Interns Recognized at 2019 Summer Picnic and Intern Awards

Interns from around Research Park gathered on Thursday, July 25, 2019, for the Summer Picnic and Intern Awards. The Research Park community celebrated with food, games, and awards for the most outstanding interns of the year. Throughout the academic year and summer, interns gained valuable work experience while working on projects that positively impacted their respective companies. Of the 700+ interns working within the Research Park, less than 30 became finalists for the awards, and only 5 individuals and 1 group were awarded the winning prizes. The winners and finalists were determined from a pool of nominees by a team of Research Park professionals.

To watch the entirety of the Intern Awards, click HERE.

Most Outstanding Undergraduate Intern

Derek Meyer, P&C Actuarial Intern at State Farm
Undergraduate in Actuarial Science

“Derek is an extremely hardworking individual, both in his work and school life. He maintains many extracurriculars, an excellent GPA, and handles the pressures of our internship with his time management, organization, leadership, and technical skills. He takes every piece of feedback to heart to try to improve upon his own skills, not just for his sake, but to help benefit his team dynamic as well. He holds not only himself highly accountable for his projects but also his team members.”

Finalist:

Avani Patel, Clinical Research Intern at PhotoniCare
Undergraduate in Bioengineering

Most Outstanding Graduate Intern

Saurav Yadav, Data Scientist at COUNTRY Financial DigitaLab
Master’s Student in Information Science

“I believe that Saurav deserves this award because he is dedicated, treats people well, and has a high level of integrity. He continually offers to take on more responsibility and works well with all interns in the DigitaLab. He has excellent communication and technical skills. Overall, Saurav has had a huge impact on COUNTRY Financial. [Because of his] outstanding leadership and technical skills, we will be able to provide a large cost savings to the home office on 9 data-related initiatives this semester.”

Finalists:

Nuraini Aguse, Front End Intern at InstaRecon
Master’s Student in Computer Science

Zhuzhu Wang, Product Development Intern at Abbott
Ph.D. Student in Food Science

Best Entrepreneurial Leadership in a Startup

Shaoyu Meng, Lead Software Engineer at LifeFoundry
Master’s Student in Electrical and Computer Engineering

“Shaoyu works autonomously without supervision. He can sort things through. He doesn’t comment about others. He can always finish all assigned tasks with a calm mind. He is very patient, regardless of what he is facing. When we were inexperienced, Shaoyu stayed very patient, even when we [were thrown a] project he worked on [for] a full month. It is a very rare personality [trait] to [be able to] look forward and discuss with us how to do better in the future. Shaoyu’s work ethic is very impressive, and it benefits both him and the whole team.”

Finalists:

Jugat Singh Lamba, Summer Engineering Intern at InstaRecon
Master’s Student in Computer Science

Xiaofan Zhang, Neural Network Engineering Intern at Inspirit-IoT
Ph.D. Student in Electrical and Computer Engineering

Best Technological Innovation

Harshit Gupta, Data Scientist Technology Intern at Syngenta
Master’s Student in Information Management

“Harshit successfully created a Proof of Concept (and, after its success, a Minimum Viable Product) for Syngenta’s Global Data Science teams. This service, created entirely in AWS, will lay the foundation for how all of the company’s Data Scientists work with the latest and greatest Data Science technologies. Harshit drove change and adoption of Data Science technology on a global level for the company and across many different parts of the organization. He led and implemented the project in its entirety on his own…. He displayed incredible maturity, tact, and technical knowledge, and, more importantly, a wonderful ability to communicate. His work ethic, passion, dedication, and curiosity drove the success of this project in ways that were not anticipated for the scope of work or internship.”

Finalists:

Ashley Oyirifi, Biomedical Innovation Researcher at AbbVie
Ph.D. Student in Nutritional Sciences

Qianli Chen, Data Scientist at COUNTRY Financial DigitaLab
Ph.D. Student in Civil Engineering

Most Advanced Business Development

Mallory Gorman, Associate Product Owner at Nutrien Ag Solutions
Undergraduate Student in Agricultural Engineering

“Mallory is a critical team member. She not only can complete critical tasks on-time and on-schedule, but she can also bridge the science-based world of our work with the business and marketing requirements necessary for the work to proceed…. Mallory works hard, quickly, and efficiently. She can handle stressful situations and keep her eye and the team on-task. Currently, she is supervising the entire testing plan for our platform launch. I would only trust such an activity to someone who is dedicated to getting the job done correctly and efficiently.”

Finalists:

Nikita Nerkar, Web Develope at Ekey Technology
Master’s Student in Technology Management

Sherry Yi, Idea Lab Summer Intern at AbbVie
Ph.D. Student in Educational Psychology

Most Competent and Collaborative Team

IntelinAir Agronomy and Deep Learning Team:

Xingqian Xu, Ph.D. Student in Computer Vision Research
Pedro Leal-Aradillas, Undergraduate in Agricultural Engineering
MangTik “David” Chiu, Master’s Student in Computer Science Engineering
Kyle Adomaitis, Undergraduate in Music
Kate “Sam” Ssentamu, Undergraduate in Agribusiness
Jerame “JT” Jones, Associate’s Student in Precision Agriculture

“Our Ag Team is essentially the eyes and ears for the rest of our company…. Our team has done an amazing job being responsive and putting in the late night and early mornings when they are needed. In coming together as a team, we’ve been very impressed with their ability to work together. You may have noticed the diversity of our team, not only in their career paths but culturally. In order for our company to be successful, our Ag Team and our Engineering Team need to work as closely as possible.”

Finalists:

AARP Computer Programming Team:

Mohammed Faiz Patangia, Undergraduate in Computer Science
Kushal Kumar Goenka, Undergraduate in Computer Engineering

PSYONIC Mechanical Engineering Team:

Robert Mauge, Undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering
Richard Mauge, Undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering
Patrick Shalton, Undergraduate in Electrical Engineering
Gabe Delgado, Undergraduate in Industrial Design
Dhipak Bala, Undergraduate in Mechanical Engineering