Internships

Shefali Nayak ’18

I worked with students at Montana State University and Yellowstone National Park employees to design an online energy dashboard for the Lamar Buffalo Ranch. The Lamar Buffalo Ranch is a historic area that aims to be completely free of fossil fuel use through renewable energy generation and building improvements. To help educate the public on the initiative, I designed an interface that displays the energy data in a clear and compelling way. Though my focus was on graphics and front-end design, I was able to learn about and help with other areas of the project as well, including hardware and network troubleshooting, and database management. I learned a lot about how different organizations collaborate on projects, from universities and the National Park Service to companies like Toyota. My exposure to different organizations really helped me discover which work environments and work cultures are best for me. Also, I learned about the various skill sets that are useful for real-world projects. Now, as I plan for future personal projects and internships, I have a much better idea of what can be accomplished by small groups of dedicated people.