![a picture of me typing and my dog trying to stop me](img/supervisor.jpg)
My supervisor, busily supervising.
About Me
I am an aspiring information professional with a keen interest in language and information (especially multilingual information), information technology, taxonomies, information architecture and user experience design.
I am also a professional translator specializing in human and veterinary medicine. I translate texts from Spanish and Catalan to English as well as edit and proofread texts in English.
Since 2009, I have continuously lived, worked and studied in regions where multilingualism is a way of life: Israel near its border with Lebanon, Catalonia (Spain), southern California and Quebec (Canada). Thanks to this, I've seen firsthand that multilingualism adds layers of richness to a society, as well as layers of complexity. Speakers of different languages have with different perspectives, hold different assumptions and have different information needs.
And that's where I come in. I am thrilled at the prospect of creating beautiful bespoke multilingual taxonomies and neatly streamlined navigation experiences for clients and end users of all types.
Currently, I live in Montreal, where I am completing a degree in Information Studies at McGill University (and, as you might guess, working on my French), and maintain a base in the Los Angeles area.
Please feel free to drop me a line (below) to discuss anything related to language and information.
Experience
Translator
Self-Employed
Sep 2014-Sep 2017 (full time); Sep 2017-present (part time)
CA, USA
Responsibilities:
- Translate medical, pharmaceutical and veterinary texts from Spanish, Catalan and French to American and British English and edit and proofread texts redacted in English
- Documents include summaries of product characteristics and package leaflets for human and veterinary medicinal products, scientific articles and passages from textbooks on topics in human and veterinary medicine and surgery, clinical trial documents, etc.
Medical Translation Intern
Nova Traductors i Intèrprets S.L. (now WeLocalize)
Jun 2014-Sep 2014 (450 hours)
Barcelona, Spain
Responsibilities
- Translated and revised translations from Spanish and Catalan to English and proofread texts redacted in English, almost always medical, pharmaceutical and veterinary texts
- Documents included package leaflets and summaries of product characteristics for human and veterinary medical products, clinical trial documents, and pharmaceutical manufacturing procedures
Technical Translation Intern
Oct 2013-May 2014 (350 hours)
Barcelona, Spain
Responsibilities
- Translated and revised translations from Spanish and Catalan to English and proofread texts redacted in English, particularly technical texts
- Documents included medication administration manuals, presentations on medical disorders, physical therapy exercise manuals, laboratory brochures, scientific articles, news articles and product advertisements
Project Assistant
Bahá’í World Centre (NGO)
Sep 2012-Jun 2013 (part time)
Haifa, Israel
Responsibilities
- Translated communications from Spanish and French to English
- Drafted and revised communications in English
Scheduler Facilitator
Bahá’í World Centre (NGO)
Sep 2009-Aug 2013 (full time); Sep 2012-Jun 2013 (part time)
Haifa, Israel
Responsibilities
- Translated communications from Spanish and French to English
- Drafted and revised communications in English
Bilingual Communication Assistant
Wisconsin Telecommunications Relay System (now Wisconsin Relay Service)
Sep 2008-Mar 2009 (full time)
WI, USA
Responsibilities
- Relayed calls between hearing and deaf users in Spanish and English
- Interpreted calls from Spanish to English and English to Spanish
Education
Master of Information Studies (projected)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Sep 2017-Apr 2019
Courses completed: Data Mining, Database Design, Foundations of Information Studies, Information Behaviour and Resources, Information Security, Information System Design, Organization of Information, and Web System Design and Management
Business School for Translators
Master of Translation Studies
Bachelor of Arts in Spanish
Bachelor of Science in Nursing (incomplete)
Skills
Web Design
Basic knowledge of:
- HTML5
- CSS3
- Javascript
- jQuery
- Responsive design
- Information architecture
- Usability
Database Design
Basic knowledge of:
- Microsoft Access
- SQL
Data Science
Basic knowledge of:
- Python for data science, including NumPy, Matplotlib, Pandas, and NLTK
- RapidMiner
Completion of DataCamp courses:
- Intro to Python for Data Science
- Intermediate Python for Data Science
- Intro to SQL for Data Science
Computer-Assisted Translation Software and Translation Quality Software
MemoQ
Trados
Wordfast
XBench
Human Languages
English (native proficiency)
Spanish (full professional proficiency)
Catalan (professional working proficiency)
French (limited working proficiency)
General-Purpose Software
Microsoft Office suite
Mac iWork suite
Professional Involvement
Coding Support Group
Inspired by Code & Coffee events organized by Les Pitonneux and Coffee and Code events organized by freeCodeCamp Montreal, a colleague and I co-created a weekly Coding Support Group to meet the specific needs and suit the busy, erratic schedules of McGill Information Studies (SIS) students learning to code.
MIStech
I am an active member of the McGill Information Studies Technology Association. As a member, I have helped organize and attended an introductory Python workshop.
InfoNexus
I served as a volunteer for the McGill InfoNexus Conference in 2018, aiding with registration and other event logistics.
World Information Architecture Day
I served as a volunteer for the World Information Architecture Day Conference in Montreal in 2018, aiding with registration and other event logistics. (I also won a great prize — the entire Rosenfeld Media user experience library! I've got a very long summer reading list now....)
SLA
I am an active member of the McGill Special Library Association Student Group. As a member, I learned about content strategy and taxonomy on a tour of Ubisoft Montreal in 2018.
MISSA
I am a member of McGill Information Studies Student Association, a general student association.
Los Angeles Translators and Interpreters Club
I am a member of the Los Angeles Translators and Interpreters Club.
ATA
I was a member of the American Translators Association from January 2017 to December 2017.
ATISDA
I was a member of the Association of Translators and Interpreters in the San Diego Area from January 2016 to December 2017.
Portfolio
Tech projects I've done
A website for my curriculum vitae (this one!)
A redesign of the website of a city in Quebec with a tourism-driven economy, in collaboration with Abhishek Agarwal, Sonner Foltran and Zack Chen
A database for operations management at an animal shelter, in collaboration with Ianna Breese
A project in data science to analyze, and understand and compare bias in English- and French-language media coverage of the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, in collaboration with Lambert Garceau
A game for English speakers to build their vocabulary in French
Books I've translated
Contact me!
Need a quote for a translation? Looking for a collaborator to build a taxonomy?
No problem! You can send me an email at melissa.erin.knudtson@gmail.com or give me a call on (+1) (909) 291-5655.
I look forward to hearing from you!