Heinz College Students Take AI from Classroom to Practice
By Jennifer Monahan
This summer, graduate students from Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy put their AI skills to the test, tackling challenges that matter in health care, policy, and beyond. Their projects have real stakes, real budgets, and real consequences.
The scope of work reflects a broader shift in how organizations approach AI talent. Companies and government agencies are increasingly seeking graduates who can bridge the gap between technical AI capabilities and practical implementation. Find out how Heinz College students made an impact using AI in roles that span the health care, policy, and technology sectors – in their own words.
Making Clinical Impact with Data Science
Ardak Baizhaxynova served as clinical data intern in the data science division of Eli Lilly.
Describe your internship and what a typical day looked like for you.
I built analytics to help with site and investigator selection using machine learning, SQL, and Python. I had a lot of independence and full access to the tools and data I needed, plus support from three mentors in machine learning, data engineering, and business. Most days I was coding and moving my project forward, with regular check-ins and chances to connect with people across the company.
Heinz really prepared me to deliver work that lasts.Ardak Baizhaxynova
How did your work make a difference for your organization this summer?
My project didn’t just end with the internship—it was transferred to colleagues at Eli Lilly to be used and built upon. Not all projects made it to that stage. Heinz really prepared me to deliver work that lasts.
What have you learned from this experience that you'll carry forward in your career?
I learned the importance of organizing work so it can be handed off smoothly, staying realistic about data and timelines, and always pushing to finish a full pipeline before polishing the details. I also realized that strong data science requires solid data engineering skills.
How has your Heinz College education prepared you for success in this internship?
Everything I learned in my first year at Heinz, I applied directly in my internship. It was a good fit with both my academic and professional background. The professors at Heinz are incredible. Courses in database management, Python, and machine learning gave me exactly the skills I needed to succeed in my project.
Ardak Baizhaxynova is part of the Master’s of Science in Health Care Analytics and Information Technology program at Heinz College. She holds a master’s degree in public health and an undergraduate degree in biology. Check out a day in Ardak’s life on the Heinz College LinkedIn channel.
Prototyping the Future: AI Solutions in Logistics
Joyce Cerasulo worked at the Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) as a digital and AI intern.
Describe your internship and what a typical day looked like for you.
I worked on designing and developing a functional prototype to enable predictive logistics, producing a precise, readable fuel estimate for an Army unit following a query to a federally approved large language model (LLM). My day-to-day involved sprint planning and daily stand-ups with a small team where I used Figma to mock up the UI, Jira to track tasks, and Python to build backend functionality. I also applied my expertise as a logistician towards the prototype’s design and to identify data sources for the prototype’s retrieval augmented generation (RAG) pipeline.
How did your work make a difference for your organization this summer?
My work directly supported SAIC's efforts to innovate and expand its digital solutions portfolio by developing an AI-enabled digital prototype that addressed a national security challenge in predictive logistics.
What have you learned from this experience that you'll carry forward in your career?
I learned to merge my military expertise with my technical skillset in collaboration with an agile team, giving me a new perspective as a designer, developer, and officer. These are skills that I will carry into future projects.
How has your Heinz College education prepared you for success in this internship?
My Heinz coursework in agile methods and programming equipped me with the skills to contribute rapidly and effectively to my work with SAIC through hands-on experience using tools like Figma, Jira, and Python.
Joyce Cerasulo is part of the Master’s of Science in Information Systems and Management’s Business Intelligence and Data Analytics program at Heinz College. She has an undergraduate degree in systems engineering and is an officer in the United States Army.
Building AI Agents to Transform Clinical Trials
Moid Hassan was a data science intern in the Advanced Analytics division of Merck’s Global Clinical Trial Operations team. 
Describe your internship and what a typical day looked like for you.
My team developed analytics solutions that support the global clinical trial operations group. As an intern, I worked on building an AI agent powered by large language models. Its purpose was to review specification documents for clinical trial database systems. I created an agent that could read and evaluate these documents, helping developers identify issues earlier and build technology faster and with fewer errors.
My typical day involved gathering and cleaning data to train the model, meeting with experts from the database management and clinical trial teams, and writing the code and prompts to program and refine the AI agent. I found the process of building this system both challenging and very rewarding.
How did your work make a difference for your organization this summer?
The tool I developed was highly anticipated because it reduces the manual effort needed to generate and evaluate specification files, leading to greater precision when developing clinical trial platforms. Speed and rigor are essential because they lead to lower costs, better systems, and ultimately, high quality medicines delivered to patients more quickly.
Merck has a strong culture of using intern projects to drive lasting impact. My project is now positioned for broader adoption across Merck Research Labs and has the potential to improve data management practices in clinical trials on a larger scale.
Working on a project at the cutting edge of AI taught me how to navigate ambiguity and overcome roadblocks.Moid Hassan
What have you learned from this experience that you'll carry forward in your career?
Working on a project at the cutting edge of AI taught me how to navigate ambiguity and overcome roadblocks. Developing an agentic AI solution was new not only to me but also to the organization, so I frequently had to craft custom solutions and adapt data that was originally designed for other purposes.
This experience helped me strengthen my ability to break down complex problems into manageable tasks. Whenever progress stalled, I learned to step back, reframe the problem, and refocus on the bigger picture rather than getting lost in the details.
The highlight for me was the poster session. I realized that even the most sophisticated project has limited impact if you cannot clearly communicate its value or tell its story effectively.
How has your Heinz College education prepared you for success in this internship?
My coursework at Heinz directly prepared me for this internship. In the Machine Learning Foundations course with Professors Sooriamurthy and Ghani, I learned computational thinking and how to structure problems for data-driven solutions. Applying those principles in a real-world setting deepened my understanding of them.
The Strategic Presentation Skills course with Professor Stacy Rosenberg also proved invaluable. I used the techniques from that class to refine my poster session presentation, ensuring that I could clearly communicate the technical aspects of my project while highlighting its strategic impact.
Moid Hassan is part of the Master’s of Science in Health Care Analytics and Information Technology program at Heinz College. He has an undergraduate degree in biotechnology.
Exploring the Intersection of AI, Policy, and Public Service
Amy Kang was a graduate intern for the Office of the Chief AI Officer at the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C., and will be continuing part-time into the fall.
Describe your internship and what a typical day looked like for you.
My role covers a variety of topics, like AI policy and governance, data analytics, technical enablement, and program management. I liked how I could do all the technical, policy, and business-oriented work and explore them in the government space – especially coming from the private sector.
What have you learned from this experience that you'll carry forward in your career?
My managers and colleagues provided me with impactful work that I could take full ownership of, from ideation to implementation. This experience made me realize my leadership and speaking skills more and translate data into valuable insights – which are all skills I want to take into my future career.
My AI management courses gave me the language and structure needed to navigate the growing AI space.Amy Kang
How has your Heinz College education prepared you for success in this internship?
My data analytics courses, Database Management, and Statistics were most helpful in preparing me for my technical tasks. My AI management courses gave me the language and structure needed to navigate the growing AI space. Lastly, Policy Innovation Lab introduced me to the agile methodology that I used weekly on the job.
Amy Kang is part of the Master’s of Science in Public Policy and Management program at Heinz College. She has an undergraduate degree in diplomacy and world affairs.