SAMANTHA ZEE
NVIDIA interns around the globe wrapped up a week of “Our Founders Edition” celebrations — a nod to a special line of GeForce cards — which featured company lore and talks from founders Jensen Huang and Chris Malachowsky.
Malachowsky kicked off the event with tales of the early days. A campus café served up diner-style food in tribute to the company’s origins at a nearby Denny’s. And Huang fielded remote questions from China, Israel and Poland. A movie night featuring Jurassic Park — released the year NVIDIA was founded, 1993 — capped the week.
Interns around the world are finishing their summer internships. Zachary Susskind, a Ph.D. student studying computer engineering at the University of Austin, returned to build on last summer’s work as he completes his degree.
“The cool thing about being a returning intern is being able to see the long-term impacts of work you did in previous years,” said Susskind, who’s working with NVIDIA’s architecture research group.
Real-World AssignmentsInterns work on real-world assignments. Each has a mentor who provides the support, knowledge and expertise needed to help them navigate projects and ensure they take time for professional growth opportunities.
“Even as an intern, you can touch upon real projects immediately,” said Efsane Soyer, a returning intern who recently graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in electrical engineering and computer science.
Interns ReturnAs Susskind notes, if you plan to return to NVIDIA as an intern, “don’t feel like you need to do the same thing! I’ve gotten a lot of value in moving between teams as my skills and interests have developed.”
NVIDIA’s University Recruiting team carefully plots out a summer packed with career workshops, lunch-and-learn events, a lecture series featuring NVIDIA luminaries, volunteer events, mentorship circles and open houses with various NVIDIA teams — all of which prepare interns to sharpen their career goals.
Capping the summer is an annual Intern Project Showcase, this year called “Five Minutes on Fire.” During the event, interns are given a tight window to showcase their projects to managers, mentors and colleagues — all judged by recently hired new college grads. The prize: an NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPU.
Some Fun, TooBut it’s not all work as an intern at NVIDIA.
There’s time for popcorn mixers, Jenga competitions and end-of-summer happy hours. At other times of the year, interns gather to watch the GTC keynote, learn paper-cutting for Lunar New Year and celebrate holidays around the world.
NVIDIA’s Intern Ambassador Program, now in its sixth season, also helps keep interns connected. The 20 intern envoys plan and host community events for others to enjoy amid busy work weeks.
Internships can last from a dozen weeks to several years. Regardless, interns are encouraged to immerse themselves in NVIDIA’s culture, such as volunteering for an Inspire 365 event.
Selina Martinez, a senior at the University of Southern California studying computer engineering and computer science and a returning intern on the embedded software team, encourages interns to maximize their experience.
“Be fearless. You’re here for a limited amount of time,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to talk to your manager about your interests. Don’t be afraid to set up coffee chats, even if you have to cold email people. Don’t be afraid to do what you really want to do and voice it to people.”
Source: NVIDIA Corporation
Original content:
https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2023/08/16/nvidia-life-interns-2023/
