“Economics of Law” –
Insights into Cybersecurity Policy

Name:Arushi Dalal

Internship, Co-op or Research Site:Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology (IMET)

Position Title:Summer Research Intern 

Major(s)/Minor(s):Biological Sciences, Pre-Veterinary

Current Class Level:Senior

Work Term:Summer 2020

Tell us about your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day responsibilities.

This summer, my fellow interns and I worked on projects centering around the Baltimore Harbor. Specifically, my lab partner and I characterized bacteria in the Baltimore Harbor. Identifying changes in microbe presence reflects the Harbor’s water quality. Using gene sequencing and bioinformatics, we identified bacterial indicators and generated graphs to compare the microbial diversity. My days consisted of Zoom calls to discuss our progress on the project, meetings with professionals in the field, and work sessions to learn bioinformatics techniques. Throughout the internship, I also engaged in science communication and technical training workshops.

Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application?

I originally planned to take a course at IMET this past spring, but I really learned more about the Institute at the CNMS Careers Conference and an On the Road trip with the Career Center. After this, I knew I wanted to apply. I scheduled a resume review meeting with the Career Center and drafted my statement of interest. The application was due in early February and consisted of a brief form, statement of interest, resume, and transcript. By the time May came around and the pandemic worsened, I worried I wouldn’t have an internship for the summer, but shortly thereafter I received an email about my acceptance. I had a brief interview over Zoom, and then I got to work!

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization? 

I appreciate the emphasis IMET puts on science communication. I’ve never encountered an organization which put an equal focus on the way we presented our findings as to the research we were doing. I believe that’s what made our final presentations so good. I also enjoyed meeting new peers and science professionals, in addition to attending weekly seminars to learn of the research being done at the Institute and around the country. Despite the challenges this pandemic has brought, IMET was very accommodating to students who had internet connectivity issues and who were joining from different time zones. I really appreciate all that the organization did to arrange this internship program, especially given the circumstances this year.

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

I was originally a little apprehensive of how a virtual internship would turn out. I always envisioned science to happen in a laboratory. Nevertheless, for ten weeks, I learned coding skills and utilized bioinformatic techniques to analyze 4.5 million DNA sequences and identified five key bacterial species. These results highlighted that we must further study the microbial diversity at certain sites that had been sampled in our research. I’m grateful for the opportunity to conduct meaningful research and cannot wait to see how future interns will build upon this work.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience? 

I recommend targeting specific organizations and familiarizing yourself with the work they do to see how it aligns with your interests, rather than applying everywhere and hoping one works out. I think what set me apart in IMET’s eyes was that I interacted with them at Career Center events and on their social media. I also reached out to them when organizing an event for a club, and I participated in their Open House activities. I did this not only because I wanted to intern there, but because I was truly interested in the work being done.

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Name:Sai Venkatesh Kurella

Internship, Co-op or Research Site:Collins Aerospace

Position Title:Software Engineering Intern

Major(s)/Minor(s):Computer Science

Current Class Level:Master’s Student

Work Term:Summer 2020

Tell us about your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day responsibilities.

I had the pleasure of working for Collins Aerospace as a Software Engineering Intern for Summer 2020. During my internship, I was assigned to a team that works on building a new web application for Aircraft Cabin Services Management, tracking and value-added services. As an intern, it is really a great opportunity to be an integral part of the team. As the internship experience was remote due to the pandemic, it was a whole new dynamic to get started, communicate with the team and deliver the tasks. I was coordinating with my Team Lead, Scrum Master, Manager all through. After my orientation, I was assigned a few tasks/user stories.  I was responsible for development and delivery of software modules for desktop, mobile, tablet views. We had daily stand-up calls, weekly status meetings, retrospection meetings with teams in other countries to make sure everything is in place and discuss the strategies, seek feedback, changes. Also, I was involved in regular customer demonstrations, received and implemented customer directed changes, worked and collaborated across multi-national development teams. Apart from these, there were also fun activities, events to get to know more about the projects, technologies, and interact with fellow interns. This internship taught me new techniques and approaches.

Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application?

I applied for the position through a careers website. A couple of weeks after applying for the position, a recruiter from the company reached out to me to set up a phone interview. After the phone interview, another interview was scheduled with Lead Developers and a Manager. There were two more interviews which included questions about programming and system design. After a week, a video conference was scheduled discussing further details. Within a week, I heard back from the recruiter through an email with an offer letter containing the details of the internship.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization? 

I was always amazed by the way Aircrafts work and I am glad that I could associate with an organization that works for Aircrafts. Given the current situations due to the pandemic, we have been working remotely and constantly connected via calls, video conferences. I really enjoyed learning, working on the latest technologies, learning about the avionics domain, communicating with team-members whom I have never met before in-person yet, working together as a team, and delivering the tasks. Communicating with the team has been very important in this setup to make sure everyone is on the same page. There were also weekly fun activities as well like Kahoot, Scribble games, Cohort programs, Quizzes, interactions with Senior Management, Talent shows, etc. which were really refreshing and insightful.

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

Starting as a remote intern and having never met any of the team members before, I believe gaining the trust of the team, bonding, communicating with the team has been crucial due to the remote work setup.  I had all the weight for making critical decisions for developing the application, so I had a liberty in how I chose to implement it as per the standards. As I see the application evolving and performing as expected, I get a sense for just how important my work really is. Accommodating the evolving requirements, learning and implementing new technologies  was challenging and rewarding.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience? 

My advice would be to keep a close watch on UMBCworks and other job portals that would help you find an internship or job opportunity. The Career Center is an incredibly helpful resource to improve your resume and strengthen your interview skills.

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