Integrating computer programming in chemistry with Yuri Falcao - Lab and Operations Coordinator
During his time as a Ph.D. student at the University of Brasília, Dr. Yuri Falcao has grown interest in computer programming and its application in the chemistry field. After a life-changing incident, he decided to start over, move to Canada and complete his Computer Programming diploma - in the middle of a global pandemic. Combining his love for computers and a Ph.D.-level knowledge in chemistry, Dr. Falcao excels in his role as Lab and Operations Coordinator at Velocity Incubator, where he provides support and coordinates lab activities for deep-tech startups.
I have a chance to sit down with Dr. Falcao and have a deeper look into his exciting journey and inspiring perspective. Check out the full interview below and hope that you enjoy the conversation as much as I did!
**This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
I was working in Brazil as an analytical chemist in the lab, and part of my Master's and Ph.D. was a lot related to the analysis of catalysts and the results of fuel products after catalyst reaction. I had to do a lot of that, so I tried to make it nicely and got really pro at Excel and programming <laugh>. I spent a lot of time there and learned how to treat data very well to present them to other scientists in an understandable way. And this was part of something that's really related to computer programming and engineering data analysis.
Besides that, I basically was studying Python just because I had this idea to work with catalyst for my Ph.D. I was thinking of ways to calculate the catalyst molecules that interact better with my samples or any other fuels and polymers. And these interactions are so complex. So I thought about calculating the perfect catalyst on a computer, which was really hard because most of the programs were really complex. The best approach would be to work with something that already existed and optimize it for my program. So I started learning the very basics of Python at the time. And then, the tipping point was when I almost got kidnapped in Brazil; I felt like Canada seemed to be a safer place. After that experience, I decided that I would give Canada a try and start over my career. I'm still young, so if I go and nothing works, I can always come back. So yeah, I risked it, and I think it works.
It was definitely the biggest challenge of my life <laugh>. I had a normal life back in Brazil. I was financially established and professionally established. So coming to Canada and starting everything from zero was already difficult. Like becoming an undergrad student again was such a mind-breaking challenge. And then the worst hit, and everything that was already a little bit difficult became so mentally difficult. Just because I couldn't have a normal social interaction. Even after the lockdowns and everything, the college was still closed, and we would have classes at home. This definitely was such a hard time for sure. I had some interactions with my colleagues, and from time to time, we would just get together and study because we were in desperate need of some interactions. And my family definitely helped me a lot too
I don't know. I think I got used to the pain of studying and learning all the time <laugh>.
“At some point, I try to see it as just a normal thing, not something that will stop happening. I try to see it as let's just do it.”
Nowadays, I'm much more established in terms of knowing what I should do to keep myself happy. My fiancé also helps a lot, and we have such a fun time. Even though sometimes I need to study, work and do so many things, we still try to keep life happy. Of course, I cannot compare myself, but I try to be inspired by those entrepreneurs and big people. Let's say Elon Musk, who is like a superstar. If you look at him, the guy is a genius in his way, and he must be learning every day. Even though he's not a programmer, data scientist or chemist, he must understand a little bit of the stuff he's doing. And since there are so many different things, he must be learning every day. So if I want to earn a little bit of money <laugh> and try to be a little bit successful in life, I need to at least try to do the same. When I was a kid, during school, I felt school was a pain, and I was like, "Oh, I want to get rid of this," but ten years later, I was still studying. So the best idea is just like, okay, whatever.
We have so many companies at Velocity, around 14 startups in the lab, but I think in total are like 60 startups. And the idea of Velocity Incubator is to act as an incubator that provides the space and instruments, so the startups can develop their product. And then, for the lab part, we mainly work with deep tech companies in the biology and chemistry area and some health tech for medical technology.
In my position, let's say they have a new employee that wants to use FTIR for analyzing samples, they will talk to me, and I will go through the first one or two analyses to teach them how it works. And of course, some maintaining works as well. It's more like coordinating, training, trying to help the teams, and I found myself dealing with data again<laugh>. We have a huge number of instruments because we are the big man. Other companies were required to book the instruments, and we were trying to maintain all this inventory. With my love for computers, I couldn't help myself and proposed to implement a database there for storing the inventory. I ended up working with Notion - a platform that is similar to Airtable. So I talked to my boss and the director about the idea of implementing an inventory system, and we agreed that it would be nice for the whole Velocity to use the same system. We started in the lab and are now growing it for the entire facility to make a log of inventory.
The idea is that we are saving money because these services can be a little bit expensive. And I figured it's kind of the same effort because even if we pay a software line, we need to go through each item and register each of them in the inventory by ourselves. So I felt like why should we pay for something that we can make. So yeah, it's more like a management and coordination job compared to what I used to do before in terms of lab activity, but it's still great.
You used to work as Lab Chemist, right? Which one do you like better?
I love both <laugh>. I would say too much of just the experimental part, and hands-on work can be very, very heavy on the body. And depending on the goals, at least when I was working towards my Ph.D., it can be pretty heavy. But too much work on the management side can be stressful sometimes because we need to sync with so many teams. Perhaps, some teams have different needs than others, and you need to coordinate everything. But both of them are great! I'm happy that I can still apply my programming skills to the job I'm doing now. And I'm so thankful to them for giving me all this freedom to experiment. I think I wouldn't be able to do that in other companies.
I feel like that is especially true for big corporations. Everything is already established, leaving little room for experimentation, and it is quite challenging for your ideas to be implemented.
Yes, exactly. I feel like depending on the company, mainly like IT companies. There needs to be a demand first for them to spend, and there is not so much space for experimentation in this area. If you work with a huge number of clients. Let's say you have an open website, you cannot experiment without losing so much time, so it's very different. But at Velocity, since we work mainly for our companies, around 60 startups. Whatever system we develop is mainly for these 60 clients, giving us some margin to experiment. If this doesn't work, let's try another thing and get feedback from these clients. It's kind of like a startup by itself, or I would say it is a mini startup for startups.
I think I would need more time to really develop this one thing. But I see that so many labs in the US, and some in Canada, have the system for monitoring labs that include reports and data analysis. Most of them are very new systems, so they are not really complex.
“I feel like for data, at least on the lab management side, it would be more helpful if we had some monitoring and prediction systems. And it's totally related to computer and data analysis, but in the labs.”
I know some companies have this system, but it's like customized for them. However, having this application for the general lab would be such a great feature, and it's something that could be achieved with data analysis. Before I joined Velocity, I was working at Helix, and Helix is an incubator as well. In there, I was an aspiring entrepreneur, so I was trying to develop some laboratory instruments that would be able to gather and treat the data for the clients while keeping an active monitoring system. It's very easy to see the application of data science in the laboratories
I agree. Because of the advancement in technology, there are so many new ways to collect information that leave us with huge chunks of data. Compared to maybe like 10 years ago, we definitely collected data in a completely different way than what we are doing right now and sometimes we don't treat them the way it should be.
Yes. There are so many ways, many needs, and so many things that I cannot even imagine. But I think if every scientist, or at least every now and then, one scientist has an idea and develops something that would help us achieve that. We actually even have one startup at Velocity called Scispot that they try to make it easier for laboratories to manage their inventory and everything. They try to automate things, and I think they do that by applying these ideas to data treatment, making it easier for scientists since we have a lot of data compared to before. And it's something that would be wonderful!
I would say Patties Express, even though it's a small system for reporting. I think it's my favourite just because it's the basis of what I use for so many things. When I came to Canada, my first job (that related to the area) was at Patties Express. I worked there for a brief time, and then I talked to a colleague about the reporting system there. It's a lot of numbers, a lot of data related to the products that we need to report. Those data would go to the owner, and later he would transform them into sales numbers and give them to the accounting. I thought why I don't just treat all of this and make an API (*Application Programming Interface) - a web app that can store these data and present them in a nice way. I thought about predicting the days that we would have more sales or fewer sales based on previous data; or predicting the factory production. So, I talked to them, and they said, "Okay, let's go. Let's just start slow; show me the web app." I made that, made some graphs and some tables with all the reports while also sending them by SMS. That was like the first experience that I had here in Canada, and I felt really accomplished after delivering the API <laugh>
If you think about it, it implements everything that a more complex system needs. It has all the inputs and the reporting system through SMS messages. For example, a laboratory alert system for temperature monitoring actually does the same thing. Once the temperature changes, it sends an alert by email and SMS, just like my website. It also includes data storage, management and analysis, which are like the basis for any other needs. Of course, it's not a big system, not comparable to something that would have like thousands of requests per day. But in its simplicity, I find it is very nice <laugh>. I have developed some websites for this Brazilian company and some landing pages for other clients. Still, those were simpler, non-interactive, and non-dynamic compared to this other website. So Patties Express was a complete basic system and still one of my favourites.
What made you decide to start your own website on the side and have your projects posted there?
I have always been dreaming or attempting to follow the more entrepreneur side. I still have the idea of opening my own company, so I started with Program Coffee as my company. Even though I still didn't incorporate it, I still started working and it's like very small and very slow. It doesn't generate any considerable income, but the idea for this website was mainly to keep this alive until I have time to dedicate to the company. In a way, I want to keep it as a working project instead of just an idea.
“I would say take more risks, even in a professional career. Try to be more proactive, even for things that don't seem to be so rewarding.”
I had the opportunity to engage more in my MCU, and then I felt like this area was hard to get money. And then I lost some really good opportunities in this field. So that's definitely something that I would tell myself, go for what you like instead of what you think would make money. Just because it's not a trending area, it can still be really good if you are good at it. Do what you love and risk. Just go for it instead of thinking about the future. My parents gave me the advice to do science, go to university, and have a stable life. I understand their mindset, but the realities are different. I would say that nowadays we can take more risks. The world is so big nowadays, so connected, which makes it easier to find a place for any professional.
Um, I really like rhodium because I worked with rhodium during my Bachelor's, my Master's and my Ph.D. I made catalysts out of rhodium and supported them in nanoparticles. Rhodium is extremely stable; it's more expensive than gold or platinum and is used as the main catalyst in cars. Mainly because of its resilience under any type of work. If you impregnate in the nanoparticles or coat it on the surface, it basically stays forever. It's also easy to manipulate or impregnate nanoparticles. The distribution is amazing; I feel rhodium is underrated. That metal is expensive as hell just because it's so rare. It's also extremely reactive for both reduction and oxidation reactions, which we can see this behaviour in catalysts. It's by far the most resilient metal, and it's my favourite one. If I could have a collection of rhodium, I would be so happy and rich!
