Nik Marda, '21, MA '21
Technologists in the public sector
I came into Stanford intending to get a computer science degree and find a comfortable job in Silicon Valley. The summer after my sophomore year, I helped build technology for the National Institutes of Health, where I contributed to a platform that was essential for biomedical research around the world. Seeing the scope and impact of this work, I realized how important it was to have technologists in the public sector.
Since then, it’s been very rewarding to find ways I can already apply my technical education toward meaningful problems in government. This has included a Cardinal Quarter during summer 2020, where I worked on AI ethics at the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence.
Going forward, I am excited not only to work on more technical problems in government myself, but also to encourage other Stanford engineering students to apply their technical skills toward public service.