I’ve worked with IIT for six months and have primarily been contributing to the Robinson Country Intelligence Index (RCII) project by making improvements to the visual dataset and adding new functionality. Some of the areas I’ve worked on include:

• Building a site-wide widget that picks up keywords from the page and generates search queries across a number of news publications
• Generating a downloadable GIF from an animation that cycles through changes in data over the years, on a world map
• Making visual improvements to tables and charts
• General bug fixes and improvements to existing functionality

In the process, I have had a chance to experiment and work with a number of client-side JavaScript libraries such as nvd3, jsgif, and html2canvas.

Having built projects in modern frameworks such as React, I am also getting an opportunity to work with updates to legacy technologies like vanilla JS and jQuery, which is giving me a chance to look at frontend development from an entirely different perspective — and has in turn strengthened my knowledge of web fundamentals. Being involved in daily stand-up meetings as well as working alongside other software professionals has given me a taste of what work life in the industry is like, while still being in college.

Working on live projects, learning to use git, handling production pushes, as well as learning to work alongside other people in a professional environment, are essential skills that are required in the work force. The experience provided by IIT’s experiential learning projects can impart familiarity and help students get a head start in the industry. For students with no prior work experience, being involved in the software development lifecycle, getting exposure to different languages, tools and frameworks at an early stage, can help them have a better understanding of the big-picture while working on large-scale products. Exposure to using modern technologies such as AWS, JavaScript, Angular and Node may also help ease a professional transition. When I started my first job out of college, I had a hard time getting familiar with different aspects of the product as well as the tech stack. Having prior experience like what the experiential learning program provides, would have definitely made my transition easier!