An Artist Who Peered Under The Hood – And Found a New Way Of Thinking

Raquel Bujans started out as an artist. However, working as a student in classes on Photoshop and 3D modelling she found herself more fascinated by what was “under the hood” than the projects she was laboring on. Graphic art isn’t easy, it is a laborious, time consuming pursuit that requires hours of meticulous care to ensure that textures, hues, and minute details are all absolutely perfect.

That’s what led her to coding. She wanted to make drawing and modeling in a computer medium a more natural and seamless process. She didn’t just want to create art, she wanted to change the very nature of how art was made. And she found a way to do that, by learning how to build the programs that were being used to design graphics and games.

Unfortunately the transition from liberal arts to the hard science of computers and programming wasn’t easy for her. When she first started coding her freshman year she found herself surrounded by men that had years of experience working with these subjects. Many of them had started at the age of 10, while she’d just gotten her very first computer. That made it difficult for her to learn the materials quick enough to keep up, which was so frustrating that she almost quit.

What saved her, were her friends. She was smart enough to surround herself with people that kept her sane, focused, and on track as she pursued her dreams. These became her mentors, and they guided her, helping her find solutions whenever an obstacle got in the way. Seeing women who had found success in the field she was pursuing, such as those she met at Women Who code, also acted as an inspiration, giving her examples of others who had overcome gender bias to make an impact in their industry. They never let her give up, and eventually she achieved an MS in Computer Science from Washington University in St. Louis.

Today Raquel has achieved professional success, making an impact in the gaming industry with such prestigious companies as Vicarious Visions, IGDA, and Kaos Studios, and she is currently a tech strategist for MySpace NYC. She also recently wrapped up an ambitious project for ExploraPhones, where she developed a system that handles incoming orders from their website and external 3rd party API’s, and then funnels them into a database that matches them with available inventory

In addition, she does extensive work to help other women overcome the challenges she faced when entering the tech industry. Through her university’s alumni network she’s had a number of female coders and recent NYC transplants reach out to her for help and advice with their careers, which she is always more than happy to provide. She has also acted as a mentor for her own former all girls high school, providing young women with a shining example of what they can achieve if they aren’t afraid to work hard and follow their dreams.

When asked about ways to get more females involved in the technology field Ms. Bujan responded, “It’s important to let young women know that computer science IS something you can do when you grow up, like as a REAL career. My own high school actually shooed me away 10 yrs ago when I asked them to encourage students to pursue STEM college majors. Now that tech is such a popular subject, I’m very happy to report they’re much more interested in listening to my advice.”