18MatthewS – CA Work Experience Program

Day 8- The Finale

I opened the day with a trip to C Building, which houses the executive offices, sales division, and the bets dinning SAS has to offer. I was introduced to my host, Patty Hager, who works in Pre-Sales. Ms. Hager is in charge of Mid-Market account management with the team, where they provide a lot of support and give the background knowledge to the Sales team so they are better able to sell SAS products. She included me on a phone meeting she had with Rachael Johnson, a member of her team travelling back from training in Toronto. They also discussed the various accounts they had and those they are trying to attract, all of which are confidential.

After, sat down and looked at the resumes of two people applying to be a solution architect. A solutions architect’s job is to basically sit down with clients and figure out problems, having the technical expertise to do so. The two people that applied were both former employees at SAS, so we needed to ascertain if they have a solid standing among with the company. We interviewed one of the applicants, inquiring both about their resume and how they would fit into the new position. I sadly had to leave early to meet up with the rest of the CA contingent, but my time at Pre-Sales was great while it lasted.

Matthew Cinoman needed picking up from H Building, but that only took 5 mins and we were back off to Q. The rest of the team was already there, where we had pizza and talked with Kayla about our time here. We filled out a brief survey, and answered some questions she had for us personally. A Young Professionals Panel then visited us, where they told us their stories, favorite things about SAS, and gave us advice going forward. We had the chance to ask them some questions as well. Ms Follet even stopped by to check on us. We then said our goodbyes, and all went our separate ways. All in all, it was fun.

~YPA Meeting

Day 7- Diversity and Inclusion

Megan and I once again traveled to Q Building to met with Katie Henry, an HR rep for the Research and Development Division of SAS. Her job was to promote synergy between managers/workers in different departments. Getting people to work towards the same goal was her primary focus, but also walked us through the process of letting people go. After that uplifting conversation, we reunited with Kristine Stewart who we had lunch with the day before. Kristine headed the Intern Program at SAS, and together we evaluated a variety of resumes. This helped us get a grasp on what exactly SAS looks for in it’s employees and what we should be prioritizing as students and applicants.

It was then we headed to lunch, where we had the pleasure to talk with some NC State Professors of HR and a larger group of their former students. We discussed everything from some new developments they were bringing to their classes, and the state of HR both at NC State and SAS. Lastly, we met with the SAS equivalent of Jason Franklin: Danielle Pavliv. As head of Diversity and Inclusion, she was in charge of promoting the best possible environment for all employees. Currently, she is working on a project to help interns that identify as on the autism spectrum. This led into a meeting with Kristine and Kayla, where we discussed how to improve the mentoring program for summer interns.

~Kevin Lou Chen

Day 6- Toby From the Office

Following a slight schedule change, I was assigned to Human Resources for the next two days. HR works on how to motivate, attract, and keep the workers at SAS. I went back to Q Building with Megan to meet up with Kayla Woitkowski, head of the University Recruitment department and fellow Clevelander (Cavs in 6). Her job is to pitch SAS to college students across the US. They do they by having a list of schools and dividing them into 3 tiers: Tier 1 being where SAS sends people to recruit actively, Tier 2 where they help network with established connections to attract students, and Tier 3 which consists of sending information, such as flyers.

After briefly chatting with Kayla, we went to a presentation she gave to the college-age summer interns over how SAS is structured, including important terminology and the chain of command. Then it was on to lunch, where we ate with some other members of the college recruitment team. We met up with Kayla, who had to leave to get gas and chick-fil-e, where we discussed possible options for outreach for SAS. A large problem that SAS encounters is that it is targeting to companies rather than consumers. This makes it difficult for to establish national brand recognition with most Americans that don’t know about data analytics. We ended the day by listening in on a meeting that focused on advertising through Instagram.

~Neat and organized whiteboard of the HR Division

Day 5- SAS Studio (and More)

On our first day back we met up with Elliot Inman, a specialist in Data Science at SAS. Basically, his job is to analyze and present a lot of the data that clients give SAS. He led an intro into programming with SAS code, where we wrote some scripts designed to retrieve certain information from a given data set.

After lunch, we looked at some of the data in the GatherIQ app, specifically the food exports of developing markets (a stand-in term for nations due to conflicts over what countries are actually considered countries). After a brief tutorial into how SAS presents data in charts and other visual aids, we were given the task of assembling something of our own. I chose to compare the exports of Colombia with my least favorite country listed: Algeria.

~Me presenting my research (notice Cino far left)

Day 4- GatherIQ

Today was drastically different from the previous days on the SAS campus. It began very much like Tuesday, with all of the CA students who had been working in different departments meeting up in the lobby at R Building. After a slight disagreement with the receptionist over my visitors badge, we were taking up a few floors to a conference room, where we met Dee, Paul, and Mary; the leads on the GatherIQ app SAS is developing. What is GatherIQ? GatherIQ is a website with a corresponding app that allows users to gain access to various projects. These projects consist of a mission statement, or a why the project exists. This often provides context for the research contained in the project. Users can then view compilations of data in the form of podcasts, papers, data tables, charts, and other visual aids. The user can also share their findings on Twitter thanks to a built in system to see what people on social media are saying about that given subject.

After walking us through the steps required to bring product such as this to market, including testing, usability, and QA, we took part in a feedback session for the app. Divided into groups, we were given time to navigate the app and just get on thoughts on it, without any context given by the developers. My partner, Matthew Cinoman, and I took very different views on the app. While we both agreed the interface was a tad clunky and there was information overload, Matthew couldn’t see the practical application of the app for everyday use. I, on the other hand, being involved in debate and the like, appreciated the app’s ability to conduct people with reliable data on any given issue.

One group lunch later and we were back in a conference room, however this time we were divided into two teams and given lists of questions that would help them better understand how to improve the app. For my group (Will, Jessica, and Matt), this included “what makes you want to take a survey”, “should users be able to create action items”, etc. We later had to present how we answered each question. Classy as ever, we made a power point to communicate our ideas. A main emphasis of our presentation was to give more power to the user. This not only entailed the ability to create action items, but also to more effectively sort through and choose what topics they wished to follow, allowing for a more personalized collection of projects. Additionally, we thought it would be really unique to incorporate a rewards system for how activate a user is in sharing and contributing to data, with more activity correlating with Team 1 (Kevin, Isaac, and a girl from New Jersey named Nancy) then presented their ideas on how to make the app more popular with younger audiences, such as modeling the interface off of Instagrams and being able to unlock different types/colors of graphs for the kids out there collecting data about Syrian migrants.

All in all, it a great day filled with great ideas and meaningful contributions!

~GatherIQ App homepage

~Example of project interface

~Kevin hard at work brainstorming ways to make GatherIQ more like Instagram

Day 3- Farewell IT

Today I got to spend some time with Barb Whittinghill and her intern, Andrew, who worked in Compliance. They walked me through the intricacies of compliance. Basically, their job is to ensure that every client that SAS has abides by federal regulations, that way, their servers would be more secure from outside threats. Andrew, who previously worked for the military, discussed with me the process through SAS workers petitioning compliance for outside help (vendors). Compliance then checks the certifications of said help to make sure they are up to date, and gives approval based on their findings. Next, I had a meeting with Steven Toy, head of the infrastructure side of IT and the father of CA’s own Chris Toy. Mr. Toy walked me through SAS’s goals of transferring data into virtual servers, a project that would lend itself both to efficiency and security.

At lunch, I was able to have beef tips with Mr. Andy Rash, who was responsible for the more applications side of IT. This means that instead of maintaining servers and making sure the foundations of SAS remain up to date, Mr. Rash oversees a lot more of what workers operate on a day to day basis; the checkout system for lunch for example. I was then placed with Peter McNeill, one of the many Cary Academy graduates working at SAS. Peter showed me a lot of the script he was writing for some new software SAS was putting out, as well as how he was participating in intern training by having them review some of his old code for practice.

Lastly, I went to E building with Taylor Andrews, a software engineer currently working with Ms Dawn Smith (who I met with on Day 2) to create a new application for client agreements. He took me through a lot of the coding that went behind building the application, such as SAS software and the conversion of Java into JavaScript. Ultimately, it was a great way to end my time in IT!

~Rundown of the Supply Depot

Day 2- Server Farms and Rocks

My day began with Ms Dawn Smith, who showed me the platform she was creating for the website that contained all of the agreements with SAS and their clients. Using SAS and Java code, she worked to both improve the interface as well as make the information on the site more available and succinct. After learning about what she and her team were up to, I spent time with Jonathan Hairr. Mr. Hairr serves as technical support for executives only, ranging from senior vice presidents all the way up to Dr. Goodnight. I assisted him in delivering materials throughout the SAS campus to different employees, as well as getting a look at some of the unique rooms each building has. After a tour of the supply depot, Mr. Hairr took me to the executive building (C Building), where I was able to visit not only Dr. Goodnight’s office and conference room, but his rock collection as well. Holding pieces from all around the world, it gave the executive offices a personality of their own.

Come lunch time, I shared my table with Trish Hailey, in charge of security and various other jobs in the IT department. We discussed everything ranging from what brought her to SAS, as well as what the company is doing to stay innovative and secure. After lunch I went back to the supply depot to spend some time with Jonathan Smith and his team, where I saw where the broken equipment was refurbished and shipped back out into rotation. Additionally, I inspected the configuration of conference rooms, tested of of the technology they are attempting to deploy throughout the campus, and met the man who programmed/controlled BB-8 for the Last Jedi red carpet premiere. I ended the day with Will Phillips, who took me to the facilities that allow SAS to function on a day to day basis. I visited the servers, affectionately referred to as Server Farms 1 and 2. There, I was able to witness their heating and cooling system designed to get the best possible performance from their hardware. Mr. Phillips took me to the “chillers”, machines that miraculously get air to flow from cold to hot instead of the usual hot to cold. Lastly, I examined the charts of SAS’s energy efficiency, such as the RTI of their air flow and brainstormed ways to make the system more effective to make it more cost efficient and environmentally friendly.

Dr. Goodnight’s extensive Geode collection

R Building’s cafeteria

The executive conference room at C Building

The supply depot

Day 1- Intro to SAS and Help Desks

I had the privileged of heading to SAS for my Work Experience Program. Along with Kevin C, Isaac F, Matthew C, Will P, Jessica J, and Megan T, I was given an intro to SAS with Ms Christie Dougherty, one of their University Recruiters. This included a tour of Q building, where we met up and head the intro, as well as a presentation over the history of SAS and some of the projects it is currently working on. This was led by Steve, another University Recruiter, which helped us understand what SAS takes pride in and the people they want to attract.

After the intro, we had the pleasure of eating lunch as a group in the dining hall of C building. I would later learn this was one of the higher end places to eat on campus, one where they served pizza everyday. There was also a salad bar, grill station with burgers and hot dogs, and other daily offerings like a pork chop. We had the opportunity to eat with both Ms Dougherty and her manager, talking about a range of topics from CA, to college, to the NBA Finals.

The last half of the day I spent with the IT department. Leaving the rest of the CA people, I headed over to H Building, where local Intern Chris Eaves gave me a tour of the help desks. This portion of the department dealt with internal issues at SAS that arouse when workers had technical difficulties. I later helped Mark Davis conduct interviews with members of his team, helping to access ways to improve the way SAS deals with problems such as viruses, technical malfunctions, and identifying the severity of every complaint.

Lobby of H Building