CSUEB Student Receives Livermore Lab Internship/Scholarship

LIVERMORE, CA — A Cal State University, East Bay student has been awarded a one-year $15,000 scholarship, intern and mentorship opportunity at Lawrence Livermore National Lab, it was announced this week.

Computer science student Alan Noun, 23, spent the summer on an internship in the Data Science Summer Institute where he developed neural network models using synthetic imagery for geospatial analysis under the mentorship of two LLNL employees, MichaelWard and George Weinert, the Livermore Lab Foundation announced.

Noun was selected for this first-time internship/scholarship by a team of CSUEB, LLF and LLNL leaders.

“It’s been great and inspiring to work at the Lab," Noun said. "In school, I’ve built a very basic foundation on the fundamentals of computer science from algorithms to data structures, but here I’ve been working on some larger projects which have helped me develop an entirely new set of
skills."

With his internship now over, Noun resumes classes at CSUEB and will soon start weekly
interactions with his LLNL mentors until graduation in May 2020.

“Having the opportunity to work with engineers and scientists on real-world projects will not
only give me a whole new insight into the realm of computer science, but a breadth of
knowledge I'd be unable to achieve alone,” Noun added.

Noun's extracurricular activities include work for the CSUEB Institute for STEM Education
After-School scholarship/internship program. He is also an assistant teacher with Scientific
Adventures for Girls (SAfG), an Oakland-based nonprofit working to increase the number of
women in STEM by offering after school science enrichment to girls.

Through SAfG, Noun co-taught third- through fifth-graders in hands-on STEM areas, including
Carnival Science and Slime Science.

“I’ve had a fascination with science and technology since I was young,” he said. “I love seeing the smiles on the faces of the students as they witness science in action.”

Noun grew up in Modesto. His dream job is to be a software engineer working on cutting-edge technology, notably artificial intelligence.

“My uncle was always building computers, so I had exposure to how fascinating technology
can be from an early age,” he said. “But it wasn't until recently that I decided to take the full
dive into becoming a software engineer. Conceptualizing an idea, coming up with creative
solutions to solve complex algorithms, and my current work at Scientific Adventures for
Girls encapsulates everything I've wanted to do since I was young.”

“We are delighted to have Alan Noun as LLF’s first recipient for this scholarship and intern
opportunity," said Dona Crawford, president of theLivermore Lab Foundation. "Ensuring the next generation of students, at both high school and college levels, have access to the brilliant minds, initiatives and programs at the Lab is one of our main goals. We’re grateful to our wonderful donors — both individual and corporate, as well as Cal State East Bay — for making this possible."