DMC Says Goodbye to Our 2022 Interns

For more than five years, Data Machines Corp. (DMC) has welcomed student interns into our offices in order to give them an opportunity to acquire new skills and assist our team with various projects. Steven Le, Cooper Lemley and Sam Thorton served as DMC’s interns this past summer.

Steven attends Georgia Tech, where he majors in Computer Science; Cooper attends Villanova University, where he majors in Computer Engineering; and Sam attends Ohio University, where he majors in Business Studies. 

Steven, Cooper and Sam approached their internships with energy, curiosity and enthusiasm. Before their internships concluded, we asked them to share their thoughts about working at DMC over the past three months—what they did, what they learned, and what makes DMC a fantastic place for students seeking a fast-paced internship at our research and data-driven company.

Steven’s main role at DMC this summer involved working diligently on the NIST-ACE project. “I learned the inner functions of the system and helped write full documentation that explains what ACE is, how to set up/use it, and expand ACE with video analytics,” Steven said. “I also integrated a new video analytic into the framework to process videos of crowds.” Steven gained valuable insights into Docker, adding, “I learned how its containers worked, the advantages of using them, and how to create containers to aid with software development. Eventually, I was able to apply this knowledge to work on ACE, a framework built around containers and Dockerfiles.”

Steven described DMC’s workspace as friendly, noting that it “felt more like a community rather than a bunch of coworkers. Small things like rolling a d20 dice to choose where our company lunch was going to be made my time here that much more memorable. Everyone was also really accessible and helpful even if we weren't working on the same project.”

Cooper, who worked in our software development/engineering department this summer, dedicated his time to a variety of different projects, including DARPA ASED and a Slack date reminder app. He also spent a significant amount of time conducting password/secret manager research. “I learned lots of tech skills and tools,” Cooper said.

He mentioned that his stand-out experience was learning how a corporate environment functions. “Sitting in on meetings and demos showed me how a company works internally,” Cooper said. “I now know what it takes to work in a corporate environment and work under/with individuals.” Cooper reiterated that DMC’s work environment places emphasis on teamwork. “It is very much about the team aspect instead of individuals.”  

Steven’s and Cooper’s fellow intern, Sam, worked alongside our business development team; he analyzed documents, edited proposals and consolidated information. “I helped sort through RFP's on sites such as Bloomberg Government and SAM.gov to find new opportunities for DMC to pursue,” Sam said. “I also consolidated all information on DMC's past performances onto one page for employees to visit whenever they need past performance information.” In addition, Sam was asked to design a new logo for DMC, and he experimented with dozens of designs that he shared with DMC team members for feedback.

When we asked Sam what he did not know at the beginning of the summer—but knows now, thanks to this internship—he said, “It was beneficial to learn about how to act in a professional setting rather than just being told how to act in classes and workshops.”  

Sam’s advice to future interns? “Do not be afraid to ask questions. Everyone that I interacted with at DMC has been very friendly and helpful.” Steven’s advice: “Don't be nervous. Try to have fun and learn from the project you are working on . . . each is a unique experience you can apply to your future studies and career.” And, finally, Cooper’s advice: “Meet as many people as possible and ask as many questions as you can. People at DMC are the nicest and smartest people I have worked for, so try to learn as much as possible.”

Sam, Cooper, and Steven were willing to take advantage of every opportunity we presented to them. Having them in our offices this summer made us all feel so fortunate to work with young people who share our passion for research and innovation.

We’d like to thank these three young men for their professionalism and all the efforts and contributions they made to DMC. On behalf of our entire team, we wish them the best of luck as they resume their studies this fall. We’re certain that their can-do attitudes and eagerness to learn will allow them to reach great heights in college and beyond.