Meet the Writer: Danielle Gruber, Lover of Brains & Student of Engineering

HackerNoon Reporter: Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests.

Hello there! My name is Danielle, and I’m a freshman at Yale majoring in electrical engineering. My decision to be an EE major was somewhat of a recent development (I was initially set on physics) but was driven by my interests in computational neuroscience and brain-computer interfaces. As of right now, I’m hoping to work in the brain-computer interface industry.

Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about?

My latest Hackernoon story, How to Interface the 8051 MCU with an LCD Display, was a tutorial on interfacing the 8051 microcontroller with a 16x2 LCD and displaying a blinking “Hello World” message. I’m now learning about computer engineering more in-depth and thought I’d document my journey.

Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about?

Some of my previous articles have been deep-dives into subjects that interest me (e.g., neuroscience), while others have conveyed the few nuggets of wisdom I’ve collected up to this point in my journey (e.g., math is cool). The article mentioned above is my first on Hackernoon, but I plan to release similar tutorials for other 8051 projects. As I learn more about computer architecture, I hope to write more articles on techniques employed in the design of modern microprocessors and their hardware/software interface.

Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?)

I don’t write much because of all the time constraints that come with being a student and having a job. But when I do, I get into the best flow by emptying my thoughts onto the page and saving the editing for later. Also, I’m a very visual person, so whenever I’m writing an article and the image of a perfect diagram or flowchart pops into my mind’s eye, I immediately execute it in Google slides or Canva.

Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing?

Definitely time. I’m a believer in the idea that there’s no such thing as not having enough time, only how you evaluate your priorities. As a student, I prioritize responsibilities related to academics and my job and don’t usually move writing to the top of my list. However, now that I’ve gotten the chance to jump back into writing and remember how much I enjoy it, I think I’ll bump it up a few numbers.

What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career?

First, I’d like to graduate. After that, I hope to have a career in the brain-computer interface industry. Actually, I’m currently planning a project with the IEEE club at our university using Emotiv’s EEG headset devices for “mind-controlling” computers (e.g., Raspberry Pi). It should be pretty awesome!

Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice?

The perfect night consists of a good board game, a good TV show, good music, and good food.

Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it?

Music is very meaningful to me, as it helped me get through many tough times in my middle and high school years. I play bass guitar and am a sucker for a song with a good bass line or flourish of the organ. I love everything from The Band to Steely Dan.

What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next?

I’m currently working on a few other tutorials for 8051 projects, so I hope to get them up and running soon!

Thanks for taking time to join our “Meet the writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words?

Thank you for the honor of being interviewed for one of your “Meet the Writer” articles. It is incredible to be a part of this community of talented writers!