An Abbotsford student who graduated from York University's School of Design in Toronto has been hired by Facebook after she developed an interactive tool to manage her migraine headaches.
Shayna Lauer, who moved from Abbotsford to Toronto to attend York University, suffered from migraine headaches so badly that she almost didn't know if she would be able to complete her schooling.
Halfway through a course on data visualization, she saw the opportunity to apply what she was learning in class to her own life.
In response to the lack of available tools for effective migraine management, she developed an interactive tool that visualized her own personal health data, helping her to establish the patterns of migraine attacks and become aware of migraine triggers.
In doing so, Lauer was able to pinpoint certain things that were triggering her migraines – for example, changes in the weather/temperature – that helped her to determine when might be best to take medication and how to better manage stressful events.
This past January, York professor David Gelb helped organize a visit for the design students from designers at Facebook.
Lauer was offered the opportunity to interview with company representatives, who were interested in her work and the migraine project.
She flew to San Francisco for the final interview, and was hired to work at the company beginning in September.