Your Cengage course teaches the theory. Extern is where you apply it at a real company.

Students analyze publicly available NASCAR race performance data and sponsorship exposure metrics to estimate "visibility ROI" for sponsors. Using Python, Google Sheets, and accessible free APIs, externs produce a unified dataset, a sponsorship visibility scoring model, and actionable recommendations for NY Racing's sponsorship strategy.

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By completing this externship, learners will be able to:

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1. Collect publicly available NASCAR race data and organize it into structured datasets using Python and web scraping techniques
2. Clean and merge data from multiple sources (race results, social media, news) using Python Pandas
3. Analyze relationships between race performance metrics and sponsorship visibility indicators through exploratory data analysis
4. Build a weighted scoring model to rank sponsorship opportunities by exposure efficiency
5. Evaluate model results to identify the highest-value sponsorship targets for NY Racing‍
6. Present data-driven recommendations in a professional stakeholder deck with clear methodology documentation

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The goal is to research and present 2-3 actionable, data-backed recommendations for where NY Racing could target future sponsors.

NY Racing is a motorsports organization competing in the NASCAR Cup Series, where teams battle across 36+ races per season in front of millions of viewers. Like every NASCAR operation, NY Racing depends on sponsorship revenue to fund competitive performance — from engine development and pit crew salaries to travel logistics and driver marketing. With sponsorship dollars under increasing scrutiny, the team needs data-driven insight into which partnerships deliver the strongest return on visibility. As an extern, you'll help NY Racing evaluate the sponsorship landscape by building an analytical framework that quantifies exposure value and identifies the highest-efficiency opportunities in the series.

This externship places students in the role of cybersecurity engineers protecting IoT pipelines. You will deliver the following:

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- AI-driven anomaly detection prototype for identifying suspicious device behavior;

- A structured security review of IoT pipelines;

- Practical playbooks and runbooks adapted for engineering teams;

- Design recommendations for securing critical water shutoff controls;

- A mock incident response report highlighting risks and mitigations.

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Tools you'll be learning and using:

- Python

- Mosquitto (MQTT Broker)

- Streamlit

By the end you will deliver a Security Improvement Report to Hydroficient that provides them risk insights, documentation, and design recommendations that better protect their systems. Through this, you gain practical, portfolio-ready cybersecurity and AI skills.

Hydroficient is a climate technology company building automated systems to optimize water usage in commercial and industrial buildings across North America. Their research shows that up to 95% of buildings are over-serviced, meaning excess water flows every time a tap runs. Hydroficient’s IoT-enabled HydroLogic platform dynamically adjusts water delivery based on actual demand, typically reducing water consumption and sewage output by around 20%. Awarded the Canadian Federal Government’s ElevateIP Grant, Hydroficient works with major restaurant chains, hotels, gyms, schools, and other large facilities used by millions of people every day.

Deliver a client-ready pitch deck that showcases your Instagram designs, campaign strategy, and brand voice systems:

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1) Discover How Brands Build Trust Online: Map personas, define archetypes, and design mood boards to visualize All Basics Uniform’s voice.

2) Shape the Brand’s Instagram Personality: Create a visual identity system with Canva templates, grids, highlight packs, and caption frameworks.

3) Figure Out What Makes Content Go Viral: Compare Instagram and TikTok algorithms, track analytics, and reflect on growth insights.

4) Plan a Creative Social Media Campaign: Design a cross-platform campaign plan with content calendars, KPIs, and iteration strategies for Instagram and TikTok.

5) Pitch Your Brand Playbook: Synthesize all work into a client-ready deck and present your Brand Voice & Content Playbook with Instagram + TikTok assets.

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TikTok's mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. The platform strives to create new jobs, drive revenue for businesses of all sizes, and contribute to the growth of economies around the world.

Present and communicate your investment thesis to an investment committee.

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1. Financial Statements Analysis: Analyze SEC filings and company financial reports to determine financial health and identify key risks.
2. Macroeconomic & Industry Trends: Investigate macroeconomic conditions and industry-specific trends influencing stock market performance.
3. Risk & Catalyst Identification: Identify potential risks and market catalysts that could impact company valuations and stock performance.
4. Trading Activity & Analyst Ratings: Review insider transactions and analyst ratings to gauge investor confidence and market sentiment around the company.
5. Financial Model Development: Construct robust valuation models to forecast financial performance and price targets.
6. Investment Memo & Presentation: Prepare professional, detailed investment memos and present recommendations clearly to stakeholders.

Provide Breaking Games with clear, actionable strategies based on the data analysis, such as optimizing ad targeting, improving website flow, and/or tailoring promotional efforts to enhance sales.

• E-Commerce Sales Funnel Report: A summary of key metrics and marketing channel performance.
• Visitor Behavior Dashboard: Analysis of traffic sources and engagement with actionable improvement suggestions.
• Paid Campaign Performance Report: Identification of top-performing ads with ROI-based budget reallocation strategies.
• Conversion Funnel Analysis: Detailed breakdown of drop-off points and product performance insights.
• Cross-Channel Attribution Report: Evaluation of how various marketing efforts directly drive Shopify sales.
• Visual Customer Journey Map: Diagnosis of funnel bottlenecks from initial ad exposure to final purchase.
• Customer Segmentation Plan: Data-driven marketing strategies for high-value upselling and retargeting.
• Final Strategic Action Plan: A professional presentation synthesizing all insights into a comprehensive growth roadmap with defined KPIs.

Breaking Games is the publishing arm of AdMagic—the powerhouse behind hits like Cards Against Humanity and Exploding Kittens. But they’re more than just a traditional publisher. They help invent, test, launch, and distribute both their own games and others’, working across the entire tabletop ecosystem. This externship offers a rare peek behind the scenes of how digital marketing powers the business side of play.

Investment memo you’ll have a chance to present to the Investment Partner for investment consideration.

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• Startup Sourcing: Learn how to find new, innovative tech startups using online tools.
• Company Research: Conduct research on potential startups, looking at things like their market and finances.
• Competitor Analysis: Research competitors in the same market to see how the startups compare.
• Investment Memo: Summarize your findings in reports that highlight key insights and recommendations.

HP Tech Ventures is the venture capital arm of HP Inc. Operating across teams in Palo Alto and Tel Aviv, HP Tech Ventures is fostering an ecosystem of innovation and reinvention that will define tomorrow’s world and experiences.

Externs will analyze publicly available reviews and testimonials from Amazon Fulfillment Center employees (via Glassdoor, Indeed, Reddit, and YouTube) to identify common workplace pain points—such as communication gaps, lack of recognition, or burnout. 

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After identifying a key theme, each extern will select a key employee persona and explore how that issue uniquely affects them. You'll thendesign a persona-specific solution that a team leader could use to improve the associate experience.

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• User insight synthesis
• Qualitative analysis and data-backed storytelling
• Operational problem framing
• Business-ready recommendation design
• Presentation to Amazon

Amazon Fulfillment Centers are the backbone of Amazon’s logistics network, serving as massive, high-tech warehouses where customer orders are received, stored, picked, packed, and shipped. These facilities are integral to Amazon's ability to offer rapid delivery services, including same-day and two-day shipping.

Present your findings on what drives consumers to buy and recommendations for how to drive brand loyalty to senior management at Beats by Dre. 

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• Map customer journeys using frameworks like AIDA, focusing on consumer touchpoints and stages in decision-making.
• Conduct surveys by analyzing research questions, designing Google Forms, and using AI to enhance question generation, targeting, and survey distribution.
• Analyze survey responses with a focus on both quantitative (percentages, central tendencies, correlations) and qualitative data, using AI-driven tools for deeper insights.
• Present insights effectively by creating AI-assisted presentations and dashboards, incorporating data visualizations and tailored reports.

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By the end of this Externship, externs will have created:

• Google Form Survey
• ManyChat Chatbot
• Gamma Presentation
• Claude Artifact Dashboard

Beats by Dre, founded in 2006, is a leading audio brand known for its premium headphones, earphones, and speakers. As a company focused on innovation and customer satisfaction, Beats by Dre uses data-driven insights to ensure its products stay ahead of market trends and meet the needs of its global audience.

During this Externship, externs will:

• Ingest and parse scanned documents
• Extract and structure key data fields from multiple document types
• Implement intelligent search using RAG pipelines and metadata filters
• Build and test modular routing and classification logic
• (Optional) Deploy a lightweight user interface for search and querying

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Technologies used:

• Python (scripting, data processing)
• PyMuPDF, pdfplumber (PDF parsing)
• OpenCV, PIL (image preprocessing)
• OCR Engines: Tesseract, PaddleOCR, EasyOCR
• Vector Search: LlamaIndex, FAISS, Chroma
• LLMs: Gemini API or open-source models (e.g., Mistral, Phi-2)
• UI Tools: Streamlit, Gradio (optional)

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Final project outputs:

• Python pipeline to process document files
• Structured JSON output with field-level data and coordinates
• Functional RAG pipeline (Gemini or open-source)
• Searchable UI using Streamlit or Gradio
• Final report, system documentation, and demo

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Why should you care? Here’s what you’ll get out of this Externship:

• Develop a portfolio-worthy AI/ML project
• Gain hands-on experience with cutting-edge tools and models
• Learn to build robust, production-level systems
• Improve data parsing, extraction, and visualization skills
• Tackle a real-world, high-impact business use case

Pfizer is one of the world's largest publicly traded pharmaceutical companies, developing and manufacturing medicines and vaccines that reach hundreds of millions of people globally. They partnered with BioNTech to create the first FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine. In 2024, Pfizer reported $63 billion in revenue and products reaching 414 million patients worldwide—massive scale. Their clinical supply operations ensure that the right drugs get to the right patients at the right time—a process that depends on flawless documentation across shipping, logistics, and regulatory compliance.

• Get Familiar with the Data: Learn the fundamentals of data analytics and its applications in healthcare. Use AI tools to refine research questions and explore public datasets.
• Data Collection & Pre-processing: Gather infection-related data from public sources, clean and structure it for analysis, and address missing values.
• Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA): Perform statistical and correlational analyses to identify patterns and trends in infection rates. Create visual representations of findings.
• Presentation Development: Develop structured presentations using AI-generated reports and visualization techniques. Use Gamma.app and Google Slides for final presentations.
• Interactive Dashboard Creation: Build interactive dashboards with Power BI and Claude to showcase trends and facilitate data-driven decision-making.

TruBridge has over four decades of experience in connecting providers, patients and communities with innovative solutions that create real value by supporting both the financial and clinical side of healthcare delivery.

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We are a trusted partner to healthcare organizations with a broad range of technology offerings that address the unique needs and challenges of diverse communities, promoting equitable access to quality care and fostering positive outcomes.

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Our industry leading HFMA Peer Reviewed® suite of revenue cycle management (RCM) offerings combine unparalleled visibility and transparency to enhance productivity and support the financial health of healthcare organizations across all care settings.

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Our solutions champion end-to-end, data-driven patient journeys that support value-based care, improve outcomes, and increase patient satisfaction. We support efficient patient care with electronic health record (EHR) product offerings that successfully integrate data between care settings.

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Above all, we believe in the power of community and encourage collaboration, connection, and empowerment with our customers. We clear the way for care.

A live dashboard powered by your AI agents, built to surface trends, benchmarks, and content suggestions that Wayfair’s category team can actually use.

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Project Breakdown:

1. Build a Moodboard Agent: Create a simple AI tool that transforms style prompts into curated visual outputs.

2. Discover Market Trends: Build agents that collect and analyze product data, blogs, and social media to uncover design trends.

3. Monitor Competitors: Develop AI agents to track competitor launches, pricing updates, and marketing campaigns.

4. Generate AI Insights: Turn raw trend signals into summaries, draft blog ideas, and campaign captions.

5. Build the Dashboard: Combine datasets and insights into a live, auto-updating Google Sheets tool for managers.

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Tools Used:

n8n - a workflow automation software tool

Google Gemini

Mistral AI

Wayfair is one of the world’s largest online destinations for home furnishings and is known for its data-driven approach. Behind the 30M+ products you see online are teams using AI to move faster and smarter. This is your backstage pass to see — and build — how that happens.

• Incorruptible Scorecard: A detailed evaluation of a real company using Eric Ries's Incorruptible framework, analyzing financial pressures, governance structures, and mission alignment.
• Action Plan: A strategic plan of action for your chosen company to become more Incorruptible, with concrete recommendations.
• Final Capstone: A polished presentation that demonstrates your analytical skills and allows you to make your case powerfully to Eric Ries himself.

Eric Ries is the creator of the Lean Startup method and author of the New York Times bestseller The Lean Startup and Incorruptible. Over two decades, his ideas about continuous innovation, long-term thinking, governance, and market reform have reshaped company building and management practices worldwide.

Develop a comprehensive creative strategy framework for Beats by Dre video advertising, then demonstrate its application through an original creative concept.

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• Catalog and analyze 20-30 video ads across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube into a structured, insight-ready repository.
• Design and execute a consumer survey to capture real reactions to advertising content, combined with social listening insights.
• Build a Creative Strategy Framework including platform best practices, brand creative standards, effectiveness rubric, competitive analysis, and strategic recommendations.
• Develop an original creative concept with a creative brief, framework compliance evaluation, and a 5-minute strategic presentation.

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By the end of this Externship, externs will have created:

• Ad Repository Database (20-30 tagged ads)
• Consumer Feedback Report
• Creative Strategy Framework Package
• Creative Concept Presentation

Beats by Dre, founded in 2006, is a leading audio brand known for its premium headphones, earphones, and speakers. As a company focused on innovation and customer satisfaction, Beats by Dre uses data-driven insights to ensure its products stay ahead of market trends and meet the needs of its global audience.

• Startup Sourcing: Identify promising startups in high-impact sectors such as energy or industrial using online discovery tools.
• Company Research: Collect and analyze startup data, including team background, fundraising history, press, and traction.
• Competitor Analysis: Research competitors in the same market to see how the startups compare.
• ‍Present your Investment Memo: Summarize your findings in reports that highlight key insights and recommendations. Opportunity to present in front of leadership.

Energy Innovation Capital (EIC) is a venture capital firm investing in companies developing the next generation of technology to ensure abundant, clean, and accessible energy. With offices in San Francisco, Houston, Boston, and New York, the EIC team is made up of multiple-time CEOs and experienced technology investors who have collectively led over 150 investments across the energy tech landscape. To date, EIC has backed more than 30 early-stage companies through three funds, supporting founders focused on innovation in energy transition, digital technologies, and sustainability.

Present your dashboards and synthesis of insights to the senior leaders at Beats by Dre via a presentation. 

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You will analyze the consumer journey of Beats customers, analyze survey data, perform sentiment analysis, and visualize findings using AI tools. By the end, you will synthesize their insights into presentations and dashboards, effectively communicating data-driven conclusions in professional formats.

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By the end of this Externship, externs will have created:

• Google Colab Notebook
• Gamma Presentation
• Claude Artifact Dashboard

Beats by Dre, founded in 2006, is a leading audio brand known for its premium headphones, earphones, and speakers. As a company focused on innovation and customer satisfaction, Beats by Dre uses data-driven insights to ensure its products stay ahead of market trends and meet the needs of its global audience.

A live dashboard powered by your AI agents, built to surface trends, benchmarks, and content suggestions that Wayfair’s category team can actually use.

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Project Breakdown:

1. Build a Moodboard Agent: Create a simple AI tool that transforms style prompts into curated visual outputs.

2. Discover Market Trends: Build agents that collect and analyze product data, blogs, and social media to uncover design trends.

3. Monitor Competitors: Develop AI agents to track competitor launches, pricing updates, and marketing campaigns.

4. Generate AI Insights: Turn raw trend signals into summaries, draft blog ideas, and campaign captions.

5. Build the Dashboard: Combine datasets and insights into a live, auto-updating Google Sheets tool for managers.

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Tools Used:

n8n - a workflow automation software tool

Google Gemini

Mistral AI

Wayfair is one of the world’s largest online destinations for home furnishings and is known for its data-driven approach. Behind the 30M+ products you see online are teams using AI to move faster and smarter. This is your backstage pass to see — and build — how that happens.

During the course of the externship, externs will:

• Analyze how case management workflows influence patient experience, continuity of care, and risk across inpatient, emergency, and post-discharge contexts.
• Identify process gaps, blind spots, and unaccounted risks by applying root cause analysis to real care coordination scenarios.
• Map real-world case management workflows to reveal hidden work, handoffs, delays, and intervention points.
• Quantify coordination work by defining operational metrics and prototyping a dashboard that communicates workload, risk mitigation, and value.
  
  

By the end of the externship, externs will have created a:

• Stakeholder map and scope-of-practice summary clarifying the case manager’s role in patient-centered care coordination.
• Workflow risk and root-cause analysis table highlighting gaps, risks, and invisible coordination work.
• Process maps and visual flowcharts showing how case management work actually unfolds across follow-up, default management, and escalation.
• Work-quantification dashboard prototype that translates coordination activities into measurable, communicable operational value.

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Tools being used: Claude, Perplexity, Gamma

The Institute of Mental Health (IMH) is Singapore’s national acute psychiatric hospital, with over 1,950 beds and a mission to deliver holistic, integrative mental healthcare. It serves children, adolescents, adults, and the elderly through multidisciplinary teams that include psychologists, nurses, occupational therapists, and social workers. IMH combines evidence-based care with operational excellence to support mental health at scale.

Create a professional slide deck and present your investment thesis to Mangusta's Partners:

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1. Source early stage startups you want to pitch: Search for and identify early-stage startups through diverse discovery methods to uncover under-the-radar companies for further evaluation.
2. Conduct comprehensive due diligence: Gather and analyze company data, including fundraising history, team composition, press coverage, and financial metrics, to build reports for investment assessment.
3. Generate and refine a targeted list of key competitors: Conduct an in-depth analysis of competitive positioning and differentiation to evaluate a startup’s potential within its market.
4. Analyze B2C traction data: Interpret key metrics such as user engagement and app downloads. Leverage and develop AI-driven strategies to help synthesize customer sentiment data to identify product strengths and areas for improvement.
5. Complete comprehensive startup analysis on core areas: This includes Market Opportunity, Technology & Core IP, Competitive Landscape, Go-to-Market Strategy, Team Assessment, and Risk Analysis, translating due diligence findings into actionable insights.
6. Produce a strategic synergy report: This report should align the startup’s potential with the VC fund’s objectives, articulating collaborative value and strategic fit.
7. Design and deliver a concise 3-slide investment memo: Deliver a polished, data-driven presentation in Google Slides to communicate key findings to potential investors as you would if you were a VC associate on the team.

Mangusta Capital is a venture capital and growth equity firm with origins in Italy, founded by SoftBank Vision Fund’s founder and backed by the family behind Ray-Ban/Oakley. The mission is to shape the world for future generations by supporting technology innovations that move humanity forward.

They invest in audacious founders building mission-critical capabilities across AI and software. As they reach the tipping point in the advent of AGI, we see the inevitability of unlocking massive productivity gains in complex workflows across all industries.

They invest in the next generation of great consumer brands and technologies enabling delightful consumer experiences. In the past, consumers trusted brands; today, consumers trust influencers. Mangusta searches for the trendsetters changing the way we eat, play, and live.

Design and prototype a feature aimed at boosting BeReal's monthly active users metric (MAUs). Demo and present to BeReal leadership at the end of the externship.

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Project deliverables include:

1) A visual representation of BeReal’s user behavior pattern highlighting common usage habits, motivations, and frustrations of BeReal users

2) A competitor analysis matrix highlighting engagement-driving features and gaps

3) Prototype Flow Map (photo or text storyboard) and Prototype Link (+ README with click path)

4) Focus group test summary report

5) Final feature proposal deck (5–7 slides) presenting the feature, supporting evidence, and rollout plan

Founded in France, BeReal is a fast-growing social app with 40M users worldwide. They’re changing the way people connect—by encouraging users to share a real, unfiltered glimpse of their lives every day. In a landscape dominated by filters and algorithms, BeReal is fighting to let us all be “real” again.. BeReal is betting big on genuine connection—and wants your help in crafting features that stay true to that mission while growing engagement and reach.