(From left to right: Performix’s Managing Partner Sunil Bafna, Software Engineering Intern Xueman Liang and Performix Technical Lead Scot Wilcoxon.)
Performix has stood as a software solutions provider since 1997. Getting its start in business intelligence, consulting and data analytics, this small company was on the front end of app technology, providing app delivery services when the App Store launched in 2008. Today, the IT consultant industry has caught up, but Performix continues to lead, providing new solutions to the ever-emerging issues that arise in daily app development.
“Our clients come to us when a project is too difficult to solve,” said Scot Wilcoxon, a technical lead at Performix. Half an hour of research, experimentation and problem solving typically gets the job done and, he added, it’s not uncommon that these “impossible” problems are often solved by “ridiculously simple solutions,” it’s just a matter of taking the time to find them.
Wilcoxon encourages the same approach when mentoring Perfomix’s interns. Instead of telling them how to fix a problem, Wilcoxon said, “I try and have the interns dig up the details and solve it on their own.”
When asked why Performix –a small, Bloomington-based business- decided to add interns to its team, Managing Partner Sunil Bafna replied, “Why not? When there’s a program like this.”
Performix relies on the SciTech Internship Program to find top STEM talent, hire interns and offer them competitive wages, thanks to the SciTech wage match that reimburses small businesses for 50 percent of their intern’s wages, up to $2,500 per student hired.
By hiring interns, Bafna continued, “our company can improve, get outside feedback and input, and we get to help the interns as well.”
Coding in the Real-World
This last fall, Performix helped their software engineering intern, Xueman Liang, get hands-on experience with her first internship in her field. During this time, Liang was wrapping up her final semester before graduating with a computer science degree from the University of Minnesota.
Her time at Performix was divided between several projects. The first involved working on a mobile app for a client, writing APA code and developing WordPress blocking to help create new notification features.
Her second project involved developing a calculator function, designed to incorporate FedEx shipping costs. Here she utilized JavaScript.
Before she came to Performix, Liang was already familiar working with Java, C/C++, Python, HTML5/ CSS, JavaScript, PHP, SQL, JSON and MatLab
“In school we learned several coding languages,” Liang said. “Now, I’m applying those languages to real-world projects.”
What’s Next?
Liang graduated in the fall of 2018, but her personal interest in computer science didn’t end in the classroom. When last we spoke, she told us about a website she was developing designed for campers to rate and review campsites. From intern to web/ app developer, there’s a lot instore for Xueman Liang.
Get Involved
Learn more about the SciTech Internship Program, apply online and create your own meaningful internships that support your company and Minnesota’s growing STEM workforce.
Small Minnesota companies receive up to $2,500 to help pay a STEM intern. At least 350 wage matches are available through August 2019.