Playing VR demos. Working on augmented reality displays. Crafting social media promotions for product launches. And entering contests to win great NVIDIA products.
A typical day in the life of an NVIDIA summer intern has been filled with opportunities to learn, memorable events and the chance to work with some of the most brilliant people in the industry. As well as a shot at winning cool stuff.
Nearly 300 students at our Santa Clara location, along with 50 more across other U.S. offices, are wrapping up their summer assignments here engaged in hardware, computer architecture and marketing campaigns.
Shaping the Future
When avid gamer Brandon Tiongson joined the Software-GPU team, he gained insight into how NVIDIA’s products are changing the future of gaming.
“I’ve always enjoyed working with technology, but working on GeForce NOW is just awesome,” says Brandon, who hails from Toronto, and is majoring in managerial economics at UC Davis. “It was great working on a product that has extremely high potential to transform the gaming industry.”
Interns didn’t just see the future of gaming — they also got to see the future of artificial intelligence, deep learning and self-driving cars. Part of the internship experience is getting the chance to listen to speakers like our head of research, Bill Dally, company co-founder Chris Malachowsky, and CEO and co-founder Jen-Hsun Huang.
“We got to hear their thoughts about what drones and cars will look like five, 10 and 20 years from now,” Brandon says. “It amazed me how many important projects NVIDIA is a part of, and how much of an impact the company will continue to make in the tech industry.”
More Than Just Gaming
NVIDIA got its start in gaming, but has grown far beyond that. MBA student Rupali Deshpande, from Pune, India, experienced this firsthand working with the product management team on NVIDIA Quadro, our GPU brand for the professional visualization market.
“I thought the internship would be easy, but it’s not!” says Rupali, who studies at Hult International Business School, in San Francisco. “I worked on something different every day. It’s definitely a learning experience because you get real projects, and you work hard to see what you can come up with.”
Like the time she had to evaluate a new product for a specific customer segment. “I had to interview a lot of people, and do a full analysis of the situation,” she explains.
Being Part of a Company
Our interns weren’t only immersed in NVIDIA’s business. They’re a part of its culture and surrounded by some of the brightest minds in the world. That’s why Texas-native Nikhil Dixit returned to intern for the Engineering Hardware team for the third consecutive year.
“I’m still surprised by the explosive growth of the company, but I love that the people here are ridiculously smart and kind,” says Nikhil, a graduate student in computer architecture at the University of Texas. “It’s a blast learning from the most driven people I’ve ever met.”
NVIDIA’s University Recruiting team makes it easy to build relationships through intern events like bowling nights with managers, scavenger hunts in downtown San Jose and tea parties with the Women in Technology group.
Interns even got involved in the importance of community, education and diversity by building bean bag toss games for local students, assembling science kits to promote hands-on STEM learning and walking San Francisco’s Pride Parade to show support for equality.
“The company has a clear vision of what it wants to be, and we get to be a part of that,” explains Nikhil. “Here at NVIDIA, you’ll always get the feeling you’re truly working together for a greater mission.”
Want to make plans for next summer? Find out more about NVIDIA’s internship program.