These ETC Students Made the Most of Their Summers
This summer, ETC students put their skills to work far beyond the classroom, taking on internships and projects that blended technology, creativity, collaboration, and real-world impact. At companies, nonprofits, and research projects — both here in Pittsburgh and beyond — students developed interactive museum exhibits, designed physical-digital experiences, helped create memorable attractions for children and families, explored new ways to visualize scientific research, and even built games that brought coworkers together. Along the way, they gained hands-on experience navigating the kinds of interdisciplinary challenges they regularly encounter at the ETC in the workplace.
We spoke with five second-year students about their summer experiences, what they learned, and how their time at the ETC prepared them to contribute from day one.
Riya Kanani
Programming Intern at Cortina Productions
Where were you working this summer and what were you doing?
This summer I worked at Cortina Productions, a media design and production company specializing in museum and location-based experiences. As a programming intern, I primarily used Unity and Svelte/HTML to develop interactive exhibits. My work ranged from building software for physical-digital interactives and integrating hardware like RFID readers and depth cameras to developing interactive maps and supporting projects through client reviews and on-site testing.
What was your favorite part of the internship?
My favorite part was how hands-on the work was and getting to see ideas go from an initial concept to something that will actually be experienced by museum visitors. I was able to research and suggest solutions, implement them, and see them tested on real installations. For example, I researched and proposed a hardware solution for one of our interactives and I was given the opportunity to develop the software that integrated it into the experience.
I really enjoyed the collaborative culture at Cortina. Everyone’s ideas are heard, and solving problems feels like a genuine team effort. It’s been really rewarding to contribute my own ideas while learning from designers, producers, and other members of the team.
How did your time at the ETC prepare you for the work you did this summer?
The ETC prepared me for this internship by helping me develop both technical and collaborative skills. Working on interdisciplinary projects at the ETC taught me how to communicate effectively with people from different backgrounds, explain technical concepts to non-technical teammates, delegate tasks, and approach problems as a group.
As a programmer at the ETC, I’ve also had a lot of opportunities to independently explore Unity and learn through peer support. That experience gave me a strong foundation that I built on this summer while working with Unity, hardware integration, and interactive installations.
Agnes Zhang
Creative Design Intern at Deeplocal
Where were you working this summer and what were you doing?
This summer, I worked as a Creative Design Intern at Deeplocal here in Pittsburgh. I contributed to a range of experiential and interactive projects, working across concept development, 3D design, graphic design, and physical-digital experiences. One thing I really enjoyed is that every project was different, so I had the chance to move between spatial design, visual storytelling, interactive moments, and production-focused design work.
What was your favorite part of the internship?
My favorite part was getting to work on real projects with a very multidisciplinary team and seeing ideas develop incredibly quickly. At Deeplocal, I was able to contribute not only to the early creative thinking, but also to figuring out how an idea actually looks, works, and gets built. I really enjoy that combination of creativity and problem-solving, especially when a project moves between digital and physical design.
How did your time at the ETC prepare you for the work you did this summer?
The ETC prepared me really well for working in an environment where projects are collaborative and fast-moving. Through ETC projects, I’ve learned how to communicate with people from very different disciplines, iterate quickly, take feedback, and think about an experience as a whole rather than only from one design perspective. It also gave me the confidence to jump into unfamiliar tools or problems and figure things out along the way, which was especially useful at Deeplocal.
Ben Morris
Show Controls Intern at Give Kids the World
Where were you working this summer and what were you doing?
This summer I worked at Give Kids the World, a wonderful nonprofit which gives kids with critical illnesses and their families free vacations in Orlando. They have many amazing attractions like the Castle, home of their signature Star Experience, Amberland, featuring a fully accessible arcade and mini-golf course, and the Wonder Lab, where kids can create and experiment.
I was there as a show control engineer, making sure attractions run smoothly and that staff can operate them efficiently. My main project was overhauling the Hoppening Place, a space where volunteers host holiday and birthday parties for families each week. My goal was to make it very easy to run these events and to hopefully give the staff options to make the experiences just a bit more magical in the future.
What was your favorite part of the internship?
My favorite part was interacting with the people here. The volunteers at GKTW all have their own amazing stories and are such kind people to talk to. It was wonderful to see the guests have such a blast at Give Kids the World Village, despite their circumstances. To be on a team with the sole mission of giving these kids a childhood they might not otherwise have was so fulfilling.
How did your time at the ETC prepare you for the work you did this summer?
With things like show controls, it’s always important to keep the full user experience in mind, both for the guests and for the staff that are running these events. You cannot just "make it work" because it has to work for a particular group of people; it has to be easy for the tech team to maintain, intuitive for the volunteers to operate, and fun for the guests to experience. The ETC has helped me to keep this at the forefront of my mind by teaching me the importance of naive guests, indirect control, and, of course, playtesting — all very valuable skills when working on a project like this.
Sudarshan Choudhari
Creative Good Fund recipient working on a project under Assistant Teaching Professor Moshe Mahler
Where were you working this summer and what were you doing?
I worked at the ETC on a Creative Good Fund Opportunity Project under Moshe Mahler's supervision. The project focused on creating an installation for a museum using photos, videos, and 4D data gathered through research on kidney structure and function in mice. I had the opportunity to work with Dr. Ora Weisz — who was part of the original research — and Michael Murphy from the ZEISS team, who is an expert in the scientific data visualization software Arivis Pro. I was primarily exploring and experimenting with the research data and Arivis Pro, looking at the different ways the data could potentially be presented as an artistic and interactive experience.
What was your favorite part of the work?
One of my favorite parts was feeling that I was helping to create a medium that can reach a much larger audience and educate people about the insightful research conducted by Dr. Ora Weisz and her team. I really enjoyed talking with Michael and Ora about the dataset and learning more about the functionality of Arivis Pro, the software used to study and explore microscopic data. I also had the opportunity to experiment with TouchDesigner, which has been exciting because it allowed me to explore different ways of presenting and interacting with the data.
How did your time at the ETC prepare you for the work you did this summer?
My time at the ETC encouraged me to think outside the box and approach problems creatively. The program also taught me to be comfortable exploring unfamiliar tools and technologies and figuring out how they can be used to create an engaging experience. I think that mindset was especially helpful for this project, where I am working at the intersection of scientific research, art, technology, and interactive media.
Christina Yin
Secretarial Intern at Tencent
Where were you working this summer and what were you doing?
This summer, I was a secretarial intern at Tencent’s office in Shenzhen where I supported onboarding for new hires and helped plan and execute team-bonding activities and afternoon teas for more than 300 people.
What was your favorite part of the internship?
One of my favorite parts of the internship was using vibe-coding tools to bring our team activities to life. For International Children’s Day, I was responsible for creating a minigame that invited team members to reminisce about their favorite childhood memories and discover who else shared similar experiences. It was a simple game, but I loved seeing how technology could turn a team-building idea into an interactive experience.
How did your time at the ETC prepare you for the work you did this summer?
Although game design isn't my track at the ETC, I realized that my time there had prepared me surprisingly well for this project. ETC taught me how to think about designing experiences for a specific audience — understanding what would engage them, how to create a user-friendly interface, and how to create opportunities for meaningful interaction. I was excited to apply those principles in a workplace setting and see creativity, technology, and experience design all come together.