Chhaya Mudgal

The COOLroom's very own Programming Nut

Her COOL Job

In her job, Chhaya's not in it for the glamor. But then, by the same token, she does a lot more than your average computer programmer gets to do.

Primarily, Chhaya gets to process and archive the real-time data we collect in our experiments. What she does is then published in research journals and is used by students. Many programmers only are able to work on one specific part of an application, whereas Chhaya is able to hard-code new programs and develop new computer applications from start to finish. Her programs take data collected by an instrument, transfer it across the state, process it, graph it so that it can be understood by people, and then post it on the Internet for the world to see.

Typically Chhaya programs using the language called Java, and right now she is developing applications for the first-ever Regional CODAR network that measures Ocean Surface Currents off the entire cost of New Jersey. Her task is to write programs which will take data from 7 antenna sites, process and plot it every hour.

Not only that, but she is writing a similar package of programs for the newly developed Webb Gliders. The Gliders will patrol on their own for months at a time off the coast of New Jersey, and Chhaya's programs will bring their data back to the scientists in the COOL lab, students in their classroom, and to you in your home, making Henry Stommel's vision for cool ocean networks a reality.

Chhaya spent a lot of time preparing for this job, even though she never really knew about oceanography before she came to the COOL Lab. She holds Masters of Science degrees in both Physics and Computer Science. And she's used to cold winters too, after having spent many winters in Canada with only her computer monitor to keep her warm.

You can contact us through our Feedback page.