Page 8 - Software Engineer

Seeing Software Engineering

What does trying on sunglasses have to do with software? For Roopa
Desa, the senior engineering manager at eyewear service company Eye-
nity,it means everything. The programsshe and her team of software
engineers work onhelp doctors, patients, and eyeglass vendors. When
patientscome in for an eye exam,their information, eyeglass prescrip-
tion speci cations, and insurance details are all entered into asoftware
program that Desa and her team created. The same program is used by
the lab that makes the lenses to ll the order and by the vision insurance
company to collect money and track claims.
Some programs offered by Eye nity arebased on customerfeedback.
For example, Desa and her team received feedback that customers did
not want to spend so much time trying on glasses in a doctor’s of ce. So
they created a program that allows them totry on hundreds of different
framesvirtually. “A patient can click a sel e and virtually try on various
frames from home or anywhere,” says Desa. They can do it “from their
couch, without having to go into the doctor’s of ce. ... Software made it
all possible.”

Roopa Desa, interview with author, November 9, 2016.

A systems engineer also might work with the information
technology (IT) department to set up the organization’s Internet
access and ensure each device can properly connect to it. Some
companies have thousands of networked devices, from large
confi dential servers to hundreds of smartphones that require con-
stant and uninterrupted service. Systems engineers also work on
intranets—networks that link computers within an organization so
employees can more easily communicate with each other.
Systems engineers are also usually responsible for designing
and implementing data and application security. In other words,
they are in charge of making sure sensitive data cannot be hacked.
As such, system engineers write programs that scramble data
unless it is accessed correctly, which makes it nearly impossible

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