problems that have multiple layers of difficulty.
The top 150 on the scoreboard received a VIP ticket and a stipend to participate in virtual Google I/O, the largest Google developer conference.