The Civic Digital Fellowship is the first of its kind data science and technology internship program for innovative students to solve pressing problems in federal agencies. It is the product of a collaboration between Coding it Forward, and six federal agencies: the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), General Services Administration (GSA), Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Institutes of Health (NIH), and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The Civic Digital Fellowship also wouldn't be possible without support from our generous supporters: Schmidt Futures, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and Knight Foundation.
Meet the third cohort of Civic Digital Fellows: Introducing the 2019 Civic Digital Fellows.
This repository features the slides our fellows presented at their end of summer Demo Day, held on August 8, 2019 at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C.
Kindly note that if a Fellow's biography does not have a link, their work is not publicly available or they presented their accomplishments during a panel discussion.
Brittney Atkinson-McFarlane is a graduate student at New York University, where she is working on a Master’s in Integrated Digital Media. This summer, she worked as a Design Fellow at the General Services Administration supporting the visual design and user experience for Touchpoints, an internal survey tool, part of GSA’s Customer Experience Cross-Agency Platform (CX CAP) goal. | Presentation
Emma Brennan is a recent graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied Design for Environments. This summer, she worked as a Design Fellow at the Census Bureau Open Innovation Labs helping to shape brand identity and design workshops for the Opportunity Project, an initiative promoting cross-sector collaboration to build digital services using open data. | Presentation
Courtney Brousseau is a recent graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied Economics and Computer Science. This summer, he worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the General Services Administration on Code.gov, building tools to track open source community contributions, adding analytics, and doing usability testing of a new prototype that he built. | Presentation
Johncarlo Cerna is a rising senior at the University of Florida studying Computer Science. This summer, he worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services developing features for the software used by immigration officers to process and manage asylum cases.
Avena Cheng is a rising senior at the University of California, Berkeley studying Data Science. This summer, she worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Bureau of Labor Statistics automating product reviews for Commodity Analysts working on the Consumer Price Index. | Presentation
Vivian Cheung is a recent graduate of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where she studied Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies. This summer, she worked as a Product Management Fellow at the National Institutes of Health designing trainings for evaluating assurance levels and authentication systems at the agency and creating a proposal to centralize IT procurement.
Onintze Contreras is a rising senior at Cornell University studying Information Science. This summer, she worked as a Data Science Fellow at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. She worked under the Office of Chief Data Officer on a Data Catalog Project, helping explore the creation of a classification system for USCIS’s data fields. | Presentation
Andres Cremisini is a graduate student at Florida International University studying Data Science. This summer, he worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Bureau of Labor Statistics crafting a language model and user interface to automate the classification of textual product descriptions into Producer Price Index industry codes.
Alex Curtis is a graduate student at New York University, on track to earn his Master’s in Transportation Planning and Engineering in December 2019. This summer, he worked as a Data Science Fellow at Health and Human Services using natural language processing to automate the analysis of written public comments for the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group. | Presentation
Uma Desai is a recent graduate of Olin College of Engineering, where she studied Computing with a minor in American Politics. This summer, she worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the U.S. Census Bureau building a disclosure avoidance repository containing differential privacy algorithms and interactive tutorials for Census data publishers. | Presentation
Alberta Devor is a recent graduate of Brown University, where she studied Computer Science. This summer, she worked as a Product Management Fellow at the General Services Administration creating APIs that allow access to survey and financial management data. | Presentation
Alison Dowski is a rising junior at the University of California, Berkeley studying Computer Science. This summer, she worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the General Services Administration on Login.gov’s app development team, designing and coding features and prototypes to better the user experience.
Jierui Fang is a rising senior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology studying Art and Design. This summer, she worked as a Design Fellow at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services conducting user research, creating prototypes, and running usability tests to design an MVP for a centralized refugee case management system.
David Frankel is a rising sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis studying Computer Science. This summer, he worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the National Institutes of Health contributing to the STRIDES Initiative by enabling access to biomedical data in the cloud and developing support for enforcement of best practices across the NCBI’s software engineering teams. | Presentation
Sarah Frost is a graduate student at the University of California, Santa Cruz studying Computational Media. This summer, she worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the National Institutes of Health on the Cloud Services team compiling technical documentation and automating cloud functions using the Python API. | Presentation
Maria Gargiulo is a recent graduate of Yale University, where she studied Statistics & Data Science and Spanish. This summer, she worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Census Bureau studying household response omissions by examining differences in individual non-response across multiple data sources. | Presentation
Raanan Gurewitsch is a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, where he studied Information Science. This summer, he worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Census Bureau using geographic information system (GIS) data and machine learning to predict which addresses should be surveyed in the next Commodity Flow Survey. | Presentation
Noah Houpt is a rising senior at Case Western Reserve University studying Computer Engineering and Computer Science. This summer, he worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the Census Bureau building a dashboard to monitor system performance of cloud computing resources utilized by the Disclosure Avoidance System. | Presentation
Rebecca Hu is a rising senior at the University of California, San Diego studying Data Science. This summer, she worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Bureau of Labor Statistics on a natural language processing problem, using machine learning to classify work tasks in general work activities. | Presentation
Somya Jain is a rising senior at the University of California, Berkeley studying Cognitive Science, with an emphasis on Computational Modeling and Data Science. This summer, she worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Bureau of Labor Statistics improving an autoencoder that analyzes job tasks for the Office of Compensation and Working Conditions. | Presentation
Vinesh Kannan is a recent graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology, where he studied Computer Science. This summer, he worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Bureau of Labor Statistics expanding the agency’s machine learning models for occupation classification to accommodate differences in industry terms and filter out state or employer-specific biases. | Presentation
Noam Kantor is completing his doctorate in Mathematics at Oxford University. This summer, he worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Census Bureau developing algorithmic tools for file lineage and data provenance at Census. Noam also worked on drawing actionable information from Census file access logs. | Presentation
Zhi Keng He is a recent graduate of CUNY Hunter College, where he studied Geography. This summer, he worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the Census Bureau improving developer documentation for Census data by creating an interactive and accessible website to enable more users to build applications and visualizations. | Presentation
Sam Kim is a rising junior at Duke University studying Biology and Computer Science. This summer, he worked as a Data Science Fellow at the National Institutes of Health analyzing the NIH-funded workforce and finding how many jobs are created by the agency’s $30 billion research grants. | Presentation
Aditya Krishnaswamy is a rising senior at the University of Georgia studying Statistics and Mathematics. This summer, he worked as a Data Science Fellow at Health and Human Services making HealthData.gov more user-friendly and contributing to ReImagine Data, an initiative focused on data sharing and collaboration across federal agencies. | Presentation
Ariel Langer is a rising junior at the University of California, Berkeley studying Data Science. This summer, she worked as a Data Science Fellow at the National Institutes of Health populating missing data from National Eye Institute health records using optical character recognition. | Presentation
Olivia Lewke is a rising senior at the University of California, Berkeley studying Data Science and English. This summer, she worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Bureau of Labor Statistics building an internal API that generates statistical sentences for the central time series BLS database. | Presentation
Michell Li is a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University, where she is obtaining her Master’s in Management Information Systems. This summer, she worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Bureau of Labor Statistics using machine learning techniques to automate coding assignments for the Consumer Expenditure Survey. | Presentation
Jamie Liao is a rising junior at the University of Southern California studying Media Arts and Practice at the School of Cinematic Arts. This summer, she worked as a Design Fellow at the Census Bureau to streamline cross-sector collaboration by improving the UI/UX of community-focused workshops, technology accelerators, and the visual identity of the Census Open Innovation Labs. | Presentation
Dorcas Lin is a rising sophomore at Carnegie Mellon University studying Design. This summer, she worked as a Design Fellow at the Census Bureau conducting user research on product design to create a physical tangibility campaign targeting user groups based upon the Census Barriers, Attitudes, and Motivators study. | Presentation
Crystal Liu is a rising senior at Stanford University studying Psychology. This summer, they worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the General Services Administration developing features for Vote.gov to display information about dates and deadlines for upcoming federal elections.
Emma Lurie is a recent graduate of Wellesley College, where she studied Computer Science and Chinese Language & Culture. This summer, she worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Census Bureau developing an interactive internal tool that assists the Census Bureau’s Economic Indicator Division with analyses of their survey response rates.
Nik Marda is a rising junior at Stanford University studying Computer Science and Political Science. This summer, he worked as a Product Management Fellow at the National Institutes of Health building tutorials for using NCBI cloud computing tools as well as launching a new website for these tutorials. | Presentation
Brandon Obas is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania where he studied Computer Science and Cognitive Science. This summer, he worked as a Product Management Fellow at the General Services Administration improving the usability of GSA’s API and coding software that makes it easier for API developers to create specifications.
Carlos Ortega is a is a rising senior at the University of California, Berkeley studying Data Science. This summer, he worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Census Bureau developing tools including a record-linkage web app to match frames and a web scraper to automate frame maintenance. | Presentation
Trisha Prabhu is a rising sophomore at Harvard College studying Government on the Tech Science Pathway. This summer, she worked as a Product Management Fellow at Health and Human Services, where she contributed to the KidneyX and LymeX initiatives by building scientific and technical frameworks for future medical devices in the kidney spaces, and spearheading a new clinical decision support software tool for public health emergencies and hazards. | Presentation
Christina Qiu is a recent graduate of Harvard College, where she studied Applied Mathematics. This summer, she worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Bureau of Labor Statistics focusing on increasing the accuracy of International Price Program rate calculations using Census data and statistical treatments.
Amit Rajesh is a rising sophomore at Cornell University studying Computer Science and Chemistry. This summer, he worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the National Institutes of Health, where he automated team processes related to the cloud and developed a website to educate users about cloud computing in biomedical research. | Presentation
Vikram Rao is a PhD candidate at The George Washington University, where he studies Systems Engineering. This summer, he worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Census Bureau studying and running experiments on the differential privacy algorithm that is used to protect confidential data at the agency. | Presentation
Eric Richards is a rising senior at the University of California, San Diego studying Design for Social Innovation and Cognitive Science. This summer, he worked as a Product Management Fellow at the General Services Administration as a member of 18F Strategy, where he co-led two 10x projects focused on non-traditional identity verification and PII collection, and conducted user research for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Paying for College tool. | Presentation
Isaac Robinson is a rising junior at Yale University studying Computer Science and Music. This summer, he worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the National Institutes of Health, where he utilized unsupervised deep learning techniques to identify interesting features of cellular migration, with ultimate applications to investigating how cancerous cells move through the body. | Presentation
Alaz Sengul is a rising junior at Columbia University studying Computer Science. This summer, he worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the National Institutes of Health using natural language processing to create topic modeling algorithms for analyzing grant portfolios and helping inform grant-making decisions for the NIH National Institute of General Medical Sciences. | Presentation
Ronak Shah is a rising sophomore at the University of California, San Diego studying Computer Science. This summer, he worked as a Software Engineering Fellow innovating across divisions at Health and Human Services, from software development at the US Digital Service team at CMS, source code inventory at the Chief Information Officer’s team, and technical consulting with the Ignite Accelerator. | Presentation
Jay Sheth is a rising junior at the University of North Carolina — Chapel Hill studying Computer Science and Political Science. This summer, he worked as a Product Management Fellow at Health and Human Services using data visualizations, theme analysis, and technical implementation to propel projects like Modernizing Medicare (USDS), Ignite Accelerator (CTO), and Software Asset Management (CIO). | Presentation
Rahul Shukla is a rising junior at Northwestern University studying Computer Science. This summer, he worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Census Bureau building a machine learning model that utilizes public data to generate industry classification (NAICS) codes for establishments in the Economic Census. | Presentation
Sophie Song is a rising senior at Rochester Institute of Technology studying Computer Science. This summer, she worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Census Bureau crafting differential privacy tutorials most directly focused on helping researchers at Federal Statistical Research Data Centers implement noise injection algorithms on their research results to meet formal privacy guidelines.
Vanessa Tostado is a recent graduate of Wesleyan University, where she studied Computer Science. This summer, she worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the General Services Administration where she designed and developed features to display upcoming federal election deadlines on Vote.gov.
Isabel Tripp is a rising junior at Northeastern University studying Computer Science. This summer, she worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the Census Bureau updating an internal system storing international data related to diamond trade regulation designed to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the market. | Presentation
Daniel Urke is a rising junior at Yale University studying Computer Science and Political Science. This summer, he worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the Census Bureau developing response intelligence visualization software serving as an internal tool for the Economic Indicators Division to help improve their response rate on surveys.
Flora Wang is a coterminal Master’s student at Stanford University studying Symbolic Systems (BS) and Management Science & Engineering (MS). This summer, she worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Census Bureau improving the sample frame of the Commodity Flow Survey using aerial imagery and a convolutional neural network to classify locations. | Presentation
Kiran Wattamwar is a recent graduate of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, earning a Master’s in Design Engineering. This summer, she worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the Census Bureau working on improving UI/UX of community-focused workshops, technology accelerators, and the visual identity of the Census Open Innovation Labs. | Presentation-Census, Presentation-Demo Day
Josh Wolkoff is a rising senior at the University of Rochester with a double major in Computer Science and Philosophy. This summer, he worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the General Services Administration building a piece of reusable AWS infrastructure that will be used by new development teams to help integrate security into their development process. | Presentation
Lan Zhang is a rising junior at Harvard College studying Applied Mathematics in Computer Science. This summer, she worked as a Software Engineering Fellow at the Census Bureau using publicly available information to predict 6-digit North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) codes for business establishments in the Economic Census. | Presentation
Daniel Zhao is a rising junior at Yale College studying Global Affairs and Statistics & Data Science. This summer he worked as a Data Science Fellow at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, designing and developing a dashboard to centralize customer feedback from five different data sources and automate existing reporting processes, as well as research cloud transition plans. | Presentation
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