WEEK ONE: INTERNSHIPS BEGIN

Jeremi recaps the first week of his internship; Luca details the start of his internship, meeting an ambassador, and traveling to Las Vegas

Welcome back to Jeremi and Luca’s Newsletter, a weekly update brought to you by two friends on opposite ends of the country, connected by a relentless desire to learn.

The topics may seem random and disjointed (they are), but would it be fun otherwise? Either way, we promise each issue will be filled with insights, learnings, and updates, in what we hope is a good way to stay connected to friends and family.

In this fifth installment, enjoy Jeremi’s recap of the first week of his internship and Luca’s description of a busy week in many places.

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Jeremi: First Impressions

The military personnel checked my newly minted badge and I was let through the security checkpoint, a little nervous but ready to face whatever was inside.

I was entering Lawrence Livermore National Labs, dubbed by those who work there as “the smartest square mile on Earth” (can we really trust them on that?)

Almost immediately, I was struck by the environment I had entered. It felt like a college campus—9,000 scientists and engineers walking around, enjoying cafes and libraries to work from and gyms to exercise in. At the same time, it was an illusion—a highly secure facility under constant surveillance.

The majority of the lab’s funding is given by the DOE and focused on Defense. Comparably, Livermore Computing (my branch) is small in size and funding.

But what makes Livermore Computing (LC) so interesting is that it touches all the other branches. LC manages High Performance Computing Clusters (aka supercomputers) for all the scientists to run simulations on.

So when these scientists need to research nuclear fusion, materials science, or any of the interesting areas of study pursued here, they use the LC supercomputers to perform the necessary simulations.

Which brings me to my internship: High Performance Computing (HPC) Cluster Engineering.

Throughout my 8 weeks here, I’ll be learning about some of the technology that enables cluster computing (groups of computers working together to do a lot of calculations really fast).

Of course, as an intern, I’m not given the reigns to the fastest horse in the kingdom! I’m working with just a small amount of “nodes” (computers). In this first week, I’ve been learning the basics: installing operating systems and enabling communication between these nodes.

Although cluster engineering and software engineering are two separate roles, my goal with this internship is to gain experience in cluster engineering to become a better software engineer.

One takeaway I’ve gotten from many conversations with software engineers and those who work around them is that you can’t write efficient code if you don’t actually understand how your computer executes it.

But above all else, I want to soak in as much wisdom, knowledge, and learnings as I can. I want to take advantage of such a highly concentrated amount of scientific talent with such a diverse set of interests.

This goal formulated itself for me when on the first day, we went to a lecture by a Stanford PhD on NASA’s DART mission (redirecting asteroids). The talk was fascinating, and then randomly I ran into that same Stanford PhD at lunch! Such is the nature of Lawrence Livermore—everywhere you turn is another person to learn from.

Right now, I’m asking myself: who are the other people doing compelling research that I have never even heard of? And how can I meet as many of them as possible during these eight weeks?

This is, after all, the smartest square mile on Earth.

P.S. - No photos allowed in the lab 😕 instead, enjoy a look at Livermore’s surprisingly quaint downtown.

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Luca: Coast to Coast

That was a full week!

I began my internship at the Department of Commerce. I randomly got invited to meet the Ambassador of France to the United States. I flew to Las Vegas to attend FlightSimExpo 2024 for the startup I’m working on.

I’m writing this as I’m about to board a red-eye flight back to Baltimore. Tomorrow morning, I’ll ride Amtrak down to D.C., visit the National Air and Space Museum, and have dinner with good family friends.

This is how I attempt to stimulate myself: by staying busy and always seeking opportunities to learn and grow.

Department of Commerce

Monday was my first day interning in the Office of Deputy Secretary Don Graves at the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) in Washington, D.C.

I arrived at the Herbert C. Hoover Building in a suit and tie (business formal dress code) and met the cohort of summer interns—about 20 others, many from Ivy League schools like Harvard, Penn, and Brown, with others mostly from East Coast schools.

Ages ranged drastically: two other sophomores, many upperclassmen and graduate students, and one freshman.

The day started with ethics training. Among other things, I learned that I cannot accept meals (gifts) but I can accept cookies (not gifts). We also got our ID cards for building access and set up our computers and office space.

Tuesday was the first real workday. I spent the majority of the day learning about the DOC, reading briefing materials, and meeting people.

And Wednesday was Juneteenth.

I’m not quite sure yet how much I can actually say about the topics I’m working on, so for now I’m going to play it safe. Next week, a lot more is happening so hopefully I’ll have more details to report.

Meeting the Ambassador of France to the U.S.

On Wednesday morning, I organized an intern brunch. About two-thirds of the cohort was able to show up to Founding Farmers (get it?). We enjoyed getting to know each other a bit better and wrapped up by walking around the National Mall.

At the risk of sounding cliché (is that statement in and of itself cliché?), it really is a small world! Two other interns at this brunch were born in the same hospital as me in Greenbrae, California. What are the odds?

Anyway, I’m bringing up this brunch because, at it, another intern mentioned his evening plan of going to the Embassy of France for a meet and greet with the French Ambassador to the U.S., Laurent Bili.

“So… you’re taking me, right?”

After explaining that I hold dual citizenship in France, I somehow got a few strings pulled and ended up with an invite to the event.

We arrived in business casual, met the ambassador, and had about an hour with him to ask questions. I was surprised to learn how much “soft power” ambassadors have and found the differences between the French and American governments interesting.

Unfortunately, that’s all I can say since we agreed to not disclose specific comments made by anyone. On the upside, that policy allowed for some quite candid remarks from the ambassador.

At the Embassy of France with the Ambassador to the U.S.

FlightSimExpo 2024 in Las Vegas

As you may remember from the California Hold’em issue, the startup I’ve been working on secured funding to travel to FlightSimExpo 2024 in Las Vegas and EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, the largest annual airshow in the world.

FlightSimExpo was this weekend and it was well worth the trip. While I was no fan of the 106-degree weather, dark and smelly casinos, or Las Vegas in general, I found the convention to be full of insights.

For one, it was a great opportunity to learn more about the flight simulation market, including the AI and VR features being developed within it.

Attendance included Microsoft Flight Simulator, X-Plane, DCS (Digital Combat Simulator), and Infinite Flight, among others. Loads of vendors were there as well, with new tech and integrations meant to improve the simulation experience.

I am also thrilled to have finally connected in person with the team at Infinite Flight, a flight simulator I’ve been using since middle school. They host an active community that has led to many valuable friendships and partly sparked my passion for aviation—and pursuit of my pilot license.

More to come on this project! I'm looking forward to Oshkosh in July and enjoying the challenging but rewarding journey we’ve been on so far.

With the Infinite Flight team at FlightSimExpo 2024