Karsun’s internship program returned this year, adding a second cohort for exceptional high school and early college STEM students. These two cohorts took the next steps in preparing for their future careers with this program that embeds interns inside the Karsun Innovation Center. The summer programs invited students to imagine the future of government, complete technical certifications, dive into AI/ML and collaborate with experts.
Nurturing Future Technology Leaders
Here careers grow as Karsun grows. This year that included an expansion to our intern program, enabling that experience to start earlier for high school and college students in their freshman and sophomore years of college. These Student Interns also worked directly with the Karsun Innovation Center and were mentored by previous graduates of the intern program.
A key focus of the program was imaging the future of technology in government. Working in pairs, our Student Interns picked project topics ranging from digital twins to robotic process automation (RPA). The interns researched these technologies throughout their ten-week program submitting a research paper and presentation at the end of the course.
The intern track for advanced college students, recent grads and graduate students also offered opportunities to work with mentors while building their technical skills. These interns were assigned mentors from one of the KIC Practice Areas. These experts from the Development, Lean, DevSecOps, Data and Solution Practices helped these interns assess and select programs from our Karsun Academy professional development courses. As a result, several members of the class ended their internship with AWS certifications and other credentials.
“Karsun encourages and supports its workers in obtaining cloud certification in Amazon Web Services for the advancement of their careers is another thing I admire.” – Mayank Tamakuwala
Building with Karsun Innovators
In addition to their research projects, the Student Interns worked in teams on two challenge projects. In one project, they developed a prototype to solve a hypothetical challenge for federal government agencies. The second challenge was a code-a-thon designed to demonstrate the application of data science concepts. In this challenge, the teams applied a digital twin to determine if different images contained pictures of a collapsed lung.
The more experienced interns, worked on real projects under development in the Innovation Center’s R&D unit. Their data science project focused on building a synthetic data platform to improve the security of PII in data modeling. This project culminated with the synthetic data team presenting their findings at an organization-wide Innovation Townhall.
Some members of the intern program also worked with Karsun’s internal digital workplace team. They assisted with the Karsun Kollaborate project. This initiative examines new ways Karsun team members can connect and collaborate outside of their current delivery teams. Some of these projects were also data focused, using tools like Google Data Studio to improve operational efficiency at Karsun. This was also an opportunity to try low-code/no-code development with to add enhancements to the digital workplace experience.
Collaborating and Presenting to Colleagues
They also participated in Show Don’t Tell sessions, a cornerstone of the internship program. In these weekly meetings, attended by Karsun team members throughout the innovation center, interns demoed and presented their accomplishments. This is also an opportunity to receive feedback from other units in the KIC outside of their practice mentors. At the final Show Don’t Tell event, both groups of interns demoed their projects and presented results from their government technology research projects to Karsun leaders.
“I always felt like my opinion was respected at meetings, even in a room full of people that were far more experienced than me. I also had a great time working with the team, everyone was so willing to help each other and it felt like a comfortable, collaborative environment.” – Akhilesh Varanasi
“I enjoyed the biweekly ‘Show, Don’t Tell’ meetings where I learned about other ongoing projects at KIC. I was introduced to new ideas and tools.” – Sanjana M Moodbagil
Our advanced Summer Interns earned professional certifications, imagined new uses for synthetic data and created tools by Karsun Teams. Meanwhile, our Student Interns experimented with the application of AI/ML, development and other technical concepts as they celebrated innovation while bringing visibility to these future leaders and experts. Through the Karsun Innovation Center, Karsun Academy and other resources, we empower our teams to find their next opportunity to grow at any stage in their education or career.
Karsun Solutions proudly announces Anu Pajjur will join the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council’s (ACT-IAC) 2023 Voyagers Program. This selective professional development program includes mid-career government and IT industry leaders. With over 40 years of government and industry collaboration, ACT-IAC is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization established to improve government through the effective and innovative application of technology. The Voyagers Program is a comprehensive nine-month leadership and professional development program.
Anu’s participation in the Voyagers Program is part of a long legacy of fostering leaders in the IT industry. Karsun’s support of ACT-IAC’s professional development programs spans over a decade. Past graduates include its co-founders, executives and other up-and-coming leaders. Several of these return to their ACT-IAC programs to serve as chairs, vice-chairs and mentors.
Meet Anu Pajjur
Anu is a Portfolio Lead at Karsun Solutions, currently leading a multi-million dollar Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) initiative. She manages modernization projects from conception through implementation with a focus on building high-performance teams that deliver business solutions in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
She is a seasoned professional with 20 years of experience spanning all areas of end-to-end software development life cycle, including Project Management, Business Analysis, and Software Development. She has industry standard certifications including SAFe Scrum Master (SSM) and Professional Scrum Master (PSM1) and is engaged in groups like ACT-IAC for continuous learning and sharing opportunities.
Software Solutions Delivery at FAA
Anu’s team began work on Karsun’s FAA Software Solution Delivery support services contract in 2017. The contract provides technical support services and assists in implementing and continuing support of enterprise-wide software application and database development. Under this contract, Karsun also performs maintenance and sustainment of existing systems.
About Karsun Solutions
Karsun Solutions modernizes enterprise systems enabling agencies to make the next technological advancement their next opportunity to elevate mission capability. IT solutions from Karsun are tailored to meet agencies’ unique needs and optimize operations. These solutions adapt and stay relevant with current trends while using secure, digital architecture built to last. It is a proven modernization partner whose expertise elevates agency capabilities and ensures every next opportunity is within reach.
HERNDON, VA – As the 2019 government shutdown continues, Karsun Solutions LLC, an IT modernization contractor for the government, encouraged its employees to hit the books. Offering class as an alternative to absences, employees strengthened their skills supporting Karsun Solutions’ software development, cloud solutions, and advanced analytics practices. The option to pursue professional development and continuing education classes was offered through the company’s Karsun Academy program.
Karsun Academy, initially created to ensure team members earned industry certifications in emerging technology, has grown alongside Karsun Solutions. With a growing headcount, the company was already adding partner-led training to its catalog of classes. During the shutdown, academy participants accessed the extensive menu of certification programs and partner-led training sessions. The company also expanded their offerings adding classes in topics including Angular, Java, C#, PowerShell and Azure. New competencies were reinforced with coursework on Microservices, Domain Driven Design, Web Application Security and Testing Automation.
“Karsun Solutions hires employees for the journey, not the program.” said Karsun Solutions Chief Architect Kartik Mecheri adding “We consider ourselves the Enterprise Modernization Experts. Using this opportunity to deepen employee expertise is part of our commitment to establishing an enterprise-wide culture of innovation.”
David Eden, a Karsun Solutions employee participating in training in Oklahoma City added, “Despite the shutdown, we are making the most of our time away from our normal duties by training on technologies that will help us better serve the Federal government and the American public once we return to our work. Examples are web application security, cloud technologies, and automating the build and deploy processes so we can provide secure, stable, and scalable solutions more quickly, securely and reliably than ever before.”
Team members have access to company thought leaders throughout the year. The organization encourages employee knowledge sharing through its weekly brown bag program. The Karsun Innovation Center, an in-house research and development unit established early in the company’s founding, offers numerous opportunities for employee advancement. Team members may cycle in, receive additional training through one of the organization’s centers of excellence or challenge teams, then return to their teams as embedded experts.
Karsun Solutions is also preparing for more growth in the coming year. Even as the shutdown continues, the talent team is actively hiring. They are prepared to hire in the Greater Washington D.C. and Oklahoma City regions. Bolstered by Karsun Academy, the team feels confident in their ability to rapidly onboard the next generation of team members.
For more information on joining the Karsun Solutions team visit the Karsun Careers Page at karsun-llc.com/careers.
About Karsun Solutions
Karsun Solutions is a fast-growing, innovative enterprise modernization firm. Recently awarded Best Company Culture by Comparably.com, its teams deliver modern software development, cloud, and data solutions to customers at government agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Aviation Administration and General Services Administration. Leveraging GoLean, Karsun teams drive digital transformation and help its government customers Do Extraordinary. Learn more at Karsun-LLC.com.