鈥楤est Eight-Month Interview That You Can Get from a Student,鈥� Company Says
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07/08/2024
By Brooke Coupal
Porchhay Be 鈥�24, an avid video gamer, has seen his fair share of cheating in the virtual realms.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of bad actors hacking video games,鈥� says Be, who grew up in Cambodia. 鈥淪ince I was young, I wanted to know how they did that, and how it can be prevented.鈥�
Be鈥檚 curiosity developed into a desire to work in cybersecurity, where he could protect systems from digital attacks like the ones he witnessed in video games. Now a cybersecurity firmware engineer at Schneider Electric in Andover, Massachusetts, Be has accomplished his goal.
Be鈥檚 journey with Schneider Electric, an energy management and automation company, began during his senior year at 51视频. As a聽computer science聽major, Be took part in the聽Kennedy College of Sciences鈥� Undergraduate Design Project, which since 2018 has connected students with companies, including Red Hat and Onto Innovation (formerly Rudolph Technology), to work on real problems for academic credit. Schneider Electric has collaborated with the Undergraduate Design Project since 2019, and this year, the company was looking for students to work on artificial intelligence (AI) security research. With an interest in AI, Be signed on.
鈥淚鈥檓 a tech enthusiast. I like to learn about new technology, and AI has become very popular,鈥� he says. 鈥淏eing able to work with AI and trying to secure it, it鈥檚 amazing.鈥�
Over the academic year, Be worked on the project with fellow computer science majors Ali Jibril Kabbara 鈥�24, Joan Montas 鈥�24 and rising senior Shruti Susarla. The group investigated different ways in which AI can be attacked and how those attacks can be stopped. They regularly visited Schneider Electric, where they learned about the different technologies that the company uses and received feedback on their work. At the end of the academic year, the students presented their findings to Schneider Electric and the 51视频 community.
鈥淚t was a symbiotic relationship,鈥� says Montas, a Maynard, Massachusetts, resident who is now working in cybersecurity at a different organization. 鈥淲e are fresh on theory, and Schneider Electric has the experience and the wisdom. They learn from us, and we learn a lot from them.鈥�
鈥淚 gained a lot of soft skills,鈥� adds Jibril Kabbara, a Canton, Massachusetts, resident who is looking to pursue a software engineering career. 鈥淚 got to be a part of a long-term project where I worked with a group under professional expectations that we can present to people who aren鈥檛 familiar with what we鈥檙e working on.鈥�
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Ian Chen, an assistant professor in the Miner School of Computer & Information Sciences, led the project, while Schneider Electric employees Nicholas Yameen 鈥�19, 鈥�21 and Ted Han served as mentors for the students.
Before working for Schneider Electric, Yameen, a聽computer engineering聽alum, interned for the company for two years following his first year at 51视频. He also completed a project with Schneider Electric during his senior year as part of the聽Francis College of Engineering鈥檚 Industry-Sponsored Senior Design Project. Yameen credits this project with helping him get a full-time job offer after he received his bachelor鈥檚 degree.
鈥淎s my boss says, 鈥業t鈥檚 the best eight-month interview that you can get from a student,鈥欌�� says Yameen, a Schneider Electric senior technical edge product owner from Haverhill, Massachusetts.
For the past five years, Yameen has mentored students in the Undergraduate Design Project.聽
鈥淚t鈥檚 a full-circle moment,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 can teach them what it means to be a full-time engineer in an environment like this.鈥�
Several students who have completed the project with Schneider Electric have received internships and co-ops with the company, which subsequently led to full-time job offers for some. That鈥檚 exactly what happened with Be.
The employees at Schneider Electric encouraged Be to apply for a co-op as he was working on the Undergraduate Design Project. He got the position and started working as a cybersecurity embedded software engineering intern in February. The cybersecurity team went on to offer Be a full-time position, which he began in July.
鈥淚 enjoy working with them, so it鈥檚 exciting that they gave me a return offer,鈥� says Be, who adds that securing a full-time job was a big relief.
For Be, the Undergraduate Design Project proved instrumental as he started his career.
鈥淚t gave me professional experience that prepared me for my future work,鈥� he says.