As a scientist, Mariam hopped from hair chemistry to pesticide research to drug ADME before finding a sweet spot in the FT-ICR MS/Proteomics area, which leveraged my background in chemistry and biology. She got her PhD based on research focused on the development and application of new analytical biotechnologies. Postdoctorally, she became part of the Mass Spectrometry Surface Sampling and Imaging Center of the Organic and Biological Mass Spectrometry Group of the Chemical Science Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. She had the opportunity to make a commercial version of a tool she got involved with in early stages, so it was that she went to work as a Senior Scientist at Prosolia, working to make ambient Mass Spec chemical imaging technologies more accessible to the world at large. As the device was successful enough that the company was purchased by a larger company, she moved on to another bioanalytical technology more pointed at the microfluidic separation and mass spectrometric analysis of biologic drugs. In this her research and development inclinations both in terms of data visualization and problem solving led to another start up being purchased by a larger company. After a few more years of research, project management, and IP development, she's on the lookout for her next big thing. Chemical imaging and data visualization dovetails into scientific illustration, which gets her closer to regular illustration. As an artist, she has experimented with everything from print art to digital art to food art before finding a sweet spot in using Etch-A-Sketches to make compelling pictures. Putting an idea in someone else's head is satisfyingly invasive. She remains a powerpoint ranger and has been known to consult on communicating more effectively with slides. She likes story-telling and being able to apply weirder competencies to helping people learn new things. Sometimes that means running trainings and publications; sometimes that means welding demolition derby car safety structures. They're all "projects".