Sprinternship 2022

This January was the third year that we’ve partnered with WiTNY and BreakThroughTech. You can find previous summaries in our tech-blog history but as a quick recap here’s what the program is setup to offer:

These quick and immersive paid internships give trans and cis women early on in their computing studies work experience and a tech-industry résumé credential that can help them land their first tech internship. Sprinternships™ are designed by the organizations that host them, so each experience is unique. All Sprinternships™ are built around several common features: Tackling a real business challenge while immersed in a host company’s culture; Strengthening a professional network and connections in the tech community; Working in a team of peers to help build collaboration skills and confidence.

This isn’t a small undertaking for a growing startup like ActionIQ but it’s an important one to us for the following reasons:

1. We are committed to being a great, NYC-based enterprise software company. To do that, we need to contribute to our local environment and help develop the talent pool. This is one (of many!) ways to do that
2. We need diverse perspectives and fresh eyes to look at what we do and make suggestions. We always learn something about ourselves and our product and platform through our intern programs
3. In Engineering specifically, we celebrate a growth mindset. Growing a company is hard and we all need to try new things and be prepared to teach and share knowledge. This is a great way to do that
4. It is so fun! This is a program that generates positive energy throughout our company and it is a phenomenal way to start the calendar year

In sharing this, I hope it encourages you to consider partnering with BreakThroughTech in future classes. I would happily chat to anyone considering it to share more information — please do reach out if you would like to learn more or have questions.

With the intro out of the way, let’s hear from our team of Sprinterns about their experience…

Intern: Alisha Sunuwar

What brought me here? Previously, with the help of BreakThroughTech I was able to participate in a Winternship at Google. I’m also a fellow at RTC and Codepath. During spring of 2021, I joined Codepath iOS Development program which I completed with Honors and I also completed a web development bootcamp during the summer. So, my passion for learning was the biggest drive that made me apply to this program at ActionIQ.

What was I expecting to get out of this experience? I am part of many organizations focused on learning more about software development and team work. My hands-on experience working with other people makes me an effective team member. I have experience working collaboratively in the professional and academic space. I believe that I will be able to bring a fresh perspective on collaboration and development to the team. My personal goal for participating in the program was to learn and absorb everything I could. I wanted to make career connections and learn to apply my skills to the industry. I also wanted to learn how to perform best practices in coding and to meet some mentors and other students. My academic goal in this internship was to take what I know and apply myself. My professional goal overall is to gain practical experience.

What did I actually get out of this experience? Out of this internship, I was able to work with a strong team of brilliant engineers. I received mentorship and was able to network with many people. In addition, I enjoyed the hands-on experience aspect of the internship — working on analyzing and solving real world problems all while being able to work with new tools.

What were the main surprises and learning experiences of the internship? Throughout this internship, I was able to leverage my knowledge writing SQL queries and using Python for data analysis from what I learned in a class setting and then apply it to solve real problems. Most importantly, I was able to receive mentorship from mentors and learn that even the most seasoned engineers face imposter syndrome.

What’s next for you? It would be pursuing my dream to work in a tech industry and focusing on myself. I want to have a more positive outlook on my life so, this year I am aiming to invest more in myself. I probably will be working towards mindfulness and achieving my goals. Aside from this, I would invest my time on improving my communication skills. I would also like to join a leadership program to gain experience with communication. The experience that I gained from ActionIQ made me realize that I had so much to explore. I also find coding fun and enjoyable. So,I am using resources like LeetCode, AlgoExpert, CodeAcademy everyday and improving my problem solving skills.

Intern: Jaimie Zhao

What brought me here? My first professional computer science experience was with the BreakThroughTech Summer Guild Program where I worked on a team to design a website using HTML, CSS, and Javascript. This was an incredible experience because I discovered that I really love coding something from scratch, solving problems, and creating new and innovative products. This led me to apply to the BTT Sprinternship program because I wanted to continue gaining experience and knowledge in tech.

What was I expecting to get out of this experience? Through the Sprinternship program, I was hoping to apply and expand on my coding skills and experience what it is like to work for a business. I wanted to experience company culture first-hand and explore what it would be like to work in the tech field. When I heard that I was matched to ActionIQ (my first choice!) I was very excited to learn more about their product and the growth and impact of Customer Data Platforms(CDPs).

What did I actually get out of this experience? Right from the first day, I was blown away by how welcoming and bright the people were. Over the weeks, I got to meet with amazing people from different teams at ActionIQ including Data Science, Sales, Customer Success, Design, and more. This wide overview of the functions of the company gave us great insight into who works here, how they got here, and which teams they collaborate with to create the greatest impact. This experience was more than just finishing a project, it was a real integration into the company and a stepping stone to a career in tech. To perform data analysis on ActionIQ’s systems, I learned Python and SQL with the help of my team members and mentors. The support from everyone and the connections I’ve made have been invaluable.

What were the main surprises and learning experiences of the internship? The main learning experience of the internship for me was learning how to use python along with libraries, such as pandas and plotly, to perform data analysis and data visualization. I really enjoyed working with the code, debugging, and creating different types of charts. The hands-on approach gave me a better understanding of what I was dealing with and how to create functions. I also learned about how ActionIQ’s product and systems work from talks and demos with mentors from the engineering team. I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I’ve learned and how open and helpful the people at ActionIQ have been.

What’s next for you? I will be continuing my coursework in Mechanical Engineering and applying to more tech internships in the future. This internship has been a very rewarding experience and I will continue to develop the skills I’ve learned whether it’s by working on a project, communicating with professionals, or learning higher level coding.

Intern: Kim Nguyen

What brought me here? I have a bachelor’s in Math from Williams College and have always known I love solving complex and totally real problems — just not which specific ones. Out of undergrad, I started working in management consulting to explore the different areas of private industry and realized I really enjoy working in technology or with problems involving complex tech-based scalable systems. I then worked as a PM on an Internet of Things startup, and fell in love with the technical side of embedded systems, so I decided to go back to school to 1) catch up on CS classes I didn’t take in undergrad, and 2) get a Masters in Computer Science. I’m currently at Georgia Tech in the MS in CS program to learn more about how to build high performance computing systems. I was lucky to be accepted into BreakthroughTech while finishing my pre-MS required CS coursework, and ActionIQ immediately piqued my interests among all the companies because the AIQ is building up scalable first-party data systems that replicate what management consultants often do on engagement projects for our clients. It feels like I’ve come full circle but now with more skills and understanding of not only strategy (eg what should be built? How should an org be organized?) but also getting to learn from the best software engineers on how each of the technical components works and how they all coordinate together as bug-free as possible.

What was I expecting to get out of this experience? To be honest I had no idea what to expect! The first person I talked to from ActionIQ was Tracey Little during the BreakthroughTech match process. Tracey is a manager of SysOps, and she was not only badass and inspiring (she’s a nurse and helping NYC with contact tracing!) but also embodies how AIQ seems to be a very open, transparent, supportive culture that invests heavily into their employees. So I guess the only thing I hoped for and expected (and my expectations were completely exceeded!) was that the company would be full of nice and nurturing people who would guide me.

What did I actually get out of this experience? Given my background in math, statistics, and management consulting, the technical data exploration part was a breeze (e.g. setting up Python local dev environment, exporting SQL data, analyzing log data, data-cleaning, running multivariate regressions, etc.). However, I was so surprised by 1) how kind everyone at ActionIQ were, especially when a lot of the times I was pulling people aside for 1-hour Zoom meetings to learn about them, their careers, and their path to AIQ, 2) how incredibly complex the process of software engineering deployment, and maintenance can be on a many tens of terabytes of data system, and 3) the culture of both investing in and empowering employees here, so that people feel comfortable challenging policies or discussing more sensitive topics such as mental health or equity in the industry. One of the standout examples: I chatted with a QA manager, Natallia, who was very authentically herself, who brings up amazing discussions, and is also incredibly effective at her job. Natallia embodies the growth mindset at AIQ to me — she learns as much as she can about her areas of responsibilities, always tries to make things better by talking to all the stakeholders, and then AIQ lets her implement those systems to make everyone’s life better. I do wish I had gotten a chance to work more in backend engineering work, but there’s always coming back later!

What were the main surprises and learning experiences of the internship? I love the way that everyone at AIQ has the growth mindset. Our mentor, Kati Hsu, and our manager, David Cupp, were both incredibly supportive. A lot of my challenge was to divide the work and help the sprinterns with less technical experience, so that everyone in the team (even at varying skill levels) can get up to speed, learn something new, and produce some output that we are all proud of! Teaching people how to work together remotely in three weeks with different hardware setup is very hard, so this experience shows me why it’s vital to be mentored by people with industry experience, and also to improve my communications/teaching skills for less experienced people. I learned that teaching four other people how to do something is the best way to ensure that I learn that one thing very well, so that’s been a very positive experience. Lastly, I am in awe of how challenging software engineering is and how little I know, so it’s really cool to see how people collaborate on working in large codebases and finding bugs or building new features.

What’s next for you? My classes already started at Georgia Tech during this internship (!), so every day at 6 PM I actually switch back from Python to C to do my Operating Systems class or my Human Computer Interaction class. After the internship, I’m going to continue with my classes, which to be honest I now see in a new light after seeing the AIQ Scheduler system (since I myself will have to build multithreaded processes and my own OS scheduler for class). I’m much, much more interested in GaTech’s High Performance Computing Systems course now after seeing the scaling challenges here. For the summer, I may be taking more classes or perhaps do some internships at a data focused tech company in NYC. My goal is to learn deeply about large backend systems and solve problems in those areas immediately after my Masters, since the more I learn the more interesting things become, which is a good thing. I now also narrowed down that the kind of company I like might be a bit smaller (eg 100–400 employees total) because I enjoy the ability to help shape processes but also to work on scaling/data issues as the company grows.

Intern: Mir Chowdhury

What brought me here? Last year was my first time participating in BreakThroughTech and interning with a software engineering company. I really loved the experience that allowed me to learn about software engineering, coding, and the basics of computer science which made me eager to dig deeper into the field and learn more about the intricacy of coding.

What was I expecting to get out of this experience? I didn’t have any specific expectation for this experience but I did enjoy getting to knowing about the company itself, working alongside big engineers and just being a part of a great company with a lively work environment and culture!

What did I actually get out of this experience? What I gained from this is beyond what I expected. Not only was I part of a company that values its people and their backgrounds, but they also care about education and knowledge. As someone who entered this internship with very minimal experience with software engineering and coding, I was exposed to the marketing aspects which was very cool! Seeing the customer interaction through the database and understanding the complexity of the business aspect in coding was very eye opening and engaging.

What were the main surprises and learning experiences of the internship? Some of the main surprises and learning experiences included learning python more in depth, Python libraries such as plotly, chart studio, and pandas, exporting csv files, and most fun of all VSCode and its malfunctions 😅! For me, some of the challenges that I faced during this internship were a lot of technical difficulties. Sometimes my VSCode wouldn’t work or it wouldn’t update and I would have to reach out to Kati or Bradley for those problems. Good thing about these challenges was that it pushed me to reach out to my peers and colleagues for guidance. The pandemic definitely had an impact on my confidence in terms of my communication skills and increased my anxiety of reaching out and talking to people or networking. But, I am super grateful for this internship because I was able to break this barrier around me that prevented me from making the best out of a new learning experience and was able to make some great memories in the span of three weeks. I am very emotional about this internship being a short one but super grateful that this was one of the best ones yet.

What’s next for you? Now it is time to utilize these new skills and knowledge and apply them to my career. Learning Python and VS code was truly one of the most fun experiences I’ve had during the program, and I will continue to seek more opportunities to increase my python skills and become a pro at it!

Intern: Paula Aidoo

What brought me here? BreakThroughTech brought me here. With little to no experience in what it meant to be a Software Engineer, my curiosity for the career experience led me here. Learning about ActionIQ from a career booth prior definitely peaked my interest in addition to the company being a start up, and its mission of finding meaning in data. I had no engagement in the tech industry prior to this internship, and stumbled upon BreakThroughTech’s application with questions; which were all answered here at ActionIQ.

What was I expecting to get out of this experience? Out of this experience, I expected to understand the ActionIQ platform and have a well rounded understanding of what it looks like working in tech. At a startup company, I knew I would have a close knit of people ready to inform and answer all the questions I had. I also expected to work together with my team in finding a solution to a challenging problem ActionIQ would see helpful. I was aware of this final project being a presentation, where my team and I would present at the end of the three weeks. I overall expected to learn and acquire skills to prepare me for the career world after this opportunity.

What did I actually get out of this experience? Out of this experience, I received a relationship with an environment of people that cares. Everyone at ActionIQ has been so helpful in being a teacher in all aspects of tech to students like me who are very curious, and eager to learn. With such support, I was able to incorporate big data into an easy and understandable visualization (with the use of Python and SQL). It was very interesting to see the steps it took to get to this result, and I gained the skills of debugging and troubleshooting from there. The exposure to not only software engineering, but sales, marketing, and design, also broadened the spectrum of career paths possible, making my goals endless.

What were the main surprises and learning experiences of the internship? The main surprise of this internship was the care and involvement of everyone. There was never a dull moment learning new skills and acquiring life long advice from others’ experiences. There was also a challenge here, a challenge that opened my eyes to the world of technical awareness. From advancing in my understanding of Python, plotly, pandas, and the exportation of csv files, I learned a lot in technical terms. Troubleshooting and debugging in VSCode also allowed me to acquire many problem solving skills. Overall, having such an interactive approach of my own to extract data into useful information and visualization expanded my knowledge of the career world tremendously.

What’s next for you? I think data has caused me to see the world differently, and understanding that numbers can impact a large audience has increased my ability to analyze and make better decisions with quantitative sources. In all that I have learned, it will not stop. I will continue to practice and apply these skills wherever I go.

Steve leads Engineering at ActionIQ and loves building excellent enterprise software products and excellent engineering teams. He’s been doing this a while across a number of different industries and has built software from the “good old days” of building websites in perl and writing business logic in stored procedures to large distributed data-driven systems, mobile and desktop apps and reporting tools.
Outside of the office, he spends most of his time with his wife, 3 daughters, 1 dog and two cats in NJ and a little time riding motorcycles or making music.