HEY THERE, I'M KATIE.

I have been a software engineer at Bloomberg for almost three years now, working on fullstack solutions to deliver the best user and product experience on our trading platform. Before that I graduated from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Engineering and Applied Science, where I majored in the Digital Media Design program, focusing on computer graphics and game technology. I am interested in confounding the creative and the technical because I believe that an exceptional designer, engineer, and leader are one and the same. I ask myself, "How can I leave this code, product, company, and world better than I found it?"

MY STORY

During my first interview as a scared freshman, I was told "you can't do both design and engineering, it just isn't possible." Years later, I say, "I did it—and I DO it." I grew up as an artist but also as a scientist: I painted and drew, and also tried (and failed) to grow my own penicillin as a cheeky 11 year-old. That mindset has shaped the way I view the world and permeates how I lead, design, build. It fuels my attention to detail and analytical fervor. I want to know how and why something works—how did they build that nondescript IKEA chair? Why did they design it they way it is? How can I make it better? So when someone told me that what I wanted was impossible, that I couldn't do both design and engineering, I almost believed them until I realized I have power in this paradox. I can use my unique background to be a more humanizing leader/engineer/designer. I can use every "no" that I've gotten (and there have been a lot) to become a better person than I was yesterday. And most importantly, I can leave the world a better place than it was yesterday.