Annie Zeng, a computer science major at Purdue University, spent her summer as an intern on the seams market operations team at MISO. After completing the program, she found that her internship blended her computer science knowledge with real-world work. Here's a look into her journey, the projects she tackled, the skills she honed and her advice for future interns.
Annie’s Summer Project
Annie’s primary role at MISO focused on creating a dashboard to display metrics and settlement amounts for the Market-to-Market data. This project demanded not only technical proficiency but also a keen sense of design and user interface development. Annie was tasked with cleaning and organizing large datasets, ensuring they were accurately represented in the final dashboard.
While computer sciences degrees focus on coding, Annie emphasized the importance of critical thinking and problem-solving. "Yes, knowing how to code helped, but it was problem-solving that helped me navigate roadblocks in my project," she shared.
The highlight of Annie’s internship was the creation of the dashboard after cleaning the data. "It was fun designing the user interface and figuring out what layout works the best," she said, underscoring the satisfaction she found in seeing her work come to life.
Learning New Skills and Technologies
Annie’s internship was a significant learning opportunity. She gained proficiency in Python packages like pandas and misodb, as well as SQL, Grafana, DBeaver, and Streamlit. These tools expanded her technical toolkit and prepared her for future challenges in the field.
"This was my first professional experience, so it helped me see how much of an impact computer science has on the energy industry," Annie reflected. The internship also boosted her confidence in asking questions and maintaining curiosity - key traits for continuous learning.
Annie credited her growth to several key mentors: David Beihl, Nick Bierman and Jaime Avila. Their willingness to help and answer questions made a significant difference in her experience, providing both support and valuable insights.
Facing and Overcoming Challenges
One of the biggest challenges Annie faced was manually cleaning data extracted from Excel spreadsheets. "Human error is a computer’s worst nightmare," she noted, describing the difficulties in ensuring the data was correctly formatted for the database.
To overcome these obstacles, Annie emphasized the importance of asking questions. "This was super helpful to me, and I was lucky to have colleagues around me who were very open to assisting me," she said. This collaborative approach helped her tackle coding issues and streamline the data processing.
Annie’s problem-solving skills were put to the test when she encountered formatting issues with the data. By collaborating with her team and setting up meetings with another system operator, she was able to make the spreadsheet more computer-friendly, demonstrating her proactive approach to overcoming challenges.
Making the Most of an Internship
"The energy industry is complicated, but the work you are doing is not only essential but also rewarding," Annie shared. She also praised MISO’s welcoming work environment and the quality of their internship program.
To maximize the internship experience, Annie encourages future interns to attend as many intern events as possible, keep an open mind, ask questions and have fun. These steps will help interns engage with their roles and make the most of their time at MISO.
Annie’s journey at MISO is a testament to the enriching and educational experiences internships can offer. MISO’s award-winning internship program gives students the opportunity to learn, explore and have impact on the 45-million people in MISO’s footprint.