Meet Salamata Bah, 2021 Africode Mentee of The Year!
Salamata is a third year university student studying Computer Science and Bioinformatics. Amongst her many impressive achievements, Salamata was a STAR scholar at Drexel University and conducted Machine Learning research to predict likelihood of cancerous activity in breast cancer tumors. As she looks towards the future, she plans to expand on her research and ultimately found a Biotech company in her home country, Guinea.
About Salamata:
I am a rising third year student at Drexel University with a major in Computer Science and a minor in Bioinformatics. Although I was born in the United States, I am originally from Guinea and spent 16 years growing up in Conakry, before moving back to the US to continue my education. I am currently doing my first co-op (internship) with two companies – eMoney Advisor as a Software Engineer and IBM as a Software Developer. I worked as a Technical Support Assistant with Drexel’s IT department before that.
Outside of school, I like to explore the city of Philadelphia or travel across the United States to explore new places - mostly restaurants. I also spend some of my free time reading, binge-watching Netflix shows, or discussing business ideas with friends.
How did you get started in tech?
I initially wanted to pursue a career in medicine because I saw it as a way to give back to my community. This changed in my senior year of high school when I was part of the robotics team. I was intrigued by how we could use a computer to give instructions to a machine and perform tasks like launching a ball. Given my lack of experience with coding at the time, I was reluctant to major in Computer Science and initially started my journey at Drexel with an undecided major. This allowed me to learn about different parts of Computer Science and fall in love with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. I was able to see the wide reaching impacts of tech in fields ranging from medicine to finance.
How did you find out about Africode and why did you choose to become a mentee?
I found out about Africode from Halima (Africode Team Lead). She was featured on Drexel’s website and her accomplishments automatically caught my attention. Around this time, I was also interested in bringing Africans together to build and develop solutions for the continent. After reading her feature, I connected with Halima on LinkedIn and saw that Africode was one of the things she worked on. I later applied to be part of the program with the hope of networking with Africans in tech.
I chose to be a mentee because I wanted to strengthen some of my soft skills, learn and receive guidance from tenured Africans in the tech industry.
What did you enjoy about being an Africode mentee this year?
This is my second year as an Africode mentee, and I can attest that this organization is growing and improving every day. This mentorship year has been incredibly resourceful, from hosting AfricodeX events to posting regularly on the Africode Forum. However, what I enjoyed most was having a mentor who was always available to guide me. I have had several mentors in the past; however, I often classify them into two categories – maps and mirrors. Maps are those who can guide me regardless of their career – they could be outside of Tech. Mirrors are those upon whom I reflect on, when I see them, I want to be like and even better than them. This year, I was lucky enough to have a mentor that was both a map and a mirror to me. With him, I had the chance to prepare for technical interviews and review any CS material that I did not fully grasp; talk about our journeys in tech, interests, and careers in tech. This made me realize that the makings of a good mentor/mentee relationship depend on effective communication - being open to share ideas and perspectives.
What is something you have learned from being a mentee that you can take back to your academic life?
As a mentee, I have learned how important it is to practice self-reflection, ask for and receive feedback. Whether it is a personal or academic goal, I found it very useful to intentionally engage in self-reflection after taking an action towards the goal. This could help assess your strengths and weaknesses and establish a better plan to attack a goal. I also learned the power of feedback. It is one thing to seek out individuals who can give feedback and it is a whole different thing to practice active listening to receive the feedback without defensiveness or offensiveness. A way I practice active listening is to ask for clarity as needed and always express gratitude. This is not only important when building a relationship with a mentor but also with professors, and I think it is a valuable skill to have as a student.
What are your academic or professional ambitions?
As of now, my goal is to obtain both my Bachelor's and Master’s degrees at Drexel University while being involved in AI and ML research and learning from internships as much as I can. Recently, I have developed interests in academia and might go for a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics or Machine Learning. However, my end goal is to startup a Biotech company in Guinea and across multiple African countries.
What is something in the African tech space that currently interests you?
The ecosystem of African tech has been heavily marked by mobile services. It is fascinating to see how mobile applications have impacted the fintech industry in Africa – mostly used for money transfers. However, I think it'd be more interesting to leverage this mobile connectivity to create solutions in areas such as healthcare, agriculture, and education. We could develop apps that can connect doctors with patients, or apps to assist farmers, or apps to connect students with teachers.
How has COVID affected your work and learning in the tech space?
At the beginning of COVID, it was hard to adjust to online classes and work. But as time went by, I developed time management skills that helped me stay on top of my schoolwork while balancing my social life and being mindful of my mental health. As a computer science student, my classes weren’t disrupted and I was lucky enough to be in a school that transitioned easily into remote learning. And my work-study job was able to transition to remote work as well. All of which tells me that the tech space had fewer disruptions because of COVID. Two major things I learned during the pandemic as a student in Tech: grab every opportunity and improve your skills every day.
If you’d like to connect with Salamata, you can find her on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Africode congratulates Salamata and all of the 2021 mentees on their achievements over the course of the year!