The third cohort of the University of California summer internship program embraced the tech-centered challenges posed by their host organizations and showcased both professional and personal growth.
How can you adjust a machine learning algorithm to better detect diseases in biological samples? How do you write a program that can make sense of diverse data sources? What do you do if there’s a regional shortage of an important chemical you need for your experiments this week?
These questions, and dozens more, helped to guide the summer experiences of the most recent cohort of the CITRIS Workforce Innovation Program, a workforce development effort funded by the state of California and led by the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS), one of four California Institutes for Science & Innovation at the University of California (UC).
CITRIS Workforce Innovation places students from the four CITRIS campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Merced and Santa Cruz with industry, academic and nonprofit hosts for eight-week paid internships in emerging areas of technology innovation. The program especially encourages those from underrepresented groups in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, including people who identify as women, first-generation college students, and Pell Grant-eligible and undocumented students, to participate.
Now in its third year, CITRIS Workforce Innovation matched 76 students — including, for the first time, two graduate students — with 45 participating host organizations this summer. Areas of interest included aviation, climate and energy, digital health, semiconductors, and two new pathways for 2024: cybersecurity, and data and AI for social impact.
To set the stage for success, the students attended workshops designed to build communication and leadership skills before even beginning their formal internships, learning from guest speakers and networking with industry professionals and peers.
The interns reported to their placements ready to roll up their sleeves, and this year’s projects generated ample inspiration for students already eager to address real-world problems.
Staying flexible when facing the unexpected
With a longstanding interest in the semiconductor industry, Vansh Agarwal, a third-year UC Berkeley undergraduate student majoring in materials science with a minor in data science, was excited to apply to the CITRIS Workforce Innovation Program’s semiconductor track.
He received a WIISER NanoLab fellowship, which includes a full-time summer internship and part-time work during the academic year at the Berkeley Marvell Nanofabrication Laboratory at CITRIS, and he was immersed in the field’s design technology from the outset.
Agarwal’s primary task this summer was to help develop a standardized process for external researchers using the lab’s sputter machine, a tool that deposits very thin coatings of performance-enhancing materials onto semiconductor wafers, a foundational component of microelectronic devices. When he wasn’t streamlining the sputter’s operation, he was running tests and collecting data on other tools to ensure the lab was in good working condition.
Experimental research often entails confronting the unexpected, as Agarwal discovered when the NanoLab was affected by a shortage of liquid nitrogen in the Bay Area several weeks into his internship.
“I saw how closely my supervisor worked on a solution to that problem, and that helped me understand how unpredictable these kinds of things can be,” he said. “Learning from an experience like this prepares me for a career in industry.”
For cybersecurity intern Shipra Ithal, the most rewarding part of the process was watching something she created come to life.
“At Joby Aviation, the projects I worked on were being used and actually made an impact,” she said. “Being part of that, and solving complex problems, was super fulfilling.”
Ithal is graduating from UC Santa Cruz this fall with a degree in computer engineering. Over the summer, she developed both a network intrusion detection system and a web proxy server for Joby Aviation, a company that develops low-noise electric aircraft.
Although she didn’t have previous experience in cybersecurity, her academic concentration in computer networking provided a strong access point, and she especially enjoyed gaining expertise in web proxy configuration. Progressive accomplishments, along with positive reinforcement, motivated her past the steep learning curve of the first month.
“I was scared I was asking too many questions to my manager, but he was incredibly helpful,” said Ithal. “Taking on two projects was daunting, but I was able to finish both of them.”
Thoughtful inquiry was also an important part of the learning process for Efosa Omorogieva, a third-year computer science and engineering major at UC Merced. Omorogieva interned at Takachar, a technology startup working to transform waste biomass, such as the stalks and husks left over after a harvest, into usable products for rural communities. Her goal was to detect and remove irregularities in the output data of various machines used for processing biomass.
Although her career goals lie in machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI), she was excited to grapple with intense data analysis this summer instead.
“To me, engineering is all about solving a problem that you don’t understand 100 percent, and I like the challenge of figuring it out and the reward of finding an answer,” she said.
Facing many unfamiliar concepts, Omorogieva found it important to speak up to her supervisor on both the difficulties she experienced and her areas of strength, especially as the project became increasingly complex.
“This internship helped me grow both professionally and personally,” she said. “I’ve learned the importance of putting yourself out there, whether you’re scared or excited.”
Turning passion into expertise
Across the diverse host organizations, CITRIS Workforce Innovation Program mentors spoke of the dual privilege and responsibility inherent to working with interns: the rare opportunity to turn nascent passions into true expertise.
At Okta, an IT security company, staff members viewed providing students with the proper framework to grow as just as high a priority as maximizing their contributions.
“With adequate support and access to sufficient resources, interns can quickly learn complex material and almost immediately bring value to a team,” said Joaquin Campos, Okta’s nonprofit success program manager.
“It’s a win-win for students and companies.”
Jacqueline Espinoza, Beyond the Arc
One such vital resource is interdisciplinary expertise, according to Napoleon Paxton, vice president of federal technology at AI Squared, a data and AI integration company based in Washington, D.C.
“I think it is very important to put a strong team in place to support them,” he said. “Having members from different departments available was very valuable and provided a rich experience for the interns.”
For Beyond the Arc, a Bay Area business strategy and consulting firm, the students’ ambition and demonstrated development in soft skills and technical acumen were standout qualities.
“We appreciated their hard work and attention to detail,” said Jacqueline Espinoza, consulting practice leader at Beyond the Arc. “It’s a win-win for students and companies.”
Rita Deal, a second-year environmental systems science major at UC Merced with a passion for sustainability, saw her internship as a chance to incorporate technology into her arsenal of skills. She worked with Sarah Kurtz, a professor in the UC Merced School of Engineering, to gather temperature data for an agrivoltaics initiative at UC Merced’s Experimental Smart Farm, which is installing solar panels alongside its crop fields.
At the beginning of the project, Deal had limited experience using the devices it required: electrical sensors, jumper wires, resistors, a breadboard.
“I felt a bit of imposter syndrome,” she said.
But still she forged ahead, eager to pick up tips from her mentor and peers.
“I knew that one way or another I’d have to learn, and it would benefit me to ask, so I did. It really helped me to understand the material and get on with my daily tasks,” she said. “It also helped me feel more confident using this technology for future work.”
For Joanne Liu, a third-year UC Davis student majoring in statistics and minoring in public health, persistence was the key to success in her internship with bioinformatics startup Probius. Liu was asked to devise an algorithm to improve the classification accuracy of the company’s machine learning model, which processes electrochemical data for signs of diseases such as Alzheimer’s. The job required advanced coding proficiency, and Liu was up to the challenge.
“Within the first two weeks of the internship, I dedicated myself to mastering Python, so I would be able to finish all of my projects within the timeline,” she said.
To improve classification accuracy, Liu had to remove background noise from the data without compromising the integrity of the samples. She had to test several methods before reaching a fruitful result, but her hard work paid off. Her final algorithm improved predictive accuracy by 10 percent from Probius’s previous model.
“Most of research and development is trial and error, but keep persevering, trying new things and researching new methods, and eventually you’ll get the results you need,” said Liu.
The end is just the beginning
For a few lucky interns, the end of their time with the CITRIS Workforce Innovation Program marked the beginning of a new career path.
Jackie Brown, a recent UC Berkeley graduate with a bachelor’s degree in political economy, was placed with DiamondStream Partners, a venture capital (VC) company, for her internship. Her objective for the summer was to streamline the monitoring process for DiamondStream’s nine portfolio companies, which focus on next-generation aircraft management and development.
The role was Brown’s first endeavor into the VC world, and she found herself fascinated by the ins and outs of the transportation industry.
“There’s a lot of innovation and research on emerging technologies, and aviation also has a policy and regulatory aspect,” she said. “I think it’s a really good encompassment of my studies.”
Brown plans to stay on with DiamondStream until December 2024, and perhaps longer.
“It’s a testament to CITRIS,” she said, “because I was not actively thinking about the VC world or aviation until things went well with the matching interviews.”
The third cohort of the CITRIS Workforce Innovation Program rounded out the summer with a showcase symposium on Sept. 19, during which each intern had the opportunity to present their project to mentors, friends and family, and to reflect on their growth.
“We enjoy closing out the program with a showcase of the students’ admirable achievements — in their own words,” said program manager Nicole-Marie Cotton. “Each year, I am so impressed with their development.”
CITRIS Workforce Innovation expects to match and fund interns through summer 2025, and the program will continue to monitor graduates to measure the influence of their internships on their long-term career journeys.
“We are grateful that the governor’s office and the state maintained its investment in this transformational program, even in the face of budget constraints,” said Camille Crittenden, CITRIS’s executive director. “The students gained unparalleled experience to put their classroom work into action for the benefit of all Californians.”