At Viam, we believe that if you can code, you can build a robot. That's the idea our whole platform is built around. Treating hardware as a single machine in the cloud, so engineers can write control logic once and scale it from a single prototype to a global fleet. This summer, we brought that same philosophy to our internship program, welcoming a talented cohort onto our Engineering team who didn't just watch us build robots like software, they helped us do it.
From building force-feedback sensor systems for robotic arms to shipping more reliable data pipelines, these bright minds tackled real problems on the same platform that powers robots for teams around the world. As the summer wraps up, we sat down with some of our interns to hear about their experiences, favorite projects, and what they learned during their time at Viam.
Angela Predolac
Data team intern
Rising Senior at Duke
What was your favorite project or feature that you worked on this summer?
I interned on the Data team at Viam, which is responsible for the entire journey of a robot's data: capturing it on the machine, syncing it to the cloud, storing it across hot and cold tiers, and making it queryable through pipelines.
My favorite project I worked on this summer was a set of changes to pipeline configuration to make reruns more reliable. I enjoyed working on this because it introduced me to a new feature of the Viam platform I didn't know about before, and I could really understand how my changes would impact potential users like Canyon Runner and Artemis. I was also able to understand and participate in larger discussions my team was having surrounding pipelines, such as adding per-component pipelines or detecting unhealthy pipelines.
How has your mentorship been during your internship?
My mentorship has been amazing. My mentor on the Data team, Gloria, has always made herself available to help me debug my code when I was stuck, answer clarifying questions when I was starting a new project, or show me how to use different tools like MongoDB Compass. We have also bonded through team events like dinners and outings. My women's group mentor, Dhriti, has also checked in with me multiple times throughout the internship to offer honest and helpful advice to help me get the most out of my internship and my summer.
Favorite social activity this summer?
My favorite activity was the omakase dinner with all the interns. It was delicious, and also a really small, intimate place, so we got to chat and get to know each other better.
How does this internship compare to others you have had?
I liked this internship a lot more than the one I had last year because I was able to have more ownership over the projects I worked on, and started coding immediately upon starting. I definitely felt more of an impact and got to work more closely with my team and mentors.
What do you think the future of robotics is now that you've worked at Viam?
Now that I've worked at Viam, I think the future of robotics is very bright and definitely goes beyond just humanoid robots. I think we can apply automation to almost every field, ranging from the food industry to boats and more. I think Viam had the advantage of being very early to this field, but I think it will be the next big thing after AI.
Marcus Lam
Visualization team intern
Rising Senior at Columbia
What was your favorite project or feature that you worked on this summer?
I interned on Visualization. We build a tool to build and simulate a robotic work cell/configuration — we dictate where geometries should be placed and how they interact with each other for things like motion planning.
My favorite feature I worked on was the motion plan replayer!
How has your mentorship been during your internship?
Super. Matthew has been a huge help with pair programming and learning how the viz team develops — fast-paced and iteration-driven. The rest of the team has also been great for giving me bigger-picture advice and philosophy on development.
Favorite social activity this summer?
Omakase and pool!
How does this internship compare to others you have had?
Much more hands-on, with a surprising amount of autonomy. Lots of perks even for interns!
What do you think the future of robotics is now that you've worked at Viam?
Honestly, Viam didn't change much of this since I come from a more robotics rather than software engineering background, but I think robots are going to be 1) more modernized and accessible, and 2) rolled out into lots more applications, both in the humanoid and purpose-built spaces.
