Research Park Honors Innovative Interns at 18th Annual Awards Ceremony

Categories : Community, Events, Internships, Recognition & Awards

Posted on: July 26, 2024

The 18th Annual Research Park Intern Awards Ceremony, which celebrates the contributions of exceptional student interns at Research Park corporate innovation centers and startups, took place on July 25, aptly coinciding with National Intern Day.

The awards ceremony brings together interns representing diverse skill sets and industry sectors, as well as their managers and colleagues. It reflects the overall depth and breadth of excellence of intern work that occurs daily at Research Park.

Awards were given in the following categories:

- Best Startup Intern
- Best Technical Innovation
- Best Business Innovation
- Most Outstanding Undergraduate Student Intern
- Most Outstanding Graduate Student Intern
- Most Competent and Collaborative Team

Among the notable projects showcased was an intern who developed a prototype web software for Life Cycle Assessment calculations without prior experience in software development, improving company processes by approximately 90%. Another standout project involved a group of interns who developed an interactive, immersive boating simulator using a blend of computer graphic software development, UI/UX design, data integration, and hardware development.

Shivani Birwadkar, who won the Best Technical Innovation award, expressed her gratitude for the recognition and reflected on how the opportunity to work on cutting-edge projects has significantly impacted her professional growth.

“I am deeply honored to have been recognized with the Best Technical Innovation. My internship at ADM has been an incredible journey of learning and growth. From the groundbreaking projects that push the boundaries of innovation to the supportive and inspiring team that constantly motivates each other, this experience has truly been one of the most rewarding of my career,” said Birwadkar, a Work Process Automation Intern at ADM Science and Technology Center.

The ceremony and nominations highlighted the incredible talent within the Research Park community and underscored the vital role that internships play in fostering the next generation of industry leaders.

“Winning an award is a testament to the exceptional skills and dedication of our interns,” said Laura Bleill, director of external engagement at the Research Park. “It’s not just about individual accomplishments but also about how these young professionals are shaping the future through their innovative projects and collaborative spirit.”

Just being nominated for these awards is an accomplishment, said Bryan Goode, the Research Park talent manager. The judging process is intense.

“Managers nominate individual interns or entire teams, and each nomination comes with a detailed essay highlighting their skills and achievements,” Goode said. “These essays are then reviewed by a diverse panel of judges who bring different expertise to the table. They look at everything from technical skills to soft skills to ensure each nomination receives a fair and thorough evaluation.”

Best Startup Intern

Zoey Zhang — Boston Bioprocess — Bioprocess Development Intern

Masters in Bioprocessing and Bioenergy | Illinois Professional Science Master’s

“She has been an integral part of our pilot plant team, leveraging her graduate
education and prior experience to execute fermentation projects. She quickly adapted to our fast-paced culture, showing immense grit and dedication. Zoey demonstrated exceptional leadership by volunteering for late hours and weekends to meet deadlines. Her proactive approach allowed us to delegate tasks such as sampling, reactor setup, and data analysis, significantly boosting our team’s efficiency. Zoey optimized shake flask volumes and benchmarked fermenters’ oxygen transfer rates, providing valuable insights. Her proactive approach to personal and professional growth, combined with her dedication, resilience, and willingness to go above and beyond, makes her highly deserving of this award.”

Finalists:

Thanushree Ambati — Helixon — Bio-Tech Research Intern

- Master in Cell and Developmental Biology | College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Luigi Passerotti — Hinetics — Mechanical Engineering Intern

- Mechanical Engineering | Grainger College of Engineering

Best Technical Innovation

Shivani Birwadkar: — ADM Science and Technology Center — Work Process Automation Intern

Masters in Information Management | School of Information Sciences

“Shivani is an exceptional intern who demonstrated remarkable innovation by independently developing a web application for Life Cycle Assessment calculations using Python and JavaScript from scratch. Despite having no prior experience, her work improved process efficiency and reduced project execution time by approximately 90 percent, significantly streamlining operations. Shivani’s proactive approach and strong relationship-building earned the team’s trust, adding considerable value and enabling more simultaneous projects without compromising quality.”

Finalists:

Shubham More — Synchrony Emerging Technology Center — Emerging Technology Center Intern

- Computer Science and Physics | Grainger College of Engineering

Caleb Larson — AGCO Acceleration Center — Engineering Intern

- Electrical & Computer Engineering | Grainger College of Engineering

Best Business Innovation

Yijin Wang — Synchrony Emerging Technology Center — Emerging Technology Center Intern

Master’s Concentration in Analytics-Statistics | College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

“Yijin truly exemplifies what it means to be a team player, shifting her focus based on the team’s needs and leveraging her technical, analytical acumen across multiple projects. She developed a measurement framework for assessing the incremental dollar impact of our paid media acquisition campaigns and supported clients with campaign reporting using Adobe and SAS. Tracy also led reporting for personalization stakeholders, quickly learning tools like Dynamic Yield. Despite resource constraints, Yijin ensured our team met all deliverables. Her framework addressed enterprise-level gaps in measuring campaign efficacy, advancing our enterprise initiative.”

Finalists:

Khushboo Choudhary — Synchrony Emerging Technology Center — Emerging Technology Center Intern

- Master’s in Predictive Analytics & Risk Management | College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

Gabrielle Wilki — State Farm — RDC Intern

- Computer Engineering | Grainger College of Engineering

Most Outstanding Undergraduate Student Intern

Mayank Dubey — Rivian — Electrical Hardware Development Intern

Mechanical Engineering | Grainger College of Engineering

“Mayank’s summer project at Rivian was a masterstroke in accelerating mechanical design and development. He developed an innovative framework to automate PCB design exploration, previously a manual task, using self-learning Python scripts—this breakthrough streamlined the process, catalyzing rapid innovation. His scripts empower engineers to perform complex finite element analysis (FEA) models, significantly boosting efficiency and minimizing errors. Despite lacking direct automotive experience, Mayank quickly absorbed new information and applied it effectively, consistently delivering noteworthy results with minimal guidance. His resilience, adaptability, and commitment to advancing despite challenges underscore his exceptional work ethic and dedication.”

Finalists:

Steve Xing — Brunswick Boating Intelligence Design Lab — Machine Learning Intern

- Computer Science | Grainger College of Engineering

Anshi Mathur — Bayer Crop Science — Data Science Co-Op

- Statistics and Computer Science | Grainger College of Engineering

Most Outstanding Graduate Student Intern

Peeya Thacker — COUNTRY Financial DigitaLab — Project Manager/Data Science Intern

Master’s in Information Management | School of Information Sciences

“Peeya Thacker has exemplified outstanding leadership and organizational skills as the Project Manager for the Exploring CRMs Customer Data Platform project at the Country Financial DigitaLab. This project aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of Customer Data Platforms (CDP). Despite the initial lack of scope and an unselected vendor, Peeya coordinated research, created a Venn Diagram to illustrate overlaps between CDP, CRM, and MDM, and set up interviews to develop an implementation roadmap. Her efforts laid a critical foundation for COUNTRY Financial’s major 2025 initiative. Additionally, Peeya contributed to the DigitaLab ART Pilot Program as a data science intern, showcasing her enthusiasm to learn and lead

Finalists:

Muhammad Talal Khalid — Electric Power Engineers — Power Systems Intern

- PhD in Electrical Engineering | Grainger College of Engineering

Ian Dsilva — Electric Power Engineers — GIS Technician Intern

- Master’s in Industrial Engineering | Grainger College of Engineering

Most Competent and Collaborative Team

Hourglass Medical

Nina Ayar — R&D Intern

- Master’s in Electrical Engineering | Grainger College of Engineering

Coggan Banerian — R&D Intern

- Intern Mechanical Engineering | Grainger College of Engineering

Sean Raiter — R&D Intern

- Computer Engineering | Grainger College of Engineering

“The Hourglass Medical intern team excelled in designing and producing the next generation of smart glasses prototypes. The team of three interns from different engineering backgrounds leveraged their individual expertise in PCB design, embedded software development, or mechanical design to make significant advancements. Their open communication and collaboration, despite differing backgrounds, minimized the need for multiple iterations and accelerated the design timeline by several months. Their efforts resulted in a prototype ready for real-world user feedback, setting up the company for future design iterations.”