Accenture Innovation Challenge: The Waterkeeper Alliance
hours: 40
supervisor: Amber Henson, Maye Mai
February 2020
In 2020 Accenture partnered with The Waterkeeper Alliance—the largest and fastest growing nonprofit solely focused on clean water. The Accenture Innovation Challenge posed to undergraduate teams at 63 universities was to propose an innovative, adaptable, and engaging model for grassroots leaders to keep plastic out of waterways. As part of the Duke 2020 team, we designed a method of gamifying plastic cleanup through a platform that would mobilize and connect local businesses, corporations, and communities. As part of our pitch, we mocked up the platform and addressed the feasibility of the application. This experience exposed me to the economic considerations that play into nonprofit decision-making, as well as the challenges that come with designing for change in a large grassroots organization. I found this experience to be acutely relevant to my grand challenge focus because of the large role water infrastructure and water availability has and will continue to have as the population grows and densifies. Not only did I learn about an important problem plaguing our waterways, but this was also a valuable exposure to some of the frameworks in place attempting to solve those issues.
ARUP BIM Intern
hours: ~400
supervisor: Ed Paul
June 2022 to August 2022
ARUP is an international engineering firm and architectural practice. As a Business Information Modeling (BIM) intern, I will be working with engineers and architects on current projects to create models and drawing sets. My job will include developing and communicating engineering concepts and ensuring projects align with QA/QC protocols, as well as the needs of clients. This internship will allow me to work directly with the urban environment, and with people from a variety of disciplines (engineers, architects, designers, etc.). From this experience, I will be actively taking part in the physical processes of changing the urban infrastructure.