About
I'm Rana, a software developer based in Scotland with a passion for building open source software and continuously improving the digital user experience. My educational background in forensic science fostered in me a love for experimenting during my days in the lab, tinkering with all kinds of instruments, primarily Atomic Force and Scanning Electron microscopes. Today, this translates into a joy for building scalable applications and digital services with code.
*Photographs of me developing this website.
Timeline
My career so far.
- Software DeveloperDepartment for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)2-year UK Civil Service contract via FDM Group as a Node.js developer, working within Defra's Farming and Countryside Programme on a multidisciplinary team. Contributing to the development and maintenance of a large-scale online portal improving digital interactions between Defra and British farmers, supporting their essential and widespread work. Currently migrating the Find farm and land payment data service from a Microsoft Azure based development platform to an AWS based development platform. Nominated as FDM's Consultant of the Month within two months of starting the placement.
- IT ConsultantFDM GroupNominated for Consultant of the Month and FDM Champion for contributions made while working with Defra, one of FDM's public sector clients. Earned the Tech Industry Gold Foundation Credential in software development after 14 weeks of intensive training through FDM’s She Lives Tech academy. Delivered successful internal proof-of-concept projects as a backend software developer using Agile and Scrum principles. Created a full stack Barbie themed e-commerce application as a final project, presented to internal FDM trainers.
- Laboratory DemonstratorGlasgow Caledonian UniversityTeaching assistant and demonstrator facilitating laboratory sessions for final-year undergraduates and PhD students. Delivered interactive demonstrations on various laboratory equipment including optical microscopy, Atomic Force Microscopy, and Scanning Electron Microscopy. Maintained high safety standards for staff and students by enforcing safe working practices, especially when handling corrosive or hazardous chemicals. Provided constructive feedback on student dissertations to encourage high quality submissions for final-year deadlines.
- Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Research Enablement ScholarshipGlasgow Caledonian University & University of GlasgowConducted intensive research on the effects of established textile bleaching protocols on the integrity of historic textile artefacts, specifically cotton fibres. Presented findings as a poster and flash talk at the Microscience Microscopy Congress (MMC2023) in Manchester, England. Utilised advanced tools, including Atomic Force Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy to collect micro- and nano-scale image data.
- Postgraduate Research InternGlasgow Caledonian University & University of GlasgowProgressed initial research into the effects of oxidative and reductive bleaching techniques on historic cotton textiles. All research was performed using advanced techniques, namely Atomic Force Microscopy and Ultraviolet/Visible spectroscopy. Findings were published in the peer-reviewed, open-access Heritage Science journal.
- Royal Microscopical Society (RMS) Summer StudentshipGlasgow Caledonian University & University of GlasgowBegan what would become a 3-year long research project studying the effects of traditional bleaching protocol on historic cotton textiles. Extensive used of optical microscopy to study and collect image of cotton fibres before and after bleaching. Findings were published in InFocus Magazine (an RMS publication) and the project went on to receive £17,000 in funding.