McNEESE STATE UNIVERSITY
Sandrin Pacifique Muramutsa, from Rwanda, is a senior computer science major at McNeese State University. He recently completed an internship with Google in Durham, North Carolina.
“The most important thing I learned during the internship is scalability: building software that can serve millions, or even billions, of users,” expressed Muramutsa.
He plans to use what he learned to build user-centric software that is engineered to serve a massive user base reliably. He will leverage the technical depth and professional network he gained to take on higher-impact engineering roles or launch personal initiatives.
“I chose computer science because it offered a completely different kind of intellectual challenge from the typical science classes I took in high school,” Muramutsa explained. “In addition, the post-pandemic tech world was filled with new exciting prospects such as businesses needing web and mobile software to boost their online presence, the rise of data-driven decisions and the emergence of large language models like ChatGPT.”
Throughout his internship, Muramutsa relied on foundational computer science principles, including object-oriented programming (OOP) and data structures and algorithms (DSA). He also drew from his experiences with academic group projects, especially Agile software development, to collaborate effectively with his team, contribute to design discussion, present work, build software continuously and communicate professionally.
Muramutsa saw that working on an established product that serves millions of users requires a new level of care that demands a high focus to navigate. He also learned that, although there is no such thing as perfection, it is vital to not cut corners.
“This can be notable when, in a video app, you must balance having a crystal-clear video against making sure the video loads quickly and doesn’t lag,” he said.
He added that the technical bar is much higher. “For instance, on the mobile app I worked on, it had to look good, be easy to use, stay safe from hackers and protect user privacy,” said Muramutsa. “It also had to adapt to different situations, like automatically translating into other languages, and running smoothly without draining the battery or using too much internet bandwidth.”
Muramutsa plans to work full time as a software engineer, with the long-term goal of starting his own tech company down the line.
“I chose McNeese because of the supportive nature of its academic programs, particularly the small classes, empathetic professors and the Honors College,” expressed Muramutsa. “Additionally, I was attracted by the vibrant campus life, with many open events and organizations.”
Muramutsa encourages students looking for internships to research the industries they want to break into and connect with people in them to learn the required skills, because “coursework alone isn’t always enough.”
“I would advise students to put real effort into interview preparation because technical interviewing is a skill set of its own,” he concluded.
