My first day at H2Ok was really welcoming. I had a first-day lunch with the team, and Head of Operations Karin Bloom surprised us with chocolate cake and cheesecake. I had the chance to chat with everyone and felt genuinely welcomed into the group. Throughout the day, I had several onboarding meetings where I was encouraged to ask plenty of questions. It showed me that communication is valued here, and I felt supported right from the start. Overall, my first day at H2Ok was positive and left me feeling excited about being part of the team.

I felt nervous on my first day since this was a completely unfamiliar environment for me and a brand new working experience apart from college. Karin was super friendly and showed me the environment of Greentown lab and H2Ok, which helped me relax a bit. The group was very connected and welcoming to new team members, and I definitely felt heartwarming on my first day. It is true that I felt a little lost on the first day, but it got better after that day.

I am training machine-learning models and developing visualizations to label time series spectral data from CIP (Clean-In-Place). This work is for automating the labeling process to enhance our ML models. Additionally, I played a part in constructing our new website and am currently focused on calibrating our sensors. I've had the opportunity to work on a variety of tasks, which has been both challenging and rewarding.

I had taken responsibility for the Molecular Separation project. By differentiating the capabilities of multiple kinds of membranes and other separation elements, I explored possibilities for developing Chemical-Free Treatment(CFT) by running water filtration experiments. For my goal, I wanted to design a line using technology of membrane to recycle not only water but also waste products. I also helped to design 1-pagers for H2Ok for market promotion.

At first there were so many projects, I felt both excited and overwhelmed. It's been really nice being able to work on data science/ ml work as well as take on a bit of hardware with the sensor calibration. At the beginning of the internship, I wasn't sure what I wanted to work on, but one of the things that I like about this internship is that I get to work on a bunch of different projects which keeps my day pretty interesting and allows me to interact with multiple people on our team. I think working with the people here has also been really great. One of the standout aspects of our team culture is how well everyone listens during meetings. I feel genuinely heard and valued, which has empowered me to take on substantial projects and make meaningful contributions. The team has high expectations for interns, recognizing our potential and giving us the autonomy to tackle significant tasks. This supportive environment has been instrumental in my integration and growth within the team.

I had several meetings with Karin and David Lu, our Co-Founder and CTO of the company, to discuss my potential roles and projects through the beginning of this internship. After my project was designed and settled I was connected to the hardware team closely. At the same time, I've also got some tasks such as 1-pager design that fulfill my internship. The group is very cohesive and fast-responding, which allows me to reach out easily. They also set up weekly meetings and 1:1 check-ins to check my progress and conditions during the internship. This whole experience not only helped me to integrate into the team fast but also made me feel I'm needed, which I'm super grateful for.

I think the start-up environment is unique in that interns want high impact projects, they have the opportunity to tackle them. Specifically, because we're at a cleantech company, it's really cool seeing the actual impact our work has in factories. Through analyzing data, I've seen firsthand the significant amount of water we've calculated to save, which underscores the importance of our efforts. Being situated in a start-up incubator like Greentown Labs adds another layer of uniqueness. It's inspiring to be surrounded by other start-ups, all striving to develop innovative solutions that contribute to environmental sustainability. This environment fosters collaboration and a shared commitment to making a positive difference. Overall, my experience in a start-up within the cleantech industry has been incredibly fulfilling, allowing me to contribute meaningfully to both the company's goals and broader environmental objectives.

Have fun and ask lots of questions! Be ambitious in your work and don't be afraid to ask for help or explanations from the people around you, it's a really great environment to learn.

Enjoy this environment and believe it can give you new insights! Never hesitate to ask questions because everyone here is willing to help and support you. It is okay to make mistakes because it is new to everyone. It will be a different world from college so be prepared and have fun while working!