Degree: IST
Internship: Software Developer
United States Liability Insurance Group
Penn State Brandywine senior Kanel Nang is excited for life after graduation and has a bright future ahead of him. The information sciences and technology (IST) major is working as a software developer intern for United States Liability Insurance Group (USLI), where he found he fits right in. With plans to graduate this December, the Drexel Hill native is ready to embrace the future.
In June 2011, Nang was hired by Wayne-based USLI, which provides specific insurance products for small businesses. He started out by learning the software development lifecycle and how the information technology team operates on a daily basis. The company was so thrilled with his performance they decided to keep him on board, giving him more tasks and responsibilities.
Nang soon moved on to major projects, such as physically developing the company's service request system, which is located on USLI's intranet website. USLI employees use the system to submit a variety of requests, such as technical support help, setting up new hire workstations and user logins, updating customer information and submitting general questions.
"[The internship] is an extraordinary experience that you can only [receive] outside of a classroom," Nang said. "The real world issues, communications and teamwork collaboration that I have experienced from the internship has definitely prepared me for future obstacles."
Brandywine Instructor in Computer Science Nannette D'Imperio, who also serves as the IST program's internship coordinator, explained that being enrolled at Brandywine provides students with unique internship opportunities that aren't readily available at other colleges and universities.
"One of the major benefits of being at Penn State Brandywine is that students can get positions like this in their sophomore or early junior year and continue to work while earning their degrees," she said. "They need to have that real world experience. Internships show students how to put into action what they've learned here at Brandywine."
Nang is fitting into his new position at USLI so well that they have extended his stay with the company even before his internship is complete. He will be able to work with the company part-time after graduating from Penn State Brandywine as he pursues a master's degree in software engineering from Penn State Great Valley, located in Malvern.
"The vision that I have carved for myself in the future is to eventually become a software architect and to lead a team of developers," he said.