The school year is back in full swing, and so is QUEST. But what were our fabulous QUESTees up to this summer? I had the pleasure of speaking with three QUESTees with amazing summers. Let’s see what they were up to!
Max Chin of Cohort 41 interned as a Software Development Engineer at Amazon Web Services (AWS) this summer in the Arlington Headquarters, also known as HQ2. He had the experience of working with the AWS Insights and Operations division on the Molecule team. Chin worked on a pipeline to transfer his team’s data and host it on the AWS Omni server, a central dashboard that allows access to all AWS data centers located throughout the United States. “My team was constantly updating their data and recommendations so I had to configure the connection so that the data being hosted is always the most recent,” Chin said. Chin was able to develop his skills in Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, Git, AWS services, and CI/CD (continuous integration and continuous delivery), to name a few. Awesome job, Max!
Chin at his desk at the AWS Arlington Headquarters.
Jack Campbell of Cohort 43 interned at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as a Large Language Model (LLM) Project Lead intern. Located in Gaithersburg, MD, Campbell worked with the Development, IT, and Neutron Condensed Matter Science teams. His project was working on a large language model using OpenAI’s GPT4o model that wrote scripts to control multi-million dollar neutron scattering instruments. This eventually will help prevent thousands of scientists from having to read through endless documentation and bug fixes. Campbell went above and beyond as an intern, sharing, “I delivered a working prototype that was under budget and ready for deployment, far exceeding the team’s expectations. As a result of my efforts, researchers from around the world can now arrive at the facility and do what they do best, experimenting.” Congratulations, Jack!
Campbell presenting his work.
Finally, Brooke Lesser (Cohort 40) interned at J&C in Sydney, Australia as a Partnerships Coordinator. Lesser was able to work with the entire company as a whole! “I was given the opportunity to work closely with big partners on coordinating asset approvals and overall partnerships for big nationwide campaigns. I also organized the assets for the campaign,” Lesser said. Some important skills Lesser gained this summer are professional communication skills and working hard to accomplish company goals. Fantastic job, Brooke!
Lesser (right) diving in the Great Barrier Reef.
Our hardworking QUESTees have accomplished so much over the summer. We are so excited to see what you all accomplish this school year!