NJIT Intern for Cisco Systems Left Her Mark in Silicon Valley, Virtually

Aarati Srikumar, a junior computer science major from Edison and honors student at NJIT, made the best of her summer internship with networking giant Cisco Systems despite the pandemic changing her plans to experience Silicon Valley in person.

Cisco adjusted their program to be fully remote, giving Aarati and her fellow interns a unique and rewarding learning opportunity to work on the company's software updating processes.

Working on a team in Cisco’s developer operations group, Aarati and her peers were tasked with automating the process of creating software maintenance upgrades, or SMUs in company lingo. When a Cisco developer fixes a bug, they have to create an SMU. Then the devops team examines the fix to ensure the new code meets necessary standards and is compatible with the company’s other technology. Previously, this was an entirely manual process requiring devops to send detailed instructions. The process was slow, often caused issues and was not consistent or uniform in its execution. Cisco knew it could do better and looked to Aarati’s team to make it happen.

During her three-month internship, Aarati helped automate 90% of the process, working in both the front and back ends of Cisco applications to implement the improvements.

“I am so proud of the work that I got to do and the fact my work is still being used there and being built on. It’s exciting to think that something I did lives on at a respected industry leader like Cisco,” she said.

Central to Aarati’s work experience at Cisco was the chance to apply classroom-gained knowledge to solve real problems. Having to use Python, Git, Jenkins and React in her work helped make her class material more relevant because she saw how what she learned was used in the field by Cisco developers. “I realized that what I’ve been learning in class is not just material in a textbook,” she said. “I’m learning things that will prepare me to jump into a job and contribute in important ways.”

One unexpected takeaway from Aarati’s time at Cisco was a deeper understanding of the importance of a positive, inclusive organizational culture. She was impressed with Cisco’s top-down commitment to creating a welcoming and supportive workplace.

“I interned during the height of the Black Lives Matter protests. It would be easy for a big company to go about their business without acknowledging what was happening in the world around us,” Aarati said. “But Cisco’s CEO hosted ‘WebEx Wednesday’ gatherings each month, where he made a point to talk about current issues like the death of George Floyd, the protests and the pandemic. He stressed how important it is to embrace diversity in the workplace and to understand the different experiences and perspectives we each bring to the company. As a woman in STEM, and as a person of color, that impressed me. He could have simply skirted over those topics but he went right into them."

"I came away from his talks realizing how much more there is to entering the workforce than the work, the pay and the perks. The environment and the values of where you work is equally important, and I appreciate the positive example I saw of that at Cisco,” she added.

Aarati said she recommends taking internships, even virtual ones, to her classmates. Doing an internship is a must, she says, though she feels it can be harder for freshman or sophomores.

"I worked with students from big-name schools and Ivy Leaguers from all over the country. Some had never heard of NJIT," Aarati noted. "I was proud to represent NJIT and show my peers that Highlanders deliver, we lead, and we make things happen.”