End of Year Report: GSoC 2009
This was GenMAPP’s third consecutive year participating in GSoC and it was by far the most productive. As an organization we are continuing to learn how to be better mentors and the students continue to step up.
Our projects this summer covered three different projects: Cytoscape, GenMAPP-CS and WikiPathways, each working at the interface of biology and computer science. It takes a special type of student to succeed in this field and we found 9 of them this summer! Here is a brief description of the range of topics we covered:
- Processing-based graphics renderer
- Data mining interfaces
- Animation tool using frame interpolation
- Pathway model merging and visualization
- Identifier mapping solutions
- GPU utilization for graph layout
- Phylogenetic tree visualization
- Ontology-based categorization of pathways
- Pathway exchange formats
In addition to the great code we produced, the GSoC experience is about building open source communities. We have had the great fortune of retaining most of our GSoC students from previous years, many of whom come back as mentors! And this year I have no doubt that we’ve significantly added to our ranks. But don’t take my word for it!
“Overall, this is the most productive summer I ever had. It increased my confidence as a developer and as a person that I can actually pull off a project like this and interact with awesome people like you. I also become a part of a growing community and hope to help it grow further.”
“There aren’t many opportunities for computational biology enthusiasts to make a difference in the field while still in school. GSOC at GenMAPP/Cytoscape was one such gem of an opportunity that illustrated exactly why writing software for biological research is benefited by a background in biology. The experience I have gained here is definitely irreplaceable. The fundamentals of open-source programming and the rhythm associated with regular coding and problem solving helped nourish an intellectual side of me that I will not forget in a hurry. This is definitely not the last time you will see me.”
“This was the first time I took part into either GSoC or an Open Source project, and it was also one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done! This project gave me the chance to spend ~3 months learning lot of new things, having fun, doing something for the community and even getting pay for that! That’s an amazing combination! …I will remain as an active participant of the Cytoscape community beyond the official end of GSoC 2009!”
“It was definitely a very good learning experience for me. …But I have some unfinished works… So I’ll continue this project after GSoC, and be help to drive Cytoscape 3 development.”
“It was the first time that I worked with an open source community and it was really a great experience. I am very thankful to Google and GenMAPP for providing me this great opportunity. I would like to thank [my mentors] for their excellent support during the summer. Looking forward to working with you again.”
“It was a GREAT experience to work with GenMAPP during GSoC 2009!!! The administrators and mentors were very helpful during bounding and coding periods. Whenever I had problems they were always responsive and offered me help in time. Under their guidance, I’ve improved my programming and communication skill, and learned how to work within a group. I would like to express my gratitude to all my mentors in GenMAPP. If I can participate in GSoC next summer, I would like to work with GenMAPP again:)“
