In the summer semester of each year, CSE students are encouraged to intern at a company to gain valuable experience in the field. CSE is proud to highlight the internship experience of three of our graduate students.
Khazi Shehzadi (Masters Student, Computer Science)
During the summer, CSE graduate student, Khazi Shehzadi, interned at Coherent Corp as an Application Developer on their Firmware Regression Testing team. “I was drawn to this role because it offered a unique blend of software development and low-level system testing,” said Khazi.
While there, she automated the extraction of binary images and spearheaded the development of a CI/CD server. Firmware regression testing is a crucial step for ensuring the components work as intended. After each change is submitted, the code is automatically tested to ensure there are no unintended consequences. One part of ensuring that this process is efficient and scalable is a CI/CD server, which is a system that both automatically integrates changes and then tests and delivers them to both users and internal developers. “I created a seamless pipeline for automating testing, building, and deployment processes. This experience gave me in-depth exposure to CI/CD pipelines and server infrastructure management.” said Khazi.
Founded over 50 years ago in 1971, Coherent Corp is an American-based manufacturer of optical components and semiconductors. Their first products were lenses and mirrors for CO2 lasers. “Working at Coherent Corp was a transformative experience. I had the chance to tackle complex challenges. Collaborating with a highly skilled team not only enhanced my learning but also made me a better problem solver,” said Khazi.
Shreyas Contractor (Masters Student, Computer Science)
Shreyas interned at T-Mobile, which is renowned for its exceptional work culture and
vast opportunities for growth. “My experience at T-Mobile was invaluable, working
with cutting-edge technologies like Java Spring Boot, AWS Cloud, and Terraform.”
T-Mobile started in Germany in the mid-1980’s as part of the state postal service,
Deutsche Bundespost. As laws changed, the company was privatized and expanded, rapidly
becoming the international telecommunications company we know today.
“My main focus was on automating the infrastructure creation process on AWS Cloud
through Terraform scripts, and I also created a pipeline to enable seamless, end-to-end
automated deployment,” said Shreyas.
T-Mobile couples real-world work, like optimizing AWS Lambda functions, with a collaborative environment to help interns grow both technically and professionally. “T-Mobile’s commitment to innovation and seamless automation made it a standout experience in my career,” said Shreyas.
Ryan Stapf (Masters Student, Computer Science)
“It’s a surreal experience to be working in the place that sent humans to the moon in 1969.” said Ryan Staph, who participated in the Software Engineering Internship program with Jacobs Inc. at NASA Kennedy Space Center. Jacobs Inc. was founded by a chemical engineer, Joseph J. Jacobs, in 1947. Jacobs Inc. currently holds the COMET contract with NASA. The contract is an estimated $3.2 billion contract for vehicle assembly and integration, launch, and recovery operations for Artemis missions for ten years.
“I developed an application that converts a Chapter 10 (CH10) file into one or more Packet Capture (PCAP) files,” said Ryan. CH10 files are a standard file type in the aerospace industry, and PCAP files are used to both read ethernet packets and monitor for anomalies. The original process Jacobs Inc. was using took roughly 30 minutes to convert a file. Ryan’s application reduced the time by up to 95% and includes a user-friendly GUI. His application will be used by all future Artemis missions.
“Ever since I was a child, I have been fascinated with aerospace and everything related to NASA. Working at KSC was a dream come true.” said Ryan with a massive grin. “It’s an honor to contribute to the mission to permanently send humans back to the moon.”