Each summer, the Center for Technology in Government welcomes a select group of talented and dedicated student interns looking for practical experience while they complete their degrees. Students from all over the world come to CTG with a wide variety of backgrounds and from a range of academic programs. This summer's cohort includes students from Brazil, Korea, India, and the United States with disciplines ranging from cyber security, performance management, data visualization, web development, and more. While they may have varying interests and career goals, they share one common interest: supporting the efforts of government to create public value through policy, management and technology innovations. Each student is gaining practical experience while simulatenously helping CTG foster positive changes within government. This summer, CTG is working with six outstanding students.

CTG interns and Director of Technology Innovation and Services, Derek Werthmuller, gather around the Daily SCRUM board to review updates on their Summer Lab project on Data Visualization for the NYS Department of Health. The SCRUM method is an agile software development technique that encourages a team to work collaboratively as a unit across overlapping phases to reach common goals rather than working separately on individual tasks.

Sean Fagan is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Information Science with a concentration in Information Systems and Technology at the University at Albany. During his summer at CTG, he is working on an intrusion detection and prevention monitoring project, which closely aligns with his desire to pursue a career in cyber security. He says, “protecting information has become an essential task for any organization, and I am very interested in finding the best ways to accomplish this.”

Gabriel Fernandes comes to CTG through the Brazilian Scientific Mobility Program (BSM), a study abroad program offered by the Brazilian government that is designed to provide bright and dedicated Brazilian students with the opportunity to travel abroad and study at the world’s best colleges and universities. Prior to coming to CTG where he is working on a Data Visualization Summer Lab project for the NYS Department of Health, Gabriel was studying at Boston University. He plans to return to Brazil this fall where he will earn his Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science at the Federal Institute of Espírito Santo. He is enjoying his opportunity at CTG because he says “my internship allows me to have a deeper understanding of the field of computer science as a whole.”

Fellipe Gurgel, also a participant in the BSM program, came to CTG from Northern Arizona University. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Federal University of Uberlandia in Brazil. Once he graduates with his Bachelor’s Degree, he intends to pursue a Master’s Degree in either Information Sciences or Business Administration. He, along with fellow interns, is working on the Data Visualization Summer Lab project with the NYS Department of Health and says that his internship with CTG “is the perfect first step toward achieving my professional and personal objectives” within his passion for software engineering and web development.

Amanda Reis also came to CTG through the BSM program. She is spending the upcoming academic year at the University at Albany pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Systems and is excited to gain experience at CTG to learn how to better use technology for the benefit of society. She says she is a “technology and entrepreneurship lover and intends to use her education and experience to improve technology and bring innovation to Brazil.” In Brazil, she was President of the Junior Enterprise of Information Systems at her University, the Federal University of Viçosa.

Kashif Zaidi, a student at UAlbany pursuing a Master’s Degree in Computer Science, is also a part of the Data Visualization Summer Lab team working with the NYS Department of Health. Kashif is particularly interested in software engineering and web development and plans to apply what he learns at CTG to his future career in this field. He says that “CTG is a great place to learn about new web technologies and the research process. I am learning new methodologies to develop prototypes and implement projects.”

Iseul Choi, a Ph.D. student studying Public Administration at the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany, is also spending her summer at CTG. She learned of the opportunity to intern at CTG when she was a student in Theresa Pardo’s Government Information Strategy and Management course. It was there that she learned about the intersection of technology and government and how information can have a direct impact on government efficiency. Because her studies focus on performance management, she felt that spending the summer with CTG exploring the information and technology challenges of performance management was the right fit for her.