{"692727":{"#nid":"692727","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Internship Explores Government\u2019s Investment for the Future","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMany scientific breakthroughs begin with long-term research investments. Government agencies often play a central role in this process, supporting work that addresses national priorities while laying the foundation for future innovations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis summer, M.S. student \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/joey-cuthbert\/\u0022\u003EJoey Cuthbert\u003C\/a\u003E contributed to this mission through an internship at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Upon returning to campus, Cuthbert reflected on his internship and what he learned working alongside researchers in government and the defense community. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EStudent:\u003C\/strong\u003E Joey Cuthbert\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EResearch Interests:\u003C\/strong\u003E Machine learning (ML), model-based systems engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDegree Program:\u003C\/strong\u003E M.S. in Computational Science and Engineering, home unit in \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.isye.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EH. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E2026 Internship\u003C\/strong\u003E: Sensors Directorate Internship Program with Air Force Research Laboratory (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.afrl.af.mil\/\u0022\u003EAFRL\u003C\/a\u003E) and the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nasic.af.mil\/\u0022\u003ENASIC\u003C\/a\u003E), Beavercreek, Ohio\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat about AFRL interested you in applying for and accepting an internship there?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EThe Sensors Directorate Internship Program (SDIP) provided a unique opportunity to work alongside mentors from AFRL and NASIC on a defense-related research project over a 14-week internship. This aligned with my desire to work on applied ML research in the defense sector and allowed me to better understand the ins and outs of government and government-contracting work. The program provided competitive pay and housing throughout the program, which was a huge plus for me.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EHow well did your coursework and experience at Georgia Tech prepare you for your AFRL internship?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EMy experience and coursework at Georgia Tech helped me a great deal this summer. I believe my understanding of ML has greatly improved over the past two semesters, which helped me complete my internship project. All of my experiments ran on high-performance computing (HPC) systems, and I felt I had a head start since I completed an HPC class last spring.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWhat did you work on while interning at AFRL?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EI worked on an image-classification robustness project for convolutional neural networks (CNNs) using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data. I built a robustness benchmark by testing a model against nine types of noise, and used it to show how we can effectively increase robustness by inducing shape-bias in the model during training.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDo you have a favorite memory or remarkable achievement from your internship?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring the summer, we went on a tour of nearby \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.wpafb.af.mil\/\u0022\u003EWright-Patterson Air Force Base\u003C\/a\u003E, where we visited the sensors directorate buildings and checked out some of their labs. I also received the best poster presentation award among approximately 40 interns.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EOverall, how helpful was this internship toward your studies at Georgia Tech and career as an aspiring researcher?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EThis program provided great strides toward my research career goals. My coursework has provided a great foundation in ML, and I was able to apply this knowledge to a project. The internship offered me lots of autonomy, as well as time to explore different paths to find results.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EFrom what you learned on your internship, how important are government agencies in progressing research and scientific discovery?\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EI believe government agencies are massively valuable in advancing research and scientific discovery, especially within the defense sector. All work at AFRL has the goal of giving warfighters the greatest advantage possible. This often entails looking 10 to 20 years into the future of science and technology and trying to get there as fast as possible.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMany scientific breakthroughs begin with long-term research investments. Government agencies often play a central role in this process, supporting work that addresses national priorities while laying the foundation for future innovations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis summer, M.S. student Joey Cuthbert contributed to this mission through an internship at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). Upon returning to campus, Cuthbert reflected on his internship and what he learned working alongside researchers in government and the defense community. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"This summer, M.S. student Joey Cuthbert completed an internship at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), supporting work that addresses national priorities while laying the foundation for future innovations."}],"uid":"36319","created_gmt":"2026-09-21 14:42:15","changed_gmt":"2026-09-21 14:48:56","author":"Bryant Wine","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2026-09-21T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2026-09-21T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"681208":{"id":"681208","type":"image","title":"JC-Head-Image.jpg","body":null,"created":"1790001748","gmt_created":"2026-09-21 14:42:28","changed":"1790001748","gmt_changed":"2026-09-21 14:42:28","alt":"CSE Joey Cuthbert","file":{"fid":"265574","name":"JC-Head-Image.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/09\/21\/JC-Head-Image.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/09\/21\/JC-Head-Image.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":99824,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/09\/21\/JC-Head-Image.jpg?itok=pWBltqhA"}},"681209":{"id":"681209","type":"image","title":"SARdust-Poster.jpg","body":null,"created":"1790001781","gmt_created":"2026-09-21 14:43:01","changed":"1790001781","gmt_changed":"2026-09-21 14:43:01","alt":"CSE Joey Cuthbert Poster","file":{"fid":"265575","name":"SARdust-Poster.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/09\/21\/SARdust-Poster.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2026\/09\/21\/SARdust-Poster.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":401402,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2026\/09\/21\/SARdust-Poster.jpg?itok=QqefVp7Y"}}},"media_ids":["681208","681209"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"1188","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"50877","name":"School of Computational Science and Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"136","name":"Aerospace"},{"id":"194606","name":"Artificial Intelligence"},{"id":"153","name":"Computer Science\/Information Technology and Security"},{"id":"147","name":"Military Technology"},{"id":"194610","name":"National Interests\/National Security"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"},{"id":"193157","name":"Student Honors and Achievements"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"654","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"166983","name":"School of Computational Science and Engineering"},{"id":"594","name":"college of engineering"},{"id":"180027","name":". ISyE"},{"id":"2633","name":"Air Force"},{"id":"191204","name":"Air Force Research Laboratory"},{"id":"1325","name":"aerospace"},{"id":"9167","name":"machine learning"},{"id":"187812","name":"artificial intelligence (AI)"},{"id":"9153","name":"Research Horizons"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"},{"id":"192863","name":"go-ai"},{"id":"10199","name":"Daily Digest"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"193655","name":"Artificial Intelligence at Georgia Tech"},{"id":"39431","name":"Data Engineering and Science"},{"id":"39481","name":"National Security"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBryant Wine, Communications Officer\u003Cbr\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:bryant.wine@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Ebryant.wine@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}