Who’s Who at the Lab-Vincent Balbarin

selfie of person with dog.
Name: 
Vincent Balbarin
Position: 
Linux, Technical Support

What do you do here at Wright Lab? 

I provide computing support at Wright Lab. This comprises everything from maintaining the physical servers and storage, recommending hardware for individual research purposes, to helping community members find the proper support offered by other units at the University.  I can answer questions regarding Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and AWS. Although I am a part of the YCRC, I am dedicated to Wright Lab; so, please come visit me in room WL235.

What is the most unique and/or exciting experience you’ve had here at Wright Lab? 

The most exciting experience I have had is attending the recent series of public job talks. It’s rather mind boggling to consider the timescales of experiments and the scope of collaboration involved in the types of work that Wright Lab does. Whenever, I pass the large high bay in the front of the lab, I feel like I’m part of something big.

What are you looking forward to in the coming year at Wright Lab?

I’m really hoping to learn more about folks’ research needs. I like solving problems, especially if I can enable research through computing.

What is something that people might not know about you that you’d like to share with the community? 

I am an amateur dog groomer who specializes in hand-stripping wire fox terriers. Wire foxes have coarse hair instead of fur. It does not shed. In order to groom them and keep them healthy, one must strip, or pull, the dead hair in order to allow the new hair to grow in. It’s a pretty specialized skill that I had to learn, but I find it oddly meditative!