Odessa Thompson

Cornell Unmanned Air Systems

Design and Operations Team Member, 2020 - 2022

I’m part of a wonderful team of talented software and hardware engineers and together we collaborate to design and build an autonomous aircraft for the international AUVSI SUAS Competition. I focus on updating and redesigning the website, cuair.org, as well as filming, editing, and directing the annual Flight Readiness Review which you can watch here.

Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art

Education and Community Programs Intern, 2020 - 2022

Now on my second year at the Johnson, I've created almost a dozen educational art videos to be used in elementary STEM curriculum. These link New York educational core learning targets with fun and creative art concepts to help bridge the gap between the Johnson and local schools.
More recently I wrote and illustrated a children's book about shapes for a collaboration between the Johnson Museum, the Ithaca School District, and Kids Discover the Trail!

Microsoft

Explore Intern, 2021

In the summer after my freshman year, I was an Explore Intern at Microsoft! The Explore program is a freshman & sophomore focused internship where interns (as the name suggests) explore both Software Engineering and Project Management roles for 12 weeks. I worked in the Web Experiences - Shopping team, where my fellow interns and I developed an Android app for in-store price comparision. While this internship was remote due to the pandemic, I really enjoyed working with my team and meeting other Computer Science students from around the country. I'm returning as a SWE intern in 2023 and I'm very excited to see and learn more!