Abhijay Salvi, a senior at Westfield High School, says he enjoyed a high-profile internship where he utilized his coding and robotics skills.
“At the end of my junior year of high school, I was looking for a way to challenge and apply my skills that I have learned over the years through self-learning coding and engineering knowledge, through being a part of Westfield High School’s robotics team,” Salvi says. “That is when I was able to connect with my internship coordinator, Michelle Goudy, at my school to assist me in networking to find a summer internship.”
Soon after, Salvi was invited for a meeting and interview at Performance Services, an architectural engineering firm.
“After my first meeting I was hired as a full-time, paid programming intern for the company,” Salvi says. “This experience was like no other. I gained on-the-job training in computer science and learned how to work in an office setting. I had three big projects. First, I developed and researched artificial intelligence [AI] technologies to prototype an AI chatbot with GPT 3.5 for the company website. Second, I validated and augmented data for the performance assurance team using [application programming interfaces]. Third, I used machine learning algorithms to link data points for analytics and created a matching algorithm to normalize data and increase data analytic efficiency. Through this internship I was able to take my programming skills to a level I never expected before, and learned the business and analytical side of computer science.”
Salvi says being on robotics teams has helped him tremendously.
“Ever since fifth grade I have been a part of my school’s VEX robotics team,” Salvi says. “My sophomore year I heard about the high school’s first robotics team and decided to check out a meeting. After I learned teammates get to design, build and program a 120-pound robot from scratch, I was intrigued. I joined FIRST, which stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. It is a very large robotics competition program. The high school team is FIRST Robotics Competition Team 6956, SHAM-ROCK-BOTICS. On the team I am one of the leaders of the programming and outreach sub-teams, and I am on the drive team as the operator.”
Salvi says he and the team also get the opportunity to present and display their robot and experience at Westfield board meetings, the Mr. Westfield event and STEM nights.
“I also helped organize the FIRST LEGO League Explore program, open to all second- through fourth-graders in the Westfield Washington School District,” he says. “For the past three years I coached a team of six fourth-graders in coding, engineering and design. Being able to inspire and teach the next generation of innovators and thinkers brings joy, especially when my students’ faces light up when they see their ideas come to life through LEGOs. This season my robotics team hosted the FIRST LEGO League state championship with FIRST Indiana and my school’s administration at Westfield High School, and it was very successful.”
Salvi is excited about the future.
“I plan on majoring in computer science/computer engineering, and minoring in economics or some other field of study,” Salvi says. “The top choices for colleges currently are Georgia Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Purdue University and Indiana University. I am still waiting for the Ivy League colleges and Stanford’s decision to be released before finalizing my college plans.”
