#NDSUintern Spotlight

Intern: Dharani Suresh Babu

Major: Environmental and Conservation Science

Company: Blue River Technology

Location of Internship: Sunnyvale, California

Internship Title: Geospatial Engineer

  • Why did you choose the company that you worked for?
    • I chose this company, as always, I wanted to be associated with the agricultural information technology field. Thus, the job responsibilities offered by the company were best suited with my interests and research experiences. I noticed it’s a good company with a great team having high moral values and work ethics. Blue River Technology is apt enhancing the agriculture to its best. Hence, I chose this company, where I can also be a contributor towards agriculture development to attain sustainability. Also, they offered me a great position with good compensation at Silicon Valley. All put together, made this opportunity as a great choice for me to start my first job at United States.
  • What were some of your job requirements for your internship?
    • The job required both technical skills and professional skills. The technical skills included; programming, agriculture knowledge, computer vision, data management and analysis, project management, basics of machine learning, and GIS & remote sensing. Professional skills included; presentation skills, communication skills, team work, and agile work style.
  • What was your favorite part about your internship experience?
    • I have always had a passion for the agricultural field, even though my background is more inclined towards Information Technology. This job allowed me to combine both of my agriculture and information technology knowledge into one experience. I enjoyed being faced with every day challenge’s and trying to solve them in a unique ways. Especially, works related to drones hardware and software stuffs relating to image data analysis, which is exactly my master’s thesis research work. This gave me an opportunity, where I can contribute more innovative ideas at the work place.
  • What was the most challenging part of your internship experience? How did you overcome these obstacles?
    • This was my first private industry job. Understanding their deliverable and work methodology was completely new for me. The most challenging part, was trying to manage and complete tasks in a short time, and at the same time learning new technology. I overcame these obstacles by planning my work well in advance, and I took online courses to better understand the new technology.
  • How did you find your internship?
    • Through my own self-guided research
  • Why was it beneficial for you to register for credit(s) through the Internship Program offered through the Career Center?
    • Registering my internship for credit was useful to show my industrial experience during job search and for higher education opportunities.
  • What advice would you give a student who is in the process of applying to an internship?
    • I would highly recommend students to apply for internship experience, since it is one of the important steps in students career laying towards a better future. The professional world is going to be different from university academics and to handle this in an efficient way, internship opportunities provide hands-on experience and help the students to gain more practical knowledge and to be highly professional.
By Courtney O'Hotto
Courtney O'Hotto Graduate Assistant