Skip to main content

Jacob Lowe - Workforce Development Intern

This year, our Workforce Development team is offering a new professional internship fellowship program, helping grow the future of gateway developers. This 3-month program provides an opportunity for SGX3 fellows to learn crucial Science Gateway software development skills by training alongside Texas Advanced Computing Center’s (TACC) Advanced Computing Interfaces (ACI) department. Interns will train and gain software development skills in both front-, middle- and back-end tiers. In Fall 2024, interns were placed with TACC’s Web and Mobile Applications team under the ACI department. We will share some of our 2024 student interns' experiences in a series of blog posts. 

Name: Jacob Lowe Jacob Lowe

Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your background. 

I have a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering graduate from Virginia Tech! After graduation, I focused on studying front-end software development to complement the back-end knowledge I acquired during my time in college. I have created multiple web applications, one for a contract and most in my spare time as personal projects. Additionally, I have engaged in personal projects focusing on C++ development using the SDL2 framework for 2D engine designs, and 3D voxel-based engine design.

What are you looking forward to most about your internship experience?

I am most looking forward to working in a team-based environment again, gaining valuable team-oriented professional skills and knowledge, and developing myself to contribute meaningfully to the industry.

What skills or knowledge are you hoping to gain during your internship? 
I hope to gain valuable experience and insights into best practices like optimization and feature selection and prioritization for developing full-stack applications, as I believe this is invaluable for my career progression.

What are your expectations for the training and mentorship you will receive?

I expect that the training and mentorship I receive will be exceptional and will prepare me to enter an ever-growing and rapidly developing environment where I can keep up with the daily changes in an ever-evolving tech stack environment.

What motivated you to choose this particular internship opportunity, and how do you see that fitting into your future goals? 

Having come from Virginia Tech, I find the University of Texas to be similar, as both are research universities, making it feel very familiar and at home to me. I believe that gaining work experience in a curiosity-driven environment is extremely beneficial while providing hands-on professional experience.

What unique perspective or ideas do you hope to bring to the internship program? 

I hope to bring a fresh and curious perspective, along with a new set of eyes to expand the capabilities of science gateways. I am contemplating the specific challenges that can be addressed to achieve a simplified front-end and user experience while maintaining the performance and efficiency of a highly effective backend.

Are there any specific Science Gateway software development areas you're particularly interested in exploring?

I am particularly interested in exploring backend infrastructure development and user interface development. Additionally, I would find security and authentication systems completely new and intriguing.

We encourage those interested in participating in our professional internship fellowship program tosubscribe to our newsletter for future application announcements.