For the summer of 2024, I was able to do my internship at Jarus Technologies in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Jarus Technologies is a software engineering company that works with insurance clients to create technology products for them. Their work aligned with my desire to do a software engineering/AI internship
I found Jarus Technologies through my connection with the CEO Sundar Vallinayagam. I have known him because my dad and his dad are good friends, and my sister and his daughter go to the same Indian classical dance school. My strong advice to future SGC scholars would be to tap into your network! Eventually, it matters what you know, but when you get started, who you know can be extremely influential.
Over the course of my internship, I did 2 important tasks. The first was to research the existing products on the market that analyzed pdf documents. This included ChatPDF, pdf.ai, AskYourPDF and so on. Given a sample claims document, I was looking to see which platform was most accurate in answering questions about the information in the document, as well as highlighting relevant page numbers. I was then tasked with communicating to ChatPDF, which I found to be the best platform, using APIs. I created an application that was interactive using Python, and then I created the JavaScript application using Flask that would end up being what I presented.
My project included a lot about research, meaning I had to rigorously analyze different platforms and use consistency in asking questions to ensure I got the most accurate comparisons. Additionally, I had a lot technical growth with my computer science skills. I learned different languages and libraries, and got exposure to new technologies outside of the classroom.
Throughout this project, I saw the relationship between science and industries that we do not associate with STEM, such as insurance. Insurance companies need innovative technological products, up to date technology. That is how insurance companies separate themselves from their competition, and that is a space where a company like Jarus Technologies can capture and make themselves useful. Science and advanced technology is the difference between winners and losers in the world of business.
I would not say that I modified my plans tremendously in terms of academics. I will say that I liked data science before, and I think AI would be a logical next step for me to take. I am taking the ML concentration in the CS major, and I would like to apply for more tech internships in the future.
Lastly, I feel that this internship has introduced me to both front-end and back-end coding. I would like to either work in a software engineering or AI role in my career. I think that is quite similar to what I had believed before my internship.