Curiosity, Adventure, and AI: A Summer Internship at Hughes

Summertime at Hughes means opening our doors to interns from around the world for hands-on, real-world experiences. This year’s interns joined a variety of teams across the business, including software engineering, manufacturing, 5G network systems, mobility, and more. To wrap up her internship, Jasmitha Gourabathini machine learning engineering intern in our Germantown, MD office told us more about her journey to engineering and Hughes, her biggest takeaways from her internship, and where she hopes to head next.

Living in Colorado, what brought you to Maryland? How did you find this internship?

I was originally applying to EchoStar internships in Colorado when I noticed some new positions open up in Maryland. I think a bit of curiosity and a sense of adventure got me really excited to apply. I had never been to Maryland before, and the idea of spending a summer somewhere new felt like a dream come true.

I love Colorado. It’s where I mostly grew up and where I go to college, but I remember telling my friends that I would love to work on the East Coast one day. I have family in the area, and it always amazed me how interconnected all of the cities felt compared to what I was used to.

What led you to pursue an education/career in computer science/engineering?

The first time I considered computer science was when I took a class in high school. Soon after, I realized I liked the ability to build applications and the thrill that came from solving puzzles and tackling problems. Of course, I had to explore this more, so during the summers I was involved with “Kode With Klossy,” an organization that supported girls and non-binary teens explore computer science-related topics. During this time, I realized how much I enjoyed things like data science, making mobile apps, and building projects with a specific audience in mind.

One of the pivotal moments when I realized I wanted to pursue computer science was when I volunteered at a nonprofit called Project CURE as a data cleaning intern. I was manually cleaning data and didn’t realize just how much software can impact a company’s operations and ultimately help or hinder its mission. From that moment, I saw how my interest in computer science could be used to support the people and organizations around me.

What excited me most were the many possibilities within computer science. I was really into biotechnology during high school, and I explored questions like what computational biology might look like, as well as robotics. As I took more and more classes, I realized I genuinely enjoyed learning about computers, how they work, and how to build efficient software.

This internship has made me feel more confident about pursuing my education and career in computer science. Learning about how AI is changing the industry, software development, and business operations has been incredibly interesting. I’ve really enjoyed the constant challenge of learning a new platform and seeing how AI can be built into solutions and systems to help solve problems. Computer science has really allowed me to be curious and mindful at the same time, and I love that challenge.

What have been your biggest takeaways from your time at Hughes?

Oh, so many! I think one of the biggest things I’ve learned is how to communicate with my team and understand different communication styles. I’m less afraid[EN1.1] of asking questions, presenting my ideas, and advocating for myself when I need help or feedback.

I’ve also learned so much about how quickly AI is changing the industry and what it looks like to actually apply technical skills in a professional environment. My technical growth feels enormous. I have a much better understanding of things like CI/CD pipelines,[EN2.1] observability metrics, and DAG[EN3.1]-based AI agents, from building with them and researching them throughout my internship. I’ve also learned how to approach an entirely new platform, work through roadblocks, and think about different edge cases when solving problems.

I also realized how much I value being in an environment that supports learning. I’m really grateful to have patient mentors who want to see me grow, try new things, and keep learning. I never felt stupid for not knowing something or asking questions, which I’m really thankful for. There was definitely a learning curve, but I always felt genuinely supported.

What is your ultimate professional goal? Any project or solution you would love to do?

Currently, my goal is to continue learning as much as possible and soaking it all up like a sponge. This internship has made me really excited about AI and machine learning, especially seeing how these technologies can be used to solve real business problems and improve how teams work. The more I learn, the more curious I become about how AI can be implemented effectively, responsibly, and in ways that can help people.

I’ve also become interested in how these technologies can be made more accessible. My mentor mentioned that building an open-source AI platform could be a really interesting project, and I love the idea of finding ways to bring these tools to organizations like nonprofits or community health centers that may not have extensive technical resources.

Long-term, I want to keep building my expertise in AI while finding opportunities to support causes I care about with my technical skills. I also learned a little about sales engineering during our intern panel and I thought that was fascinating because it combines technical problem-solving with communication and working closely with people. It would definitely be a path that I would love to explore one day!