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Internship Experience Spotlight: Oluwanifemi "Elijah" Olaniyan

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Oluwanifemi "Elijah" Olaniyan stands outside the MITRE building.

Oluwanifemi "Elijah" Olaniyan is a sophomore in the ACES Living Learning program (LLP) studying Information Systems with a keen interest in cybersecurity. Recently, he completed a summer internship with MITRE, where he gained valuable experience in cyber forensics and professional development.

While looking for an internship, Olaniyan used a variety of resources, including career fairs, online platforms such as Handshake, and company websites. Particularly important in his search was networking, taking advantage of ACES programming to connect with professionals and potential opportunities. “I spoke with people through student organizations and programs, and tried to maintain relationships with people I met,” he said. “Networking works when you approach it as building relationships and learning from people.”

In preparing his applications, Olaniyan researched companies that aligned with the skills he wanted to develop and customized his resume for each particular position. “MITRE stood out to me because of the type of technical and mission-focused work the organization does,” he described.

Using skills he learned from his ACES coursework, he practiced secure coding on projects outside of class and learned about frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK. By closely reviewing job descriptions to identify relevant skills and practicing for both technical and behavioral interviews, his confidence in communicating his experience and technical knowledge grew and he landed an internship with MITRE.

Over the course of his internship, Olaniyan explored how cyber forensics could use artificial intelligence to generate realistic digital evidence and test forensic tools without relying on people’s data. According to Olaniyan, “a typical day could include meeting with my team and mentors, researching a technical problem, analyzing data or file structures, experimenting with possible solutions, documenting what we learned, and discussing our progress.” Highlights of his experience include analyzing the structure of digital forensic data and reverse-engineering a forensic file format with manual analysis and AI-assisted techniques.

As a result of his internship experience, Olaniyan has become more interested in how AI might affect the future of security. Working at MITRE has made him more confident in using his technical knowledge and communication skills, in addition to developing his ability to experiment and learn unfamiliar technologies.

His biggest recommendation for students applying for internships is to start early and not wait until you feel completely qualified before applying. “Internship descriptions can sometimes make it seem like you need to know everything already, but internships are also meant for learning,” stated Olaniyan.

He advises others not to be discouraged by rejection. “One of the biggest challenges was staying motivated when applications did not lead to interviews or when I did not hear back from companies,” he said. Rather than accepting defeat, he continued strengthening his resume, seeking feedback from others, networking and applying for opportunities. As Olaniyan put it, “you only need one opportunity to work out."

Having gained hands-on professional experience at MITRE, Olaniyan looks forward to further exploring cybersecurity and technical problem-solving in combination with his Information Systems background.

Published September 14, 2026