Nittany AI
Nittany AI is a student-led club, offering four programs that create a clear pipeline from coursework to a paid internship. This includes their leadership academy, the AI challenge, machine learning bootcamp, and the Advance internship. For PSU students aiming for a job in AI, these experiences are invaluable. Firstly, their leadership academy helps build leadership / project management skills. Their AI challenge allows you to find a team of students to complete an AI related project to potentially earn $5000+ in prize money.
I participated actively in their machine learning bootcamp. From my experience, we had 12 weekly meetings to teach us fundamental AI topics. Over this time, we were assigned 4 hands-on AI projects. This opportunity is great both for learning AI topics and to help flesh out your resume.
You may then be able to use those skills from the bootcamp to secure a paid internship with their advance program. The pay is comparable to other campus jobs, but the experience gained is much greater. You will be placed on a team of 3-5 and assigned a client with whom you will have biweekly meetings with. They will provide an assignment, which you will have to complete with the best of your abilities. Personally, I worked with Lockheed Martin, where we essentially created a research project. This project gave me real world AI experience and allowed me to significantly hone my skills.
How to Get Involved
- Apply to the leadership academy / bootcamp (applications typically open around August)
- Apply to Advance internship (applications open up early each semester)
- Monitor their events page