Summer Internships

“This summer, I worked on adding scientific content to the physical systems domain in Wolfram|Alpha. While there is a lot to learn, everyone I worked with seemed enthusiastic to help me get up to speed, and I was able to form several valuable mentoring relationships. I also felt that I was given the resources and responsibility I needed to allow me to make meaningful contributions to the Wolfram|Alpha product. The experience has me already thinking about pursuing a full-time position at Wolfram!”

“This summer at Wolfram|Alpha I worked as the Special Functions Intern. My primary project was reading mathematical literature in order to extract and verify formulas that could be useful for The Wolfram Functions Site as well as for possible Mathematica implementation. The most interesting part of my work involved creating a compendium of information about Mathematica‘s BellY function that computes various types of Bell polynomials, which are used in Faà di Bruno’s formula for computing arbitrary derivatives of the composition f(g) (as well as in generalizations of this formula for computing arbitrary derivatives of compositions of arbitrary depth). I devised an original functional recurrence that suggested a quick recursive algorithm for computing generalized Bell polynomials; as this algorithm ran much faster than Mathematica‘s at the time, it was implemented into Mathematica 10.0.1. This recurrence and thus the algorithm (with different base cases) can be applied in a more general environment, and I am currently drafting a paper to submit to an algorithms journal.”

“During my internship in the Scientific Information Group at Wolfram Research, my work has primarily been centered on the Wolfram Demonstrations Project. Essentially, Demonstrations are self-contained programs written in the Wolfram Language that are designed to appeal to the user in a highly intuitive and interactive way. Whether working on the Project directly or on alternate applications for its material, my time has been spent developing this sort of content.”

“Joining the Wolfram team earlier this summer was an exciting professional milestone for me. I am a big fan of not only the software that has come from Wolfram, but also the mission and ambition to proliferate and nurture big ideas. My patient mentor explained that I was to figure out how to make the generated maps in GeoGraphics (new in Mathematica 10) move around and update from mouse clicking and dragging. Additionally, the maps needed to be zoomable, similar to maps online used for navigation. Right now my prototypes deal with the maps themselves instead of the verbose layers of graphics data that Mathematica is capable of imbuing. In the future, though, who knows. Getting the panning and zooming to work proved a difficult task; however, the brunt of the summer was spent on improving the performance speed. No one wants to use an interactive map that is insufferably unresponsive. The utility of this application is pretty clear, as it is similar to programs that people already use daily.”

“People would think as a User Experience Designer I would only be designing detailed features within a product or workflow. However, at Wolfram, I not only got to do those things, I also got to take part in the bigger decision-making design processes, even as an intern. I was given the opportunity to learn a variety of skills that are important and also at the cutting edge of the field. Technical skills include wireframing, wireflowing, diagramming, and interface design. Oh, and also using the espresso machine!”

“For my internship with Wolfram Alpha, I assembled a list of named physical effects. A typical effect provides a link between measurable physical quantities, which are already incorporated into Wolfram|Alpha. Thus, making information about known physical effects computable enables the exploration of relationships between measurable quantities. In addition, the searchable data provides a window into the relationship between the discovery of new effects and advances in the field of physics. By making scientific information searchable, Wolfram|Alpha is providing a wonderful service for researchers, students, and anyone curious about exploring science.”

“I was part of the team that was involved in increasing the computational capabilities of Wolfram|Alpha in the domain of vehicle dynamics. As a Computational Science and Engineering Minor at UIUC, the opportunity to explore the various ways in which computations are being performed at Wolfram was in itself a rewarding experience. As an additional bonus, I definitely improved in the area of functional programming by using Mathematica.”

“I’ve been working on expanding food-related information in the Wolfram Knowledgebase. Among other things, this included the characterization and classification of food; I did research involving USDA data and other data sources. I was also working on expanding the food glossary, which gives a more detailed description of the available content. Furthermore, using my knowledge as a Food Science student, I was able to do things like classify fatty acids into groups. My advice to prospective interns is that you shouldn’t hesitate to apply even though your major is not computer science or engineering. As a Food Science major, I was happy to get involved here, and felt like it was a truly valuable experience.”

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