Name: Catherine Lin
Class Year: 2023
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: Taipei
Internship Organization: Skillion Inc.
Job Title: Software Developer intern
Location: Remote
What’s happening at your internship?
As a Software Developer intern at Skillion Inc., an IoT startup, I work in the software team with two other interns to build features for the HAWKeye application. The device is Android-based, with a Touch Display that operates as a bike’s dashboard. It displays information such as the biker's speed and routes, as well as connects to a rear camera with potential collision alerts for biker safety. It communicates with the e-bike motor, controls rear lights and is operated by a thumb controller. The features are written in Java in the Android Studio development environment for Google’s Android operating system. I have to go through the entire process from understanding an existing code base and documentation, to coding a feature, to testing, and finally deployment. I applied for this internship because I wanted the opportunity to apply my coding skills in a professional context.
Can you talk about the skills you are learning and why they are important to you?
I have created app user interfaces based on existing layouts, added new features such as a speedometer, distance tracker, and inclinometer, and worked on implementing a RFCOMM Bluetooth communication protocol to send to and receive messages from an e-bike motor. Although the internship is remote, I meet with my team over Zoom every work day. I’ve learned a lot about topics such as Android development, Bluetooth, cloud computing, version control, and working with an Agile or Scrum methodology commonly used in professional software teams.
What is most rewarding about your internship?
I have gained a lot of practical experience in being able to work independently and pick up new skills on my own, and also communicate with a team and work from an existing code base. It is very exciting to be contributing to the company’s minimum viable product and to have real users be impacted by my work.
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