Experiential Learning Program

Costello student explores business side of Northrop Grumman through internship

Katelynn C Hipolito — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 19:24:45 +0000

Costello student explores business side of Northrop Grumman through internship Katelynn C Hipolito Tue, 09/01/2026 - 15:24

When 911�� business major Neha Bandaru saw Northrop Grumman's table at the on-campus Career Fair, she figured that any opportunity the company had to offer would be catered to engineering students.

Neha Bandaru, Costello College of Business student. Photo provided by Neha Bandaru.

However, when she spoke with a Costello College of Business alum about what the aerospace and defense company had on the business side, it opened her eyes to the exciting opportunities available to her. After seeking out more conversations and doing her own research, Bandaru eagerly applied for the role of contract admin and analytics intern.

With Northrop Grumman divided into four business sectors—aeronautics, defense, mission, and space—Bandaru's position was located within the defense sector. From day one of her internship, she was thrown into meeting calls. After a few weeks of meeting everyone and learning about the company culture, she began her assigned projects, working intensely on one for a few days before being rotated to another.

"The biggest thing I learned was how important attention to detail is. Even one small mistake can hold up the entire contract. It definitely taught me to be thorough and make sure every point of contact, approval, and detail was in place before moving something forward.”

—Neha Bandaru, Costello College of Business student

Primarily working on contract closeout, she completed more than 60 projects throughout the summer. "The biggest thing I learned was how important attention to detail is," she says. "Even one small mistake can hold up the entire contract. It definitely taught me to be thorough and make sure every point of contact, approval, and detail was in place before moving something forward.”

Costello College of Business student Neha Bandaru studying abroad at the University of Oxford, Christ Church College. Neha took a legal aspect of AI tutorial there that helped her through her Northrop Grumman internship. Photo provided by Neha Bandaru.

Among her favorite experiences from the internship was visiting the hangar to see the planes being built, as well as taking a look at the old technology in laboratories. Getting to know and collaborating with employees and other interns was another highlight.

Two months of interning in this high-intensity environment have helped Bandaru think more deeply about different directions she may want to take her career. She also found that most people she spoke with had not followed a direct career path, figuring out their ambitions along the way.

“That provided some relief for me because I feel like there’s stress in your early 20s, like knowing exactly where you have to be for the next 40 years,” she says. “So, it was definitely very relaxing to be able to talk to people who say it’s OK not to know exactly where you’re going to be.”

She remains highly interested in project management and analytics but has now also begun considering business law.

Bandaru completed her internship with the meaningful experience of seeing both the business and production sides of a major company, along with the confidence that comes from being better able to work under pressure. By putting her skills to the test in real-world settings, she discovered career paths that she had not previously considered. As she begins her senior year at the Costello College of Business, she brings a sharpened skillset, an expanded network, and a clearer vision for her future career.

Explore Internships at 911��

Learn more about Costello College of Business

Topics

Costello College of Business Students

Experiential Learning Program

Internships

Costello College of Business News

Costello College of Business

Students

Deloitte internship helps Costello student shape her future in consulting

Katelynn C Hipolito — Tue, 01 Sep 2026 14:37:15 +0000

Deloitte internship helps Costello student shape her future in consulting Katelynn C Hipolito Tue, 09/01/2026 - 10:37

Interning at Deloitte was on Iman Chaudhry’s radar ever since she entered the Costello College of Business at 911�� as a freshman and learned about the major firms in the area. As the president of the Mason Consulting Group, she’s tuned in to what’s happening at Costello and the opportunities available.

Deloitte’s discovery internship program students. Photo provided by Iman Chaudhry.

Promoted heavily across campus, Deloitte’s discovery internship program immediately caught Chaudhry's eye, especially because she had previously participated in a case competition with the firm.

“I always tell everyone that a cold application isn’t usually enough,” she says. “You have to be intentional about networking; it's really about building genuine relationships.” She put in the legwork before ever submitting her application by networking with recruiters and partners at Deloitte, many of whom were Costello alumni. Because of that, she felt few nerves as she began her internship, already familiar with many of the people working at the firm.

Joining about two dozen other students in the discovery internship program, Chaudhry was assigned to do strategy consulting work for a national security defense client. Mixed in with her rotations across different workflows, meetings, research tasks, and other deep work were plenty of opportunities to connect with senior leadership, as well as social events to bond with fellow interns.

“I always tell everyone that a cold application isn’t usually enough,” she says. “You have to be intentional about networking; it's really about building genuine relationships.”

— Iman Chaudhry, Costello College of Business Student, Mason Consulting Group president

Even though she's only halfway through her undergraduate education, Chaudhry has pushed herself to take both her academics and career development seriously. Working in small groups and presenting to audiences, both in the classroom and in her extracurriculars, prepared her for the intern work she did this past summer. She continues to be excited to see how the skills she developed in the classroom translate to the real world. “The tools may change, but the growth mindset remains the same.”

Iman Chaudhry, Costello College of Business Student, Mason Consulting Group president at Deloitte’s discovery internship program. Photo provided by Iman Chaudhry.

Witnessing how fast technology is evolving in the workplace has encouraged Chaudhry to pursue more courses in ethics and AI and other emerging tools. Interning at Deloitte has also made her contemplate the specific field of consulting that she wants to pursue. "I had a lot of fun this summer, and it's given me a lot to think about where I want to take my career," she reflects.

In the shorter term, Chaudhry is eager to leverage her experiences to implement new ideas in operating and optimizing the consulting work she oversees as president of the Mason Consulting Group.

Iman Chaudhry found her discovery internship experience to be immensely educational, informing her about the areas she wants to study further and the career direction she wants to take. As a junior studying management information systems at Costello, she looks forward to future internships where she can continue to expand her knowledge and explore her career possibilities.

Topics

Internships

Experiential Learning Program

Costello College of Business News

Costello College of Business Students

Students

Costello College of Business

Student research advances phishing detection and cybersecurity innovation

Katelynn C Hipolito — Mon, 15 Jun 2026 13:52:13 +0000

Student research advances phishing detection and cybersecurity innovation Katelynn C Hipolito Mon, 06/15/2026 - 09:52

Taylor Le, BS Information Technology ‘26, was participating in the Professional Readiness Experiential Program (PREP) internship at Mobius when he was put in contact with Brian Ngac, the assistant dean for centers and FedWriters, Inc., Corporate Partner Faculty Fellow at the Costello College of Business at 911��, who was helping to fund the program.

(left to right) Tien Nguyen, Taylor Le, Richard Nguyen, and Brian Ngac at the 2026 Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Symposium. Photo provided by Brian Ngac.

During weekly check-ins throughout the internship, Ngac provided Le with a more in-depth understanding of PREP, an experiential learning program he launched at Costello. Le expressed interest in conducting research on phishing detection to which Ngac encouraged him to develop a proposal so he could help secure funding. The PREP internship was sponsored by the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, which also supported the research conducted by Le and his team.

To conduct formal research on a multi-signal phishing detection and continuous user training platform, Le recruited two Virginia Tech computer science students—Tien Nguyen and Richard Nguyen—whom he met through networking. The industry participant Ngac paired them with was Parsons Corporation, a digitally enabled solutions provider at which he also works. Nathan Dykas, senior computational intelligence officer, and Daniel Boyce, AI (artificial intelligence)/ML (machine learning) engineer, mentored the student team during weekly meetings, providing recommendations and guidance on the direction of their research.

“It was awesome to see all the different professors and other students who are going down the same path as us and to see what they were doing with their research, as well as to get additional feedback that we could use to improve our own research.”

— Taylor Le, BS Information Technology ‘26

In collaboration with Parsons Corporation, the team developed Orion, a platform designed for phishing detection and user training. Orion was developed to address the issue of detecting modern phishing pages by combining machine learning with contextual guidance. It turns detection into an immediate teaching moment by mapping findings for the user, showing which parts of the page triggered concern.

Orion was selected for demonstration at the 2026 Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Symposium in Richmond, Virginia, where the team forged valuable connections and gained insights to further strengthen the platform.

“It was awesome to see all the different professors and other students who are going down the same path as us and to see what they were doing with their research, as well as to get additional feedback that we could use to improve our own research,” says Le. The entire team made the trip for the symposium, where they had a booth playing their demo video and where they conducted a live demo as well.

“Being an information technology major, I always thought that I was kind of looped into only being able to do IT-based jobs,” says Le. “But doing a technical project like this gave me more confidence to strive higher and chase those cyber engineering jobs, which I feel like, without the program, I wouldn’t be in the same spot.”

The team’s successful showcase at the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative Symposium underscores how experiential learning, research, and industry partnerships can come together to prepare students to develop innovative solutions in the fields of AI and cybersecurity. Because of PREP and its invaluable industry connections, Le graduated with greater clarity, confidence, and direction, ready to make his mark in these evolving fields.