Tell us a bit about yourself!

I'm Emma, I'm 21 and from London. I go to Imperial College London and study Maths and Computer Science, and next year is my final year. I'm really interested in programming languages: how one line written the right way, in the right language can do so much work - that you know is correct. Correctness is really important to me.

Why did you choose to intern at Artificial?

The atmosphere and culture seemed really nice, it seemed there was a focus on doing the job right rather than pushing out a product as fast as possible. The position I applied for (Engineering Intern) initially caught my attention because of this as well.

How have you found it so far?

It's been really fun! The project started just as I arrived so I've been a part of the whole process which has been really exciting. For the first three days of my internship the team was at a conference which they called the Big Brainstorming Event, so I got thrown in the deep end right from the get-go. It was intense, but enjoyable - and it really let me know what kind of team I'd be working in for the next four months.

Can you tell us a bit about your main project?

I'm on the Build team. Right now all clients have their own, bespoke project but there are lots of similarities between them. We're trying to see if there's a way to abstract some of this code, so when the next client comes along it'll be easier to develop their project.

We're trying to think of it like lego: each client has their own blueprints, but all those structures are made from the same building blocks. As time goes on, we'll develop more and more lego bricks that make it easier and easier to adopt new clients.

What is your favourite part about working for Artificial so far?

The atmosphere and culture again - it really is nice to know that you can work on something and make it correct, and that the company cares about that. There's a lot of communication as well, teams aren't isolated and it's nice to be grounded every once in a while and to not lose sight of the big picture.

What is something unexpected that you have learned while at the company?

The importance that Artificial places on learning. We have a catchup meeting every fortnight and learn about what the other Engineering teams are doing and we have ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions where a member of the company presents a topic they like. Our team also shares interesting papers with each other. It's really inspiring.

What do you hope to do when your internship finishes?

Finish my final year of uni. There are so many options after uni it's hard to decide, but at some point I want to do a PhD - in what is still up in the air!