WIMTACH Student Profile: Leonardo Pinto

In the second semester of his Software Engineering Technician program at Centennial College, Leonardo Pinto learned about WIMTACH’s innovative impact with industry partners and eagerly submitted his resume for consideration for an internship. “I already knew this was going to be an amazing opportunity,” he said.

Eight months later, he was hired to assist the WIMTACH research team with a project collaboration with Neuraura. Addressing lifestyle improvements for women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), Neuraura has developed a wearable bioelectronic device to offer an accessible and personalized treatment for PCOS with aims of reducing discomforting symptoms. WIMTACH’s role in this project development is key: it’s centered on the development of a mobile application which enables users of the device to control, monitor and assess information during the course of their treatment. Students like Leo were enabled to iterate their skills development while contributing to a project with permeating impact for users of the application.

Leo contributed to the WIMTACH research team as a Full Stack student developer, responsible for building the user interface for Android and IOS devices. But before his involvement in this project, Leo had never developed a mobile application so he was particularly excited to be a part of the project team. “So I could develop a new skillset that will be very valuable for me to look for a job,” he explained. With a PHD in Biotechnology along with one year of software development experience, this internship helped him to leverage his knowledge and seamlessly marry both interests.

Notably unique to WIMTACH internships, Leo and Student Researcher Maharsh Patel were encouraged to exercise a lot of creative control in the development of the application. They were able to decide on the technology that would be use for development, including the framework for the application. With an understanding of the goals of the project, they were encouraged to develop a strategy to implement the different technologies for the project and pitch their ideas to Centennial College faculty members, who steered the course of the project development cycle. Through this process, Leo was able to learn how to use TypeScript, React Native, Expo, Firebase, and Firestore.

As Maharsh and Leo were working on the project, they lived by the philosophy of “divide and conquer”. For every major challenge, they would separate tasks between the two of them to make their work manageable. For instance, at the beginning of the project development stage, they used this philosophy to determine the best wireframe, database, and cloud provider for the project. “I think it is very important to divide problems, but at the same time, work together to develop a solution,” he said. As a result, for Leo, the most memorable features of the internship have been the team work and collaborative working environment. “No one does the work alone,” he explained. As Maharsh and him supported each other by reviewing and troubleshooting problems together, they were able to build a strong foundation to ensure that they were meeting project milestones. The collaborative process at WIMTACH also enabled him to enhance his communication skills.

Working in a small team provided the best learning space to gain a richer and multidisciplinary education, something that was very important to him. In fact, early on in the project, he got the benefit of designing the User Interface for the application, enabling him to gain the experience of a designer, and through weekly demonstration meetings, he was able to gather immediate feedback. This helped him to understand how to effectively incorporate suggestions into his work. “It was an iterative process,” he said.

This project marked the second major software development project for Leo and he learned a lot. He was able to learn how to maneuver client requests and manage expectations, while also gaining a basic understanding of the different routes to approach a development idea. “This feedback loop is very important: to get the requirements, develop, get the feedback and improve it later,” he said. Acting as the product owner in the communication loop of the agile project framework, he was able to translate the business requirements for the project into technical requirements for the entire team. This meant that he could work with other students on a common goal and also communicate with industry partners easily. “Now that I am working in a company, I know that this is very important,” he said. “As a Software Engineer, the biggest mistake that you would think is that we only work with code.”

With all this new found knowledge and a greater sense of confidence in his work, Leo is now working as a Software Engineer at PriceMetrix by McKinsey. His advice to other enthusiastic Centennial College students is “look for a side project and try to find an internship,” he said.

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