Jason Marceau is a Director at Karsun Solutions. He holds a Master’s of Science in Business Analytics and Management Science from the University of Southampton, United Kingdom. Recently he returned to the University of Southampton to share his summer project experience with aspiring students and reveals how the program continues to inspire his work within Karsun’s Advanced Analytics practice. This post first appeared on LinkedIn.

Graduate summer projects are an excellent opportunity to work directly with practitioners in students’ chosen field of study. Programs pair advanced students with employers, where they research real-world challenges and prototype solutions. Summer projects act as an extension of coursework building toward students’ capstones or dissertations. Karsun Solutions engages with students locally on such projects and as part of my dissertation at the University of Southampton I participated in such a project, an experience that informs my work today.

Below I share my summer project journey for those that were not able to attend the CORMSIS (Center for Operations Research, Management Science, & Information Systems) lecture at The University of Southampton, UK. These are helpful insights for any student that may have the opportunity to participate in an in-depth summer project with their advanced or graduate studies.  I summarize the high points related to leveraging the value of these projects.  Though to hear my stories of the great adventure and experience you’ll have to find me at my next engagement at the University of Southampton.

While my lecture focused on CORMIS and its analytics projects, a summer project supporting any advanced studies or dissertation allows you to apply academic knowledge, build your network, prepares you for progressive hiring processes, and builds your personal story.

Apply Academic Knowledge

A summer project brings the academic knowledge to life and allows for an understanding of the practical application.   However, the value goes much deeper. Embrace every moment you have within the project and company to learn.  You will learn far beyond the academic application here if you seek it out. Also, many will encounter challenges along the way. If in fact those that do will be better served by the experience.  It will force you to learn to adapt, have alternatives, and overcome obstacles for success. This is a key element that you can speak to when interviewing with companies.  This will make you stand out as a problem solver and someone who can overcome adversity.

Build your Network

Building your network can perhaps be one of the most powerful things you do during the summer project.  You see I am not really that smart, I just know a lot of smart people.  The point being no one has all the answers, but the power of a network often does and it can open many doors not seen by others.

Prepare for Interviews

Many progressive companies have changed their hiring process from interviews to technical challenges first.  This weeds out those that only understand the academic.  In fact, the company I work for Karsun Solutions does exactly this in many cases.  It takes the risk out of knowing if someone can interview well but can’t do the job.

Build your Personal Story

Seek out the greatest experience and if it scares you then it is the probably the right answer. The culmination of academic, practical, relationships, experiences, challenges, failures, and successes all develop your personal story.  A good story will often make your stand out when seeking an opportunity, it will keep you hungry for more, and it is fun to tell.

The Karsun Solutions Business Development team came together this October to support the annual Bridges to Community Raise the Roof Fundraiser. This nonprofit organization brings more than 700 volunteers to Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic each year. Money raised from the fundraiser supports housing projects in these countries.

Juan Robles and Akshaya Sridhar attended the fundraiser as an extension of Karsun Solutions’ commitment to giving back to communities in need. Karsun regularly sponsors Bridges to Community events. The company’s business development team also attended the Raise the Roof event last year.

About Karsun Solutions

Bridges to Community events bring together teams from across the Federal IT contracting industry in support of service learning and community development. Karsun Solutions is among these premier firms. The company delivers a portfolio of enterprise modernization services to its federal customers. Its core competencies include Modern Software Development, Cloud Solutions, and Advanced Analytics. Its proprietary GoLean® software development methodology combines Agile, Lean, Kanban and DevOps practices throughout the software development lifecycle.

Commitment at Home

In addition to supporting communities abroad, Karsun Solutions offers employees the opportunity to form local, service-focused teams. These teams include a neighborhood beautification team. Two founding team members shared their story this past July. Visit us on YouTube to learn how Karsun supports our neighborhood clean-up crew and other employee service initiatives. To learn more about Karsun culture, events and employee opportunities visit our Karsun Careers Page.

The Karsun Solutions Executive Team recently joined Federal News Radio’s executive editor Jason Miller on his Views from the Corner Office program. During the interview, CEO Sundar Vaidyanathan, Chief Architect Kartik Mecheri and Chief Operating Officer Terry Miller share how IT modernization is opening the door for disruptors. They reveal insights on the state of the federal market, innovation-centric procurement trends, and opportunities for growing small businesses.

The Show Don’t Tell Approach to IT Modernization

When discussing the state of the federal market, both Sundar and Kartik highlight the role of small, innovative disruptors. Kartik, in particular, identifies the ability of such organization to quickly adapt and demonstrate IT modernization requirements. For Karsun Solutions these include expanding opportunities within the commercial cloud and artificial intelligence space.

The Karsun team commends the trend toward innovative procurement processes. Reflecting on Karsun Solutions recent growth the team adds, the organization benefits from matching opportunities to competencies. In describing the approach, COO Terry Miller notes, “what we’re really seeing that’s very different is ‘prove it to me, come in and do a demonstration to show me exactly … what your capabilities are.”

Views from the Corner Office brings together federal executives, lawmakers and other industry experts for insights into trends and challenges facing the Federal sector. The thirty-minute Views from the Corner Office program offers a private industry glimpse into public sector contracting. If you missed the original broadcast listen in here. Alternatively, tune in throughout October to hear the interview on WFED 1500am.

About Karsun Solutions

Karsun Solutions is a premier consulting firm delivering a portfolio of enterprise modernization services to its federal and commercial customers. Its core competencies include Modern Software Development, Cloud Solutions, and Advanced Analytics. Its proprietary GoLean® software development methodology combines Agile, Lean, Kanban and DevOps practices throughout the software development lifecycle. The GoLean.io Software-as-a-Service provides a lean management tool-kit combining the best of these practices.

Serverless computing, especially AWS Lambda, is a darling of Enterprise IT professionals. First entering the spotlight four years ago, Lambda allows the running of code without provisioning or managing servers. Thus it owes its rising popularity to ease of use, scalability and low costs tied solely to consumed compute time. In response to this increased demand for information on serverless computing, Karsun Solutions Data Analyst Sidharth Ramesh recently presented an Introduction to AWS Lambda at the Northern Virginia Linux Users Group. This Lambda 101 style talk served as an introduction to serverless.

Lambda 101

In his talk, Sidharth explains AWS Lambda is a function-as-a-service event-driven model. Sidharth uses the analogy of pushing code, rather than spinning up new instances. He outlines this departure from previous architectures and suggests use cases where Lambda may replace EC2 instances.

He provides an overview of implementation, including strategies for structuring event triggers. Drawing upon his past interactions with the Karsun Innovation Center, he shared lessons learned as well as suggested use cases. These include using Lambda in ETL or scenarios requiring an infrastructure as code approach.

View Sidharth’s complete talk on YouTube and his presentation on GitPitch.

Karsun Solutions – The Enterprise Modernization Experts

Established in 2009, Karsun Solutions LLC is in the business of solving problems. A premier IT consulting firm, we are an Amazon Web Services Advanced Consulting Partner, AWS Public Sector Partner, and AWS Authorized Reseller. From DevOps to Cloud Migration AWS is one of our many partners empowering Karsun Teams to Do Extraordinary! These teams deliver a portfolio of Enterprise Modernization services including Cloud Solutions, Modern Software Development, and Advanced Analytics. Our premier customers include the General Services Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, US Department of Homeland Security, Smithsonian and Government Accountability Office. Karsun Solutions’ quality, development, and information security practices include CMMI Level 3, ISO 9001:2015, ISO 20000 and ISO 27001 certifications.

Karsun Solutions Herndon, Virginia FAA Team at their August 2018 Potluck

Karsun Solutions recently celebrated the one year anniversary of the start of the FAA SSD program. In August of 2017 Karsun Solutions was awarded the five-year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract with a $145 million ceiling value. This recent addition to the Karsun family is also among the organization’s fastest growing.

The contract provides technical services in support of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Information Technology (FAA AIT). These Software Solution Delivery (SSD) support services assist in the implementation and continuing support of enterprise-wide software application and database development. We also perform maintenance related activities related to solution development and the sustainment of existing systems.

Over the course of the first year, Karsun’s FAA SSD Program has grown to more than 150 people. With rapidly growing teams in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and the Washington DC metro area we prioritized the quick integration of Karsun culture across our FAA program.

FAA SSD is One of Many Growth Factors

FAA SSD is one of several programs driving Karsun’s ongoing growth. We have multiple $100 million-plus contracts. Our portfolio of services includes Modern Software Development, Cloud Solutions, and Advanced Analytics. Our proprietary GoLean ® methodology guides our development practice. In 2017 we released our GoLean.io lean management toolkit to augment this data-driven methodology. In addition to the FAA, our premier customers include the General Services Administration, US Department of Homeland Security, Smithsonian and Government Accountability Office.

Recognized locally and nationally for our continuous growth, the Washington Business Journal ranked Karsun on its list of the 50 Fastest Growing Companies in the Washington, DC area. We were also recently named to the Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing US Private Companies. We are actively hiring for teams in both Oklahoma and Virginia. For more information on joining the Karsun Solutions team visit our Karsun Careers Page.

We recently welcomed our 2018 Summer Intern class into our Herndon, Virginia headquarters. Interns tackle difficult problems alongside our program and Innovation Center teams. Last year’s internships covered everything from cloud operations to the blockchain. This year’s class includes students from Virginia Tech, George Mason University, and University of Maryland, College Park. Meet each of our interns below and see how they inspire us to Do Extraordinary!

Sean Kim

Sean Kim is majoring in Computer Engineering and minoring in Cybersecurity at Virginia Tech. This summer he will support our GSA customer as a member of the CAMEO SB TDR team. Growing up, music has been a big part of his family and life. Sean plays several instruments including the clarinet, saxophone, piano and guitar. He also stays active whenever he can whether it’s playing sports or going hiking with friends.

How Sean Does Extraordinary at Karsun Solutions:

“My main objective for this internship is to learn as much as I possibly can. Being with Karsun for a couple of weeks now, I have been exposed to so much even though I know it’s only just the tip of the iceberg. It’s exciting to see how everyone works together to create solutions, and I am so grateful knowing that I can be a part of the process.”

Kiran Saravanakumar

Kiran Saravanakumar is a rising senior at George Mason University. He is majoring in Computer Science and will be graduating in May of 2019. Outside of the workplace, he likes to go biking, listen to music and hang out with friends. Additionally, he plays competitive basketball and cricket. Kiran supports our GSA customer and the CAMEO SB TDR team this summer.

How Kiran Does Extraordinary at Karsun Solutions:

“Throughout the course of this internship my number one objective is to actively learn as much information about the industry as well as the various technical tools that are being utilized by the teams here at Karsun. At the end of this summer, I hope to become a more well rounded individual both as a professional and as a communicator. I plan on achieving my goals by taking initiative and being very hands on by asking for new tasks as soon as the opportunity opens up.”

Henry Chen

Henry Chen is a Computer Science and Statistics double major at the University of Maryland, College Park. As an intern, Henry joins the Karsun Innovation Center. In his free time, Henry likes to experiment with new technologies.

How Henry Does Extraordinary at Karsun Solutions:

As a member of the Karsun Innovation Center, Henry hopes to contribute directly to production development work. He plans to work hard to Do Extraordinary during his time at Karsun Solutions.

Families in Virginia celebrate at Evergreen Mills Adventure Park.

This summer Karsun Solutions invited employees and their families to join us at our annual corporate picnic. Now with teams in Oklahoma City and beyond opportunities to celebrate have multiplied. This year teams joined together both near our headquarters office in Herndon, Virginia and in Oklahoma City. Virginia teams donned helmets and harnesses as they took on zip lines and rock walls at the Evergreen Mills Adventure Park in nearby Loudoun County. In Oklahoma City, Team Karsun headed to the ballpark for an Oklahoma City Dodgers game.

Oklahoma families take in a baseball game.

These events are a celebration of the families that support Karsun team members. As a company that values both fun and work-life balance, we understand families are integral to employee success.  At the Virginia event, leadership thanked family members for their support and emphasized their role in the organization’s continuing growth. In addition to our annual picnic, we also host regular employee events. In April we welcomed the children of Karsun employees into our Herndon Headquarters for our annual Take Your Child to Work Day. Karsun hosts other events throughout the year including happy hours, town halls, and summer socials. We also offer wellness and professional development events throughout the year.

Karsun teams are continuing their expansion in both Virginia and Oklahoma. We are actively hiring in both locations. We are seeking candidates ready to join an organization where employees are challenged to both Do Extraordinary and have fun!

Connecting with our Talent Team is easy. Apply or view recent job openings in Herndon, Oklahoma City and around the country on our Karsun Careers Page. Speak directly with a recruiter by registering for one of our weekly online chat events. Finally, join us in July for our Virtual Open House spotlighting employee teams throughout Karsun.

Employees and their children recently joined together at Karsun Solutions’ Herndon, Virginia headquarters for their annual Take Your Child to Work Day. Each year the Karsun Events Council, an internal team lead by employees across programs, selects an event theme. This year students were asked to demonstrate teamwork and imagination by planning a multi-day trip to a destination of their choice. Demonstrating their public speaking and presentation skills, they pitched their travel plans to their parents at the end of the day.

Students formed teams and worked together to build their complete travel plan. Acting as mentors throughout the day, Team Karsun joined the students to teach classes on brainstorming, budgeting, and planning. Teams also learned about the planes that allow them to travel to far off destinations. Staff taught additional classes on everything from paper airplanes to weather.

Meanwhile, employees led informative sessions on Karsun Solutions’ enterprise modernization work. Karsun’s executive team gave a brief introduction to Karsun Solutions. Then teams supporting both our General Service Administration and Federal Aviation Administration programs spoke on travel-related programs supported by Karsun. Tammie Bowman spoke on GSA’s City Pairs program and led a question and answer session. An FAA session was led by Debbie Richards. As the day closed student teams presented their plans to the Karsun team. Students completing the program received a certificate along with a Karsun giveaway bag.

Take Your Child to Work is one of several yearly traditions at Karsun Solutions. Here fun is a core value! The Karsun Event Council plans and hosts monthly employee events in addition to Karsun’s wellness events and informative brown bag seminars. Take Your Child to Work Day is one of our two yearly traditions celebrating Karsun families. The yearly picnic is held every June. To learn more about life at Karsun visit our Employee Events page or join our recruiters for our weekly chat event.

Karsun Solutions Co-Founder and Chief Architect Kartik Mecheri recently sat in on Red Hat’s application modernization for government agencies IT Roundtable. Over the course of 40 minutes, this expert panel discussed DevOps, cloud migration, and microservices architecture at scale.

Initially, Mecheri identifies three paths to DevOps success: a bottom-up CI/CD approach, a top-down performance-focused approach, and an approach focused on loosely coupled architecture. Karsun manifests the combination of the bottom up and top-down approaches through the Continuous Governance life cycle.

He also identifies how working within the established process and culture is key to customer success, and urges teams to seek out opportunities to leverage the cloud’s flexibility and agility to beat bureaucracy. Karsun’s Cloud Runways, for instance, uses platforms that are currently available while focusing on opportunities to utilize cloud-native capabilities already in place. By combining GoLean for DevOps governance, Cloud Runways, and microservices architecture Karsun built modernization solutions for their customers with limited impact on service lines.

The roundtable is available on demand through Red Hat and available here.