Successful CCAIS Summer Internships 2023

Over the summer, the CCAIS team hosted two undergraduate interns, both supervised by Dr Jennifer Williams.

Hannah Phillips was part of the new cohort of “ENGAGE Ambassadors” within Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at the University of Southampton. The ENGAGE scheme promotes diversity in ECS by funding highly-talented female undergraduate students to work on a project that engages the general public in scientific research.

Hannah, who is now in her second year studying Biomedical (Electronics) Engineering at Southampton, described her experience:

“As part of the ENGAGE internship, I have been working with Jennifer to make a voice modification device. The device is connected to a live web demonstration and shows how a user’s voice changes in real-time. I have presented this device to schools to encourage more children into electronics and computer science and raise conversations about audio technologies and AI in audio. While presenting my work I have learnt how to explain complex topics in an easier manner and participating in the CCAIS meetings has allowed me to learn about research and increase my confidence in talking about my work.”

“Throughout the internship, I have been given the freedom to learn about different areas of audio and deep learning, areas which I previously had no experience with. This has allowed me to further my love for learning and develop an interest in AI. Overall, the experience has been amazing, I have met wonderful people and feel inspired to keep presenting my work and further my knowledge.”

Lila Marshman also joined the CCAIS team, having won an “EPSRC Vacation Internship”. This scheme funds the most able undergraduate students to gain first-hand experience of research.

Lila is starting her third year studying Computer Science and Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh. She described her summer internship:

“This summer, working with Jennifer and the CCAIS team has been incredible. I’ve learnt so many new skills and have been incredibly grateful to experience working in research first hand. I explored reinforcement learning for the first time, and worked on a low-carbon comfort project, aiming to optimise both energy efficiency and building occupants’ thermal comfort. I examined how various changes in the algorithm’s cost function impacted energy efficiency. At the end of the internship, I was able to present the graphs I had created to the team.”

“This internship taught me so much about the research processes and inspired me to continue with machine learning. Attending the MINDS Centre for Doctoral Training showcase, an event for Southampton PhD students, at the beginning of the summer allowed me to meet so many friendly, inspiring students. Everyone I’ve met has been incredibly welcoming, and I’m thrilled to have spent my summer working alongside such amazing people.”

Each year, the CCAIS team works with several interns to test early research ideas, develop prototypes or design outreach activities. If you are interested in working with our interns or even sponsoring a project, please get in touch.

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