Beyond the Campus: How Caldwell University Students Spent Summer 2026 Leveling Up

Caldwell, NJ - Stroll through Caldwell’s quiet summer campus, and you might think our students have completely unplugged. Think again. Behind the scenes, Cougars have been making major moves—gaining real-world experience, building professional networks, and crushing internships across the tri-state area and beyond.

Lia Michelle Jimenez, a Biology major with minors in Psychology and Neuroscience, had an internship at Columbia University doing cancer research. Lia assisted in ex vivo (outside the body) tissue preparation and testing that tissue to determine if a candidate treatment could inhibit the cancer cells from maturing and force them to grow into normal, healthy cells. She presented her findings on the project at the Leadership Alliance National Symposium (LANS) and the GSAS SRP Symposium.

Dinushka Regmi, a Biology major with minors in Neuroscience and Chemistry, conducted research at The John Hopkins School of Medicine. She worked in a systems neuroscience laboratory focused on prefrontal cortex circuitry studying how the Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC) mediates visually guided decision-making in mice. Dinushka presented her findings at the Johns Hopkins C.A.R.E.S. Symposium and received the prestigious Hopkins C.A.R.E.S. Scholarship, an award recognizing academic achievement, passion, and perseverance throughout the summer.

Nika Kudirka, a Chemistry major with a minor in Biology, took part in a summer program at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy designed to prepare students for the work of a pharmacy student. In this program, she attended pharmacy oriented classes and speaker events, and visited local county health departments to learn about the role of pharmacists in both inpatient and outpatient care. “The most impactful shadowing opportunity was in the NICU and CICU because I get to see how pharmacists directly impact patient care alongside the nurses and attending physicians,” Nika said.

Kishor Baniya, a Mathematics major with a minor in Physics, spent the summer as a Summer Research Student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Summer Research Program, an extremely selective program with a 2% acceptance rate. He spent nine weeks at MIT working with leading astrophysicist Dr. Richard Teague and his lab, the Planet Formation Lab. Kishor led a first-author project for spectral decomposition in James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) observations of planetary disks, and presented research updates each week at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics. He presented his work at the National Science Foundation Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Fundamental Interactions (IAIFI) workshop, the only undergraduate to be selected for this opportunity. This experience helped Kishor realize his goal of pursuing a Ph.D. in Astrophysics.

Mateo Conza, a double major in Political Science and Environmental Science, participated in the Summer Undergraduate Research Institute (SURI) at Rutgers University–Newark, where he worked alongside PhD students in Dr. Kristina Keating’s near-surface geophysics lab. Mateo’s research focused on studying soils from Brazil and how its characteristics such as sand, silt, and clay content affect its water retention and what these relationships mean for understanding soils under changing climate conditions. Mateo says the highlight of the experience was “traveling with the research team on a two-week field research trip to Maine, where I was able to experience firsthand how geophysical data is collected in the field and how that work connects back to research conducted in the lab.” He was also invited to remain involved with the team doing similar research and will have the opportunity to present that work at a conference in San Francisco at the end of the year.

Emeka Ceaser, an English major with a Pre-law minor, completed an internship with the Nwogbe Law Group, a Personal Injury firm in Las Vegas, Nevada. During this experience, he got to see multiple aspects of what it is like to work in a law firm; reviewing Demand Letters before they go to insurance companies, attending mediation to see how compromises are made to avoid litigation, and sitting in on marketing meetings. “I even got to help plan some of our commercials that will air during the Super Bowl!” Emeka recalled. He made connections with the Attorney as well as the Case Managers, and could feel that they all cared about helping him learn and gain experience that will help Emeka in his pursuit of a law degree.

Mumayyaz Mushna Wahid, a double major in Computer Science and English, took part in two internships this summer. She worked as a Creative Tech Intern at POWRPLNT, a non-profit organization in Brooklyn, NY that specializes in blending art and technology to support creatives through various workshops. In this role, Mushna handled multiple marketing tasks. She updated and enhanced the website, created content, organized digital assets and project materials, assisted with social media outreach, and wrote copy and designed visuals for e-newsletters and flyers that were distributed across New York City. She also got to design and implement new brand guidelines, which gave her an opportunity to use what she learned in her UI/UX Design class in a professional environment.

Mushna also completed a research project at Caldwell University’s Jennings Library where she worked with Victoria Swanson, Library Director, and Dr. Sushil Poudel, Assistant Professor in the Department of Business and Computer Science. In this role, funded by the STEM Advance Summer Researcher program, she researched the 168 databases available in the Jennings Library to learn more about the Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools that the databases have incorporated to determine whether or not they should be enabled for use in the library.

Pratistha Ghimire, a double major in Computer Science and English, was part of the undergraduate summer program at Girton College in the University of Cambridge, a place she had always dreamed of. In this program, Pratisha learned how to think differently about literature and go beyond her own interpretation to hear other perspectives and question how she came to her conclusions. She had opportunities to explore the iconic Cambridge libraries, and especially enjoyed getting to stand in the room where Virginia Woolf delivered the lecture that would become A Room of One’s Own. Reflecting on this experience, Pratisha said,

“There was something almost surreal about standing where her words had once filled the room. Woolf had spoken about women, literature, independence, and the spaces women need to create. Decades later, I was sitting in that same room as a woman studying literature and searching for my own voice. For a moment, the distance between her world and mine felt remarkably small.”

Anuj Khadka, a double major in Computer Science and Business Analytics, worked as an AI Strategy Intern at Atlantic Health. He was responsible for building the organization's AI inventory by identifying and classifying the AI applications being used to give leadership a clear picture of where the applications were working in the organization and which tools needed more attention. Anuj recalls feeling supported and confident, “My manager and teammates took the time to teach me, challenge my thinking, and treat me like a real contributor rather than just an intern.”

Alessia Barone, a Nursing major, spent the summer as a Nurse Extern at Valley Hospital. In this role, she shadowed and assisted nurses on the Labor and Delivery Floor with natural births, cesarean sections, triage, and antepartum care. This experience gave Alessia real-world experience in the nursing field.

Lamiah Kasuwi, a Public Health major, interned at Caldwell University’s Center for Autism and Applied Behavior Analysis. In this experience, she gained hands-on experience collecting and analyzing data, preparing materials, supporting functional training sessions with learners, and assisting with various departmental tasks. She also had the opportunity to shadow graduate students as they completed their tasks at the center, allowing Lamiah to see how professionals collaborate to provide individualized support.

Internships are a critical part of higher education and Caldwell University’s goal to set our students up for success in the professional world, giving students opportunities to get hands-on experience in their field and build up their resumes to best prepare them for life after graduation.