As of 7 months ago I decided I should be working on aging. To me, there is no other choice. It is plain, unobfuscated and apparent.

At first mulling over the ideas and the tasks which I had taken on, I was a bit frightened. Who am I? I am no world class researcher. I'm but a programmer with little to no knowledge of how this biological system I want to play within operates. This was the starting point. After consulting with individuals about the web and friends and colleagues I decided that my place is with automation. A big idea in my head is machine tasks vrs human tasks.

I've been in correspondence with Mr de Magalhães, on the "whos who of biogerontology" database. Shortly after, with help from Jonathan Cline, #robotics and #seattlerobotics I built an automated 96 well microplate liquid handler. Subsequently I've talked with Brian Bishop on sequence and DNA related technologies which lead me to my next project. As of 2 week ago I reassembled human genome NA19240 ( 1000 genomes project ) against dbSNP 130. I did this using "Crossbow" which I ported to run via Ruby on a 40 node 320 core amazon instance. I now have an entire sequenced human genome on my hard disk ( this... is... just... wild... )

I am ready to take on aging research as my own, I have never been so sure of anything in my life.

What I can provide:
- Deep understanding of XHTML, CSS and cross-browser nuances.
- 10 years of design experience and high-level knowledge of Adobe CS4 suite specifically: Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver and Flash.
- An eye for good ( simple ) design, and experience with studying User Interaction Design. ( its all in the grouping )
- Knowedge of how to move processing from desktop to web-based.
- Ruby programming experience along with the Rails framework.
- Data scraping / XML / Xpath / automated cataloging experience.
- AWS experience running: EC2 EMR and S3.
- Deep personal interest in the subject: DIY bio socal, DIY bio seattle, #seattlerobotics, #robotics, #biology #bioinformatics ... these are the people who I want as my friends ( in 'RL').

My plan:
- Address what can be sourced to, and solved by machine processing ( protein folding, all atom docking ) Ex: create programs like Rosetta++
- Sponge in all that I can by the surrounding community, lean to think both as a scientist and a programmer.
- Figure out what tools we currently have available, utilize those tools and extend their reach.
- Dig deep into the startup community along the west coast and establish working relationships with prominent companies. This includes: writing content, attending seminars, talks and networking events.
- Figure out how twitter can be used to promote scientific research and buzz around a particular project (think BGI and the public sequencing of the recent ecoli strain)
- Work like a startup, think like a scientist.

I want nerve grinding brainstorming sessions late at night, the time-stopping "AH HA!" moments of discovery.  I want my coworkers as my friends and to be surrounded by people who have visceral passion in their life's pursuit.  I have only heard of the infectious effect that this has on a persons drive. I want this thought to be ever-present in all actions I make. One of My best friends recently moved to the west coast, and I cannot wait to see what hes been up to.

I have 1 suitcase and 2 trash bags of personal belongings. By the end of next week, literally, I will be ready to relocate anywhere in the world to do this work, however it would be awesome if I'd get to meet my west coast friends. If you'd prefer to have me work remotely I'd be happy to work from here in Pittsburgh.

As far as compensation: I will work for whatever you feel I'm worth and the chance to be surrounded with the thoughts and concepts of this field. Up until 2 days ago I had no idea there was a research institution following this, I am relieved and inspired in knowing there are groups hard at work on this.

Sincerely,
Carl R. Crott