National Intern Day: A Look at the Actian Summer Internship Experience

Happy National Intern Day!

As a returning intern who has spent two memorable summers at Actian, I am excited to share what sets Actian apart and how their internship program is truly exceptional. 

One aspect of the program I absolutely adore is the in-person orientation. Unlike many remote companies, Actian offers a unique opportunity for interns to come together at the Center of Excellence office in Round Rock, Texas.  

Trust me when I say this is one of the highlights of the summer! Not only do you get to bond with fellow interns and spend quality time with your manager and buddy, but you also get to explore Texas together and engage in exciting activities. A personal favorite of mine was the gameshow-style intern competition at GameOn! ATX. Despite my team losing for the second year in a row, we gave it our all, making it an exciting and fun event.  

While some worry that you forfeit feelings of community when working remotely, that is never a problem at Actian. Laughter and jokes are a regular part of our meetings, and it’s normal to see funny GIFs in our team chats. Whether it’s work anniversaries or birthdays, we celebrate the little things together. Last summer, the Actian team went above and beyond by surprising me with an edible arrangement and cupcakes to celebrate my birthday. These gestures truly exemplify the caring and supportive atmosphere within the company.  

I must also mention the remarkable Marketing team, not only because I am a marketing intern, but because the people at Actian are genuinely one of a kind. You cannot find a more collaborative, enthusiastic, and supportive group. Despite my short tenure as a summer intern, I even have my own nickname (the Sparkler) within the marketing team! Across all departments, Actian employees are eager to connect with you, help you learn, and foster your professional growth.  

Actian truly makes interns feel valued and appreciated, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be here another summer. I will carry the memories, experiences, and relationships I’ve built at Actian long after my internship ends!

-Madeline Heath – Demand Generation Marketing Intern  

Returning intern, Madeline, is pursuing majors in Marketing and International Business at Indiana University Bloomington’s Kelley School of Business. At Actian, she assists the marketing team with various projects but is primarily focused on the social gamification of the employee advocacy platform to leverage employee networks and achieve brand visibility and thought leadership. She cannot say enough about the people and culture at Actian! 

Meet more of our 2023 Summer Interns:  

Savannah Bruggeman – Conversion Rate Optimization Marketing Intern

Savannah is a recent graduate of Loyola University Chicago where she majored in in Statistics and Public Relations. At Actian, she develops and executes A/B, Multivariate, and continuous optimization tests, takes winning ideas to market and integrates them into the Actian website! Her favorite part of the internship is applying skills she learned in the classroom and learning new skills!  

Caitlin Fuschetto – Cloud Operations Analyst Intern

Caitlin studies Information Systems at Fordham University. As a Cloud Operations Analyst intern, she works alongside her project manager to ensure efficiency of the Cloud Ops team. She enjoys collaborating with her buddy/manager on her Capstone project and the weekly intern events!  

Ian Loo – DataConnect Engineering Intern

Ian is majoring computer science at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. At Actian, he carries out specific tasks for the DataConnect team through investigation, brainstorming, and implementation. His favorite part of his internship is learning new technologies and industry practices!  

Alexa Cole – DevOps Intern

Alexa is majoring in computer engineering at the University of Florida. As the Actian DevOps intern, she works to perform migration from Twiki to Confluence. She has loved learning about what DevOps is truly about!   

Ethan Avila – Cloud Security Engineer Intern

Ethan is majoring in Technology Management at Texas A&M University. At Actian, Ethan is learning how to build, maintain, and enhance protection and detection on cloud-based infrastructure. He is grateful for how much he has been able to learn in just a short time!

Henry McKinney – Cloud Operations Analyst Intern

Returning intern, Henry, is a recent graduate of Nazareth University where he majored in psychology and triple-minored in math, analytics, and finance. As a member of the Customer Cloud Operations team, Henry utilizes Kubernetes to manage cloud native applications. He has loved learning about Kubernetes this summer!
  

Sayali Dalvi – DataConnect Engineering Intern

Sayali is majoring in Information Systems at Northeastern University. As Actian’s DataCloud Engineering, she is working to build new features for the Integration of Actian’s flagship product, Avalanche. She looks forward to the weekly intern events and weekly 1:1 meeting with the employee experience team! She really appreciates the personalized guidance and feedback!

Phuong Tran – Employee Experience Intern

Phuong is pursuing a master’s in industrial and organizational Psychology at the University of Central Florida. As an Employee Experience Intern, her primary responsibility entails fostering global corporate volunteering amongst Actian employees by establishing a corporate volunteering program that reflects Actian’s values of corporate social responsibility (CSR). She loves the weekly intern events and enjoys expanding her knowledge of the industry through real-world application!  

Gabriela Flores Diaz – Online Media Review and ESG Intern 

Gabriela is double majoring in marketing and communication at the Arizona State University W.P. Carey School of Business. In her current role, she is developing a new online media review process and implementing an ESG marketing strategy.
She has loved connecting with fellow interns and members of the Actian team, especially during in person orientation! The collaboration with professionals from various functions at Actian has inspired her with valuable insights and diverse perspectives.
 

Matthew Jackson – Zen Engineering Intern  

Returning intern, Matthew Jackson is majoring in Computer Science at the Colorado School of Mines. As the Zen Engineering intern, Matthew works to create a standalone utility application to assist developers with integrating Zen and working out a sample to demonstrate a possible Zen use case. He loves learning more about the industry through hands-on applications and working with incredible people! 

Skylar Ng – Employee Experience Intern  

Skylar is majoring in Psychology at Michigan State University. As an Employee Experience Intern, he primarily focuses on helping Actian on its path to sustainability through research and policy implementation. He loves connecting with other interns and employees across Actian and gaining insight into their roles and responsibilities. 

Aditi Purandare – Sustainability Engineering Intern  

Aditi is majoring in Economics and Urban and Environmental Policy at Occidental College. As a Sustainability intern, she researches and collaborates with the engineering team to ensure Actian’s software is environmentally friendly and works to solidify Actian’s ESG mission! She has loved getting to and working with her fellow interns!  

Sahithi Eslavath – Software Engineering Intern 

Sahithi is majoring in Data Science at Greenwich University. As an Actian Software Engineering Intern, she works to establish the connection from DBT to Ingres Avalanche. During her time at Actian, she has loved developing the new adapter

Josh Reyes – Financial Planning & Analysis Intern 

Returning intern, Josh, is majoring in Finance at the University of San Francisco. As Actian’s Financial Planning & Analysis intern, he creates dashboards to track finances and company metrics. He loves the Actian intern program and really enjoys working with the finance team, learning about the technology industry, and bonding with his fellow interns! 

About Saquondria Burris

Saquondria Burris serves as the Marketing Communications Manager at Actian. With over 10 years of experience in marketing and communications, Saquondria is a gifted writer who specializes in building marketing collateral and communications processes that reflect the architecture, voice, culture, and tone of brands. Saquondria has also worked with startups, and entrepreneurs in building out their marketing and communications strategies. Saquondria also couples her content management skills with SEO optimization. A Miami native and self-proclaimed beach bum, Saquondria spends her free time writing screenplays, attending live music concerts, and traveling.