Can you brief us about your scope of work during this internship?
I mainly worked with ANB’s Data Lake, focusing on data science initiatives. Specifically, I worked with automating repetitive analytic processes to save large amounts of time.
What were your key roles & responsibilities, and how did you work towards achieving them?
I was a software engineering intern this summer, and I was tasked with providing consistent progress on tasks/stories assigned to me. I collaborated with my peers, both in the Chennai and Houston offices, to achieve these goals.
Among your many tasks, what is the one that you liked working on the most?
Despite the slightly limited time, I enjoyed the work I did with the machine learning model that provided manufacturer name predictions for HVAC nameplate extractions. I am extremely interested in machine learning, but with my limited experience, it was certainly a challenge. Nevertheless, I was able to work through it successfully.
What was the biggest challenge you came across, and how did you overcome it?
As a student who had just completed my first year of college, I had minimal programming and professional experience. Throughout the course of the internship, I had to learn at every moment I could to ensure I was able to complete my tasks satisfactorily.
What new skillsets and/or knowledge did you gain during your time with ANB?
I learned both the fundamentals of Python and JavaScript and the capabilities both of these languages have when used together. I was able to gain some machine learning experience and professional experience collaborating with peers almost every day of my internship.
What do you feel are the highlights of working at a smaller tech company?
I feel that at a smaller tech company, it is easier to find help on problems you may be facing as you develop solutions to complex problems. Additionally, there is more freedom to be creative with ideas and solutions, which allows you to take more personal ownership of your work.
What are the key takeaways from your exposure to the energy efficiency industry?
The energy efficiency industry was one that I had no exposure to previously, and learning about it over the course of my internship was very interesting. Seeing how powerful technology solutions can be in such an industry was very eye-opening and exciting.
How did you find our company culture and the support you received from your colleagues?
I found it very easy to get help from others working at the company, which helped me learn at a quick pace as well as not feel rushed or pressured over the course of the summer. Working with others from ANB’s Chennai office was also easy, and everyone I interacted with was consistently upbeat and helpful.
How easy/challenging was it to collaborate remotely with COVID-19 restrictions in place?
It was pretty easy to collaborate with others this summer. I was in a unique position, on-site in ANB’s Houston, TX office for the first two weeks of my internship and remote for the remainder of the summer. Using tools like Microsoft Teams, JIRA, and GitLab made it extremely easy to communicate with teammates on various topics.
How much did the internship match your expectations?
As this was my first professional experience, I was a little bit nervous going into the internship. I knew I did not have much relevant experience, but I was able to learn a lot over the summer, which I was hoping to do. Overall, I would say that this internship was very productive and matched, if not exceeded, my expectations.
How much do you feel your internship will help you in your career going forward?
My time at ANB will be extremely beneficial with future career pursuits. Aside from the programming experience I gained this summer, I also gained a lot of professional experience as a result of interacting with so many different people. Additionally, my time at ANB often forced me to think about problems more creatively than I usually would, which I feel is an extremely beneficial skill.
