She isn’t studying a health-related discipline, but Charvi Manchanda’s internship is dedicated to developing solutions for health-care providers and patients all the same.
Ms. Manchanda is a computer science undergraduate student at Memorial University.
She says she knew she wanted to study computer science when she started courses at Memorial, but was even more certain about her choice when she discovered the availability of the Co-operative Internship in Computer Science Program that offers students the option to participate in a work-integrated learning experience as part of the program of study.
“I wanted to participate in the co-op program to gain practical experience in a real-world work environment,” Ms. Manchanda said. “I knew that to be successful I needed to be able to bridge the gap between academic learning and professional application.”
Skills development
Ms. Manchanda, who came to St. John’s in fall 2021 from the state of Punjab in India, started a 12-month full-time internship as a software developer with PolyUnity Tech Inc. in May 2024.
PolyUnity is a St. John’s health-care technology firm dedicated to developing solutions and customized equipment for the medical industry through 3D printing and digital manufacturing.
“I feel like my contributions and decisions are valued equally, as much as any other software developer, not just as an intern.”
Faculty of Medicine alumni Michael Bartellas, Travis Pickett and Stephen Ryan founded the company while Memorial students and were winners of the Faculty of Business Administration’s Mel Woodward Cup in 2019.
The i3D Health app, one of PolyUnity’s groundbreaking services, provides a selection of 3D-printable medical apparatus for health-care professionals, particularly beneficial for remote regions facing supply chain challenges.
“My responsibilities include writing and debugging code for the app, performing peer reviews and ensuring the code aligns with the team’s requirements to make the i3D app secure and user-friendly,” she said.
Throughout her internship, Ms. Manchanda is developing team work and problem-solving skills, as well as gaining technical expertise in software development, including TypeScript for building web applications, PostgreSQL for managing databases and end-to-end testing to ensure application reliability.
She says her team encourages her to ask questions until she fully understands a challenge.
‘They have created conditions for growth in which I feel confident and protected. I know my teammates trust me and I feel like my contributions and decisions are valued equally, as much as any other software developer, not just as an intern.”
Great contributions
Clark Oake is the software development team lead at PolyUnity.
He oversees the distribution of tasks within the development team, ensuring that progress flows seamlessly and any obstacles are promptly addressed.
“Charvi has made a ton of great contributions, not just technically but also to our team’s morale and company culture,” said Mr. Oake. “She has collaborated on several medium-to-large projects, often delivering critical features and functionality on these projects independently.”
He highlights her contributions, such as managing user analytics tracking by researching and integrating analytics tools into PolyUnity’s platforms, as well as redesigning various UI/UX elements with her keen eye for design and user experience.
‘Richer experience’
When it comes to hiring students, the PolyUnity team is all on board.
PolyUnity CEO Jacqueline Lee is a supporter of fostering more youth in STEM fields.
“Many students come back for multiple terms.”
The company has proudly offered more than 50 internships to secondary and post-secondary students over the last four years.
She says internships bring “tremendous value and impact” to their growing company.
“Many students come back for multiple terms, which allows us the time to work on more involved and longer projects with the students,” Ms. Lee said. “It helps us develop our future talent pool and we’ve offered permanent roles to five team members that started as students with us.”
She says the longer internships offered by Memorial’s Department of Computer Science are particularly valued.
“Charvi’s program is great because of the flexibility in offering longer work-term arrangements of 8, 12 or 16 months. This allows for a much richer experience for both us and the student.”
Hard-earned confidence
Ms. Manchanda has set the bar high for future students, according to Mr. Oake.
“Charvi is a near-perfect blend of self-deprecating humour and quiet, hard-earned confidence. She is clearly a leader and has some serious technical skills and maybe even stronger people skills. I know that with her ambition and capabilities she will go far.”
