Name: Ji Liu
Major and College: Master’s in Robotics from the University of Maryland, College Park
Internship Title: Robotics Research Intern
Internship Site: Inception Robotics
1) Please tell us about your Career Goals.
I would like to become a robotics engineer specialized in autonomous robots.
2) Tell us about your internship (i.e. day-to-day responsibilities, special projects/clients and work culture).
My internship revolves around software development for robotics applications, so my day-to-day activities were mostly coding and discussing approaches and directions with my company advisor. I am glad to be part of the project of developing a cloud-based navigation algorithm testing pipeline for autonomous robots. It is a “Robotics as a Service” project and I am glad that by the end of the internship we had a working software prototype. The working environment was a very open one, and we could freely discuss the problems we encountered.
3) Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application?
I first learned about the internship opportunity through a department-wise email, and I applied with my resume. The selection process started with a 30-minute video call to learn more about my past experience. Then the technical section required me to recreate the result from a published paper using openly available code repository, and answer some open questions related to the responsibilities of the position. For this part, I produced a written report and a PowerPoint presentation, and I was given one week’s time to complete it. Afterwards, I did a short presentation with my results and later I learned that I got the internship. I learned about the internship during the spring semester 2023 and I submitted my application then.
4) Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience?
University department email.
5) What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization?
My two superiors were very nice and it was a pleasure working with them. I learned a lot from interacting with those who have more experience in terms of software development in robotics.
6) How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?
We received quite a bit of positive feedback when we showcased our software pipeline on LinkedIn, and my work contributed to the realization of the major functionalities.
7) What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience (i.e. Internship search, Resume or Interview tips)?
Connecting with people is actually pretty fun and it might produce more opportunities.