My practicum site was Clarity Innovations, a tech company located in Columbia, Maryland. The work was primarily remote, with meetings held on Zoom from Monday to Friday, 9 AM to 5 PM. Occasionally, I went into the office one or two days a week. During my time at Clarity Innovations, I worked as a Software Engineering Intern, focusing mainly on a capstone project related to AI and databases.
I found this internship opportunity through my experience as a computer science intern in high school. After my internship ended, I stayed in contact with professionals in the industry, which helped me when Clarity Innovations reached out to me. They were looking for college interns for the summer, and I applied. My advice for future SGC Scholars is to apply to as many internships as possible and to be proactive. Following up through emails is important, and networking with people who can refer you is a great way to find opportunities. Also, it’s crucial to prepare well for interviews because that can make a big difference in landing a position.
At Clarity Innovations, our team was divided into smaller groups to work on different parts of the project. In the beginning, we spent time learning about new technologies, such as AWS, SQL, Weaviate, Llama2, RAG architecture, PostgreSQL, and Hugging Face embeddings. Once we had a good understanding of the tools, we met with mentors and team members every day for check-ins and updates. We then worked on our individual parts of the project, which involved developing an AI proposal bot that could search and interact with databases. Eventually, we pieced our work together, fixed bugs, and presented the final product.
The tasks I performed at this site gave me a lot of hands-on experience with data science and database management, which are key areas in my intended career. Specifically, I worked with PostgreSQL and Weaviate to store and manipulate data, and I learned how to interact with these databases efficiently. This experience was valuable because I want to pursue a career in data science, and this internship allowed me to deepen my understanding of how to manage and work with large amounts of data.
Beyond the technical skills, I learned a lot about working in a professional setting. Conducting myself in a formal work environment was an important lesson, as was learning how to communicate effectively with team members and mentors. I also became more confident in my abilities to tackle technical challenges and collaborate with others on complex problems.
One of the most valuable aspects of this internship was the exposure to the real-world connections between science and society. The project I worked on helped me understand how technology can solve real-world problems by creating efficient systems that manage and use data. This has given me a greater appreciation for how science and technology can have a direct impact on different industries, such as healthcare, national security, and business.
This internship has also influenced my future academic and career plans. Initially, I thought I would apply data science to national security, but I’ve realized that I am more interested in applying it to healthcare or other areas that I find more personally meaningful. I now plan to focus my studies and career on data science with an emphasis on healthcare data, as I believe it could make a big difference in improving people’s lives. Additionally, this internship has made me want to pursue a Master’s in Data Science, possibly focusing on an Artificial Intelligence track to gain further expertise in this rapidly growing field.
Moreover, the experience I gained at Clarity Innovations gave me valuable exposure to the industry, which helped me land another internship this upcoming summer at Booz Allen, where I will be working as a data scientist. This is an exciting opportunity that will allow me to further develop my skills and grow my professional network.
In conclusion, my practicum experience at Clarity Innovations has been an incredible opportunity to learn new technologies, develop important skills, and connect with professionals in the field. It has solidified my passion for data science and has provided me with the tools and knowledge to pursue a career in this exciting and ever-evolving field. Additionally, it has opened my eyes to the many ways in which technology can positively impact society, and I’m excited to apply what I’ve learned in my future endeavors.