Alabama A&M University senior Baylee Woods and junior Daniel McCarthy recently gained valuable hands-on experience through their internships at MITRE Corporation. Both students credit MITRE for having a diverse culture with diverse employees from around the world committed to providing real-world insights into various aspects of the business.
MITRE Corporation is a private, not-for-profit organization that manages federally funded research and development centers supporting various U.S. government agencies in the aviation, defense, healthcare, homeland security, and cybersecurity fields.
The AAMU duo was paired with mentors including alumnus ’88 Earl Robinson, Cost, Acquisition, and Management Sciences (CAMS) Locations Lead and Inclusion & Diversity Liaison for Huntsville, who has been with MITRE for 12 years and alumna ’99 Volonda Reedus, an Acquisition Advisor and MITRE’s CAMS Inclusion & Diversity advocate.
“As graduates of Alabama A&M University, we prioritize highlighting the exceptional talent emerging from our esteemed institution and fostering opportunities for continued development,” says Reedus. “Our interns contribute fresh perspectives and innovative approaches that support MITRE in fulfilling the objectives of our industry clients. We deeply value our partnership and are thrilled to enhance the students’ understanding of diverse career pathways.”
McCarthy, a junior computer science major worked as a Cyber Futures intern.
“The Cyber Futures program itself was very developmental,” says McCarthy. “The first few weeks were filled with networking events and seminars about different disciplines of Cybersecurity including: Cryptography, Reverse Engineering, Red Teaming, Blue Teaming, Cyber Forensics, and more. We worked on individual projects the remaining weeks. I learned a lot, and was given an opportunity to use my skills to genuinely contribute.”
Woods, a senior business administration major, interned in acquisition management.
“I gained valuable insight on the complexities of the acquisition lifecycle,” says Woods. “This experience allowed me to hone in on my abilities to prioritize tasks, manage my time effectively and remain adaptable to changing project needs. Furthermore, I focused on professional development by learning how federal acquisition processes work in compliance with federal regulations.”
“The culture at MITRE is a multicultural one that encourages growth, openness, and community amongst all its employees,” says McCarthy. “There are lots of ways to get involved, with different clubs to join that allow you to communicate with people from different departments, adds Woods. “They embrace differences in people and I enjoyed that!”
More on MITRE Internships: https://careers.mitre.org/us/en/co-ops-interns
