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Software Team is Hacking for Humanity with Girls in Tech
Apr 10, 2020
By Chantal Condon, Supervisor, Software Testing
Tandem Diabetes Care is a medical device company that values relentless innovation in the pursuit of improving the lives of people with diabetes.
What does that look like?
It looks like the first insulin pump with a rechargeable battery, the pump with a touch screen, the first capable of remote software updates, the first approved by the FDA as iCGM compatible, the first designated as an alternate controller-enabled insulin
pump (ACE pump), and the first in a new interoperable automated glycemic controller category.
In the beginning, Tandem looked a lot like the Girls in Tech Hackathon weekend. It looked like people
facing a challenge and working together to figure out better, or maybe just different ways to solve it. We came up with cutting edge ideas that broke the mold of the diabetes industry. Our ideas took off! Tandem has gone from a small start-up—to
one of only three commercially available insulin pump options for people with diabetes in the United States. We even spread our wings internationally through our global distribution partners.
I want to talk to you about some of the people behind that pump.
Our software test group is 60% women and 75% of our software test leadership team are women as well. Most of us do not have a background in Computer Science.
Why did Tandem do that?
Many here believe that if you are determined to learn, detail oriented, and passionate, then we can teach you how to test and code. It’s something anyone can do with the right support. Some people in our group started off as Criminal Justice majors and now they are software test engineers. We've hired English, Art History, Biology, Healthcare and Psychology majors. We have people that learned how to write code while working at Tandem, who are now automating tests and writing software.
It was an experiment, but we were right.
That diversity has turned out to be an asset. Everyone is here for the right reasons, and the diverse ways of thinking have proven time and time again to make our software better and to help find bugs we might have missed.
Tandem is excited to participate in events like Hacking for Humanity with Girls in Tech, and is standing behind adding more women to the tech areas of our business. We’ve invited all levels to this event and it’s an opportunity to come together and to support each other in learning new skills.
The purpose of the Hackathon is to serve local community issues.
In 2019 the topic was veterans in San Diego, so our team built Child Share, a website and platform that allows Veteran families access to free childcare services by facilitating meet-ups between veterans. It is a short-term service that offers more than just babysitting—they provide social interaction, parental support, community involvement, and long-lasting friendships.
If there is one thing to take away from Hackathon weekends, it’s that anyone who likes tech work, belongs in tech.
For more information about current career opportunities with Tandem in both San Diego and Boise:
