Kyla Lamontagne

Informatics

Why did you choose UC Irvine for your studies?

I was one of the many students who chose a campus to study on before choosing what I wanted to study. I fell in love with the campus – especially Aldrich Park, Middle Earth and our beautiful student center. I also knew that UCI was one of the best schools in the state, let alone the country. Its conveniently located within a short drive to the beach AND Disneyland. I could see myself on campus and learning and developing and I liked that.

What is the most enjoyable part of your studies?

One of my favorite things about my studies is the hands on experience I’ve had. A lot of my projects revolve around quarter long projects. This allows me to have my hands in a lot of different things and really learn the process of design and development in several different mediums and focuses.

Have you done an internship?

This past summer I worked a 12 week internship with Sears Holdings Corporation in Chicago, IL. I worked as a User Experience Architect for their online promotions team.

What did you get to do?

I was very lucky in the fact that they treated me like a normal member of the team. I was the lead UXA on several projects, which involved meeting with clients to understand their needs for the project, brainstorming on possible solutions and creating mockups that I then presented to the clients. I also did a little bit of research, and helped brainstorm on several other projects my team members were working on, and I had the opportunity a couple of times to present the projects I was working on to the entire office. It was actually very similar to a lot of the ways that projects unfold at school, for which I am very thankful for.

Have you done research?

I have worked on research around the use habits of Labor Delivery Nurses using Electronic Medical Records with Professor Yunan Chen and Researcher Katie Pine. My contribution to the research has included organizing the information and running analytics to gain a comprehensive view of the trends around EMR’s. I actually got into this research because it was a quarter long project for one of my classes. After the quarter ended I was invited to continue working on the research outside of my normal work load.

Are you pursuing a minor or double major?

I am pursuing a minor in History, for the simple fact that I love history and love learning about it.

Are you engaged in any social activities outside of your studies?

This year I am serving as Co-Director of a Filipino Catholic Youth Group on campus. We focus on fellowship and service, which has been very rewarding during my years at UCI.

What are you most proud of so far?

When I first decided to pursue Informatics I didn’t know how to program, and I had very little technical knowledge. I just knew that I liked discovering how new technology worked and that was something I was interested in learning more about. Now, going into my final year, I am able to hold my own in discussions revolving around technology and design. I know how to program, and I not only do I still enjoy discovering how new technology works, I am able to hypothesize why it works the way it does and critique how well it accomplishes the what its function.

What has been the best part of your experience?

The best part of my experience has been the ability to apply what I’ve learned to real life. Whenever I read about controversy around things such as Windows 8, or about policies of net neutrality and how that might affect Internet usage I find myself applying what I’ve learned to the situation. It makes everything so much more interesting to me, and I love having an informed opinion about these type of topics. Its so interesting to be able to think about these issues from a perspective grounded in Informatics.

What are your aspirations?

Upon graduation I would like to be employed as a User Experience Designer working with some sort of technology that is innovative in design. I am also looking for jobs that would give me the opportunity to work abroad in Europe, hopefully Germany or the UK. After a couple of years of experience I would like to go to grad school to pursue my PhD in Medical/Health Informatics.

What would your advice be to incoming students in your program?

Informatics is a large field that can be applied to so many things, and it is still being developed. Take advantage of that and think of ways you can take it out of the box. Explore not so straight forward ways that topics pertaining to Informatics can be discovered, discussed and developed. If something interests you, go for it. Since its a relatively new field, it can be stretched and molded into so many different things, its up to you which way you want to take it.

KylaLamontagne

“I was the lead UXA on several projects, which involved meeting with clients to understand their needs for the project, brainstorming on possible solutions and creating mockups that I then presented to the clients.”