Archaeologists Who Code

Hey everyone!

I’m Carmen Obied and I’m an underwater archaeologist who codes! (not something you hear every day in the tech world, right?!) I hold a PhD in (maritime) digital archaeology and more recently decided to merge my passions for science and tech by pursuing a full-stack software engineering bootcamp at UCLA-Extension — and now I’m hooked!

This my first Medium post! I’ve wanted to do one of these for a while and I finally took the plunge. I graduate from my 6-month part-time bootcamp in mid-September, so the finish line is close and what a journey it has been! I started back in March, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, so it’s been challenging yet rewarding in so many ways. Although we’ve missed out on meeting our instructors and colleagues in person, coding together in coffee shops, attending meetups, etc, we’ve nonetheless built such a strong bond, experiences, and drive that have been extremely motivating during these difficult times. I’m also currently doing an internship as a software engineer where I’m leading my team and we’re building an analytics visualization UI and internal tool at InsightRX, having also worked previously on a client-project for American Honda Autos. Coding has already made a huge impact on my life and I’m so glad I took the risk!

I hope to start posting here to share my experiences, resources and tips as I grow as a developer. Alongside that, I’d love to also share with you my latest venture that combines coding and archaeology — join me in uncovering the ancient past and making it more accessible and engaging to the public!

This brings us to ArchaeoCoders: Coding for Archaeology! I founded ArchaeoCoders (a sub-branch of ArchaeoStories) as a community platform and intersection for #ArchaeologistsWhoCode, Coders who are interested in Archaeology, and Archaeologists who are interested in Coding. ArchaeoCoders is a platform for interdisciplinary programming projects, meetups, workshops, webinars, resources, and events. Coming soon!

That’s all for now — lots more updates soon, so stay tuned!

Fig.: 3D Model from CT scan of the Antikythera Mechanism (an ancient greek astronomical computer), originally made of bronze, which was recovered from the sea after ~2000 years. It’s the oldest surviving computer.