Summer Internships

This summer three ECE students had the opportunity to work with some interesting companies for their summer internships. TikTok and Apple offered two ECE students some hands-on experience and a glimpse into the working world. 

Jolie Wasserman, an ECE senior, worked for Apple this summer as a GPU Design Verification intern. Wasserman worked on projects that involved testing GPU functionality with irritators–the process of testing the design of chips before they are placed in silicon of products like the iPad. 

Wasserman found classes like Logic Design and Verification and Computer Architecture as foundational in terms of building the necessary skills to succeed in her internship. “It’s nice to be able to put those skills to the test in real-world experiences,” Wasserman says. 

This was Wasserman’s first in-person internship, which she says was an extremely rewarding experience. Being able to form relationships with her teammates, and simply going for walks and talking during their lunch breaks, are all added aspects of a job that you don’t necessarily get doing remote work. 

Wasserman found her internship with Apple fairly early during the school year. She believes that was due to the help of career fairs. Wasserman advises that getting a chance to interact with hiring managers and representatives from companies like Apple could really help an application stand out. “It’s a more human experience, rather than just your application in a pool of many.”  

Jun Wen, an MS student, worked with TikTok as a Cyber Security intern. In his role, Jun's daily tasks involved monitoring TikTok's infrastructure, and analyzing and remediating attacks as they arose. Specifically, Jun spearheaded projects focused on identifying system vulnerabilities and weaknesses, researching the latest cyber threats, enhancing detection systems, and automating the incident response process.

As a student, Jun is curating his courses in ECE with a focus on computer security. He highlights courses like Special Topics in Security (Hacking 101) and Browser Security, where he completed projects that closely mirrored the challenges he faced at TikTok. These courses not only solidified his technical expertise but also prepared him for real-world cybersecurity defense work.

Jun also emphasizes the global nature of cybersecurity at TikTok. Throughout his internship, Jun interacted with teams across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, collaborating with these international teams on a daily basis. "You're definitely not just sitting in a chair by yourself and not talking with others," he recalls.

Jun advises that ECE students interested in cybersecurity jobs should always be open to continuously learning new technologies and, just as critically, refining their communication and collaboration skills. He explains that successful cybersecurity professionals must be able to understand and respond to evolving threats while working seamlessly with various stakeholders, including software developers, non-technical staff, and cross-functional teams.

Throughout this past summer, it appears that collaboration and communication were some of the most important skills ECE students put to use. Students like Wasserman and Wen were able to gain experience working on a team, while also putting their hard-earned technical skills to use in the world.