Introduction
Hi! In the summer of 2018 I took part in the Summer Youth Internship Program. I was hired by Florida International University to work in the School of Computing and Information Sciences under the supervision of Dr. Mario Eraso. I worked alongside a fellow intern Norlan Nunez and we developed a total of three different projects. The first two projects were individual, although we helped each other throughout them. We began working on these projects in the second week of the internship, where we were attending the VITAL Summer Camp. Our task was to create the VITAL required project and expand on it for the first few weeks.
The History of FIU
To start off, I’d like to talk a little bit about the company that I worked for, which was Florida International University. Florida International University has quite an interesting and unique history. Before building a University, the land was an abandoned airfield. In fact, a tower still remains in the University which belonged to the airfieldand it is now known as FIU’s Ivory Tower. A man by the name of Chuck Perry had a vision of what would become of the old and empty field, and the vision soon became a reality. FIU opened in 1972, holding about 5,667 students in the campus. It may not sound like a lot for a typical twenty-first century school, but it was considered a lot back in 1972. From opening day, FIU only began to grow more and more with the upcoming years. However, we must also thank others who contributed to making FIU possible, such as Florida Senator Robert M. Haverfield for introducing the Senate Bill 711, Harold Crosby: FIU’s second president, among others. It could literally be said that FIU started from rock bottom, and soon became one of the top universities in the state of Florida.
FIU'S MISSION AND VISION
FIU’s mission is to provide each and every student with maximum quality resources for learning, state- of-the-art research and creative activity, and provide a safe space in which students can collaborate and engage in projects across many different nationalities and communities. As for FIU’s vision, it hopes to be a leading urban public research university that will put utmost emphasis on student’s learning, innovation, and collaboration.
MY SCHEDULE
My internship was divided into two parts. In the first part, I would arrive to the FIU Engineering Center at 9:00 AM where I worked in the VITAL Summer Camp until 12:00 PM. Later, I would go to the Office of Engagement and continue my work there from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. In the second part, the summer camp was over so I would spend the whole day in the Office of Engagement working on my tasks. This was the typical schedule for me.
MY SUPERVISOR
My internship supervisor is Mario Eraso. He served as my internship supervisor for this program. He guided me along the internship and explained mathematical concepts that would serve as the building blocks of the projects I worked on. For example, my first project, which I will talk about later, he taught me the importance of algorithms to make a task more efficient by using automation. He gave me many challenges to improve my project and one of them was to include such an algorithm.
MY FELLOW INTERNS
At the office, I worked alongside several other interns, all of which had different tasks to do according to their internship supervisor. I worked with two other interns, Norlan Nunez and Renee Sealy. Norlan was my internship partner, so we worked on some projects together and met up with our supervisor at the same time. Renee worked in the same office as us in Social Media and Marketing.
THE FIRST PROJECT
For the first 2 weeks of my internship, I attended the FIU Vital Summer Camp at the Moss School of Construction to learn about virtual reality, informatics, technology, automation, and learning sciences. I developed a video game, using a software called Unity, to satisfy project requirements that were given to me by the instructors. The theme was fall safety in construction. We were allowed to use our imagination and create a project in which we could expand on the core programming concepts that were taught in the first week of camp. My project consisted of four unique challenges in which the player was faced with a different kind of fall hazard. To develop this project, I had to familiarize myself with many programming concepts in the C# language. By immersing students and adults into this 3D world using virtual reality technologies such as the FIU iCave, they can develop their spatial visualization abilities. The steps taken in the creation of this project can relate to something as small as a geometry course up to any stem career.
While the project is intended to teach about fall hazards to the audience, this project taught me a lot about algorithms and how I can use them to my advantage when it comes to computer science and engineering. It’s much easier to have something created automatically than doing it by hand! I also sketched out my ideas to help myself visualize how I would create the different structures in the project, such as the aqueduct below, which happens to be the challenge I was given by Mario. I had to create an aqueduct through code using a C# principle known as the For Loop. Sketching out my ideas served as a great way of coming up with solutions.
WOMEN IN COMPUTER SCIENCE
I also took part in a Twitter chat and went to a Women in Computer Science Discussion Panel in FIU SEPA where I listened to some instructors speak about the changing field of computer science as more women enter the branch of study.
THE OFFICE
During the afternoon part of the internship, I would work in an office space called the Office of Engagement. At the office of engagement, office workers collaborate to lead and coordinate FIU’s partnerships and events, take initiative, and create meaningful links, demonstrating the rich commitment to our South Florida Community.
THE FINAL PROJECT
My final project consisted of an animated video which teaches a mathematical concept known as the radian, which is a form of angle measurement. The video uses artistic elements to draw in the audience and help them absorb the information given through comical and relatable elements. This project took about 2 weeks to complete. The goal of this project would be to create a library of over 1,000 videos which can be distributed to elementary and secondary schools to teach concepts in an entertaining and fun way which will stick to people even after 2 years of time. This would create a shift from the current school-heavy procedural form of learning and give more value to the conceptual methods.
And that concludes my experience at SYIP! If I had any recommendations, they would probably be to:
Respect everyone that you meet at your workplace
Arrive on time every day. Get your work done and on time.
Don’t get distracted because then you might fall behind.
Build trusting relationships with your coworkers.
Get to know your lead & teacher supervisors.
Learn something new everyday because this internship is all about the learning experience. Enjoy your time at the internship!
Comments