Students interested in spending the summer working on technology innovations that make a difference will be inspired by University of Hawaiʻi graduate Bryan Tanaka, who spent his summer of 2017 as an intern for Booz Allen Hamilton, a business management consulting firm.
During his internship, Tanaka was part of a team that built autonomous cars applying blockchain technology to secure vehicle-to-vehicle communications, as well as device-to-device communications.
After completing his internship, Tanaka was hired at Booz Allen, where he has helped coach the company’s 2018 summer games teams in Honolulu and has been using technology developed by the interns in his day-to-day job.
2019 summer games applicants
The Booz Allen summer games is an innovative internship program that attracts some of the nation’s best and brightest students. This competitive and collaborative program draws thousands of applicants for several hundred slots.
Interns receive mentorship from senior leaders, collaborate and experiment in an innovative ecosystem and solve problems using Booz Allen’s products and unique engagement models. Simulating a real-world startup accelerator environment, the interns are divided into teams, each working on a different challenge.
“I got to work on a ton of different things and was given an opportunity to really find what I am passionate about,” said Tanaka. “In a short amount of time I’ve been able to work on blockchain, big data analytics, data science and cybersecurity. Every project has been something new and exciting and I have been able to grow because of it, immediately after my internship.”
Tanaka graduated from Honolulu Community College in 2016 with an associate degree in computing, electronics and networking technology and finished at UH West Oʻahu in 2017 with a bachelor degree focused on applied science in information security and assurance. “Shout-out to both programs for providing such a great education!” said Tanaka.
Throughout the 10-week Booz Allen summer games students across the country compete to solve tough, client-focused challenges. Previous challenges have included developing a disaster evacuation model, exploring a technological solution for a mobile grocery store and harnessing data science to tackle public health issues.
“Students should apply if they want to work on technology innovations with great mentors,” said Tanaka. “It provides you with an internship that will allow growth in both technical and soft skills. Also, I have met some of the nicest people here at Booz Allen.”
2018 summer games intern challenge teams
Booz Allen hosted two 2018 summer games intern challenge teams in the Honolulu office consisting of nine students from UH Mānoa and one student from Hawaiʻi Pacific University.
One team partnered with the Bishop Museum to develop Hoʻomanao, an augmented reality (AR) application bringing Hawaiian culture to life.
“We created an educational AR app for museum-goers at Hawaiʻi’s Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum,” said Angela Hong, a 2018 summer games intern. “Our app showcases native Hawaiian culture and focuses on the feather cloak—or ʻahuʻula—and how it represents the Hawaiian cultural value of environmental stewardship. In the game, users create their own feather cloaks in AR, learning about its cultural significance.”
The second team focused on TheHive project, an open source application for cyber incident handling. TheHive helps cybersecurity staff during their investigations of cybersecurity incidents, like breaches, by organizing their findings, research, tracking actions and storing indicators of compromise.
It can make for quite a summer vacation. “Work hard at what you are passionate about, help others and share that passion with others,” said Tanaka.
To apply for the 2019 summer games at the Honolulu office, go to the Booz Allen website to fill out an application.
