Discover the story of Aastha Mittal, R&D Intern at Axway

Axway is constantly involved in the digital education of students and especially of women, who are often less represented in the tech industry.

But in our different office locations, some actions are taking place. Our Griffins are involved in initiatives such as the Elles Bougent Digital Day in France, or a female-led coding class in Ireland. In Phoenix, Arizona, Axway has a partnership with the CREST (Center for Research in Engineering, Science and Technology) program, offered at Paradise Valley High School. Different Axway employees visited the school and met their students, sharing details about Axway and giving insights on our industry. This is where Axway met Aastha Mittal, who is a brilliant student, committed to Women in Tech, and willing to have a positive impact on someone’s life – all at just seventeen years old! Let’s meet this talented young woman.

Aastha Mittal, a computer science aficionado

As a kid, Aastha believed she wanted to be a doctor and always played around trying to heal people and put bandages on them until the one day that changed her life. She participated in a coding class at school and discovered the endless possibilities of that science. Ever since then, she has worked hard to find her place in this industry, fighting the stereotypes and the kids bullying her, and driven by her passion and will to make an impact.

Today, Aastha is a student in computer science at Paradise Valley High School. For four years now, she has devoted a lot of time to an organization called Women and Information Technology, working as a group to spread awareness of the gender gap in tech while also learning about new topics such as AI, ML, sustainability, and cybersecurity. Through the organization, Aastha had the opportunity to speak at national conferences such as the Consortium for School Networking. She will also be presenting at the Arizona CIO/CTO Conference this October.

Aastha defines herself as a woman always seeking more, therefore her involvement doesn’t stop here. She is the student voice for about 29,019 students in her school district and works on the Data Governance and Cybersecurity task force, advising superintendents on how student data, which is by nature very sensitive, should be handled by schools and school districts. She is also her school’s Artificial Intelligence Ambassador where she supports teachers in their use of AI in the field of education. Last but not least, she also conducts code nights for elementary students in her district, which gives her the opportunity to interact with kids and teach them more about technology, ultimately having a direct impact on their lives.

Aastha, intern in the R&D team

“The thing I like the most about working at Axway is definitely the people. The culture is just amazing here. I love that everyone treats the interns as equals and never hesitate to explain even the simplest of things. I think Axway has truly embraced their motto of ‘Open Everything’ in their teams as well.”

Aastha discovered Axway through a presentation at her school. She was excited by this opportunity and was amazed by how it went. She was drawn in by our culture and our people, and applied for an internship right away. Of course, she succeeded and joined the R&D team.

During her two-month-long internship, she proudly served the team, picking up issues in the product and working to fix them, learning more in Python, Java, and discovering Typescript and React. Through this experience, Aastha felt supported by the team, enjoyed their mentorship, transparency and embraced our #BetterTogether spirit.

Working at Axway was also the opportunity to learn more about the Software Development Life Cycle in the corporate world. Aastha could discover the challenges it represents, and gather with developers to learn new tech skills.

Her North Star: change people’s lives

“My goal is to make an impact, either big or small, in someone’s life. May that be through either developing an app that helps make recycling easier, or may it be researching in a lab to learn more about Alzheimer’s.”

As you may already understand, Aastha leads her life with the ambition of having a positive impact on someone’s life. She is already serving that goal through her actions with the Women and Information Technology group.

With the unconditional support of her family, Aastha seeks to make the world a better place and approaches her career always remembering her north star. For every opportunity she grabs, she wonders how it is going to help her pursue her dream. Continuously learning, she developed an interest in Computational Biology, following free courses provided by MIT. Aastha will even work in an MIT lab in August to learn more about how Computer Science can be used to advance Alzheimer’s research.

Aastha Mittal is a name you should keep in mind, as she will without any doubt make a mark on the industry. Joining Axway helped her introduce herself to the corporate world and supported her into shaping her career and better understanding the Computer Science field. Axway was happy to welcome Aastha for her summer internship and would be happy to work with her again in the future!