Software Developer

Derek Ditch

Education: Missouri University of Science and Technology, computer science, 2008 and PhD of computer science, anticipated graduation 2012

Derek Ditch has pride in his country. After graduating high school, Ditch joined the Missouri National Guard where he trained for one year to be a soldier. While in the National Guard, Ditch also learned basic IT skills, motivating him to get an advanced degree in computer science—and knowledge that could eventually be used to save lives. Now as an intern at the NSA, he gets to do just that, as well as continue to serve his country as a soldier one weekend a month, and two weeks a year.

How did you hear about the position at the NSA?
I was looking for ways to pay for grad school, and I heard about the Information Assurance Scholarship Program offered by the Department of Defense, and that the NSA participates in. I applied for the scholarship during my first year in grad school, and got it. With the scholarship, I intern with the NSA over the summer and then go back to school fulltime the rest of the year. Summer 2009 was my first summer with the internship, and I’ll continue to intern every summer until graduation, when I’ll most likely be offered a full-time position.

What surprised you the most when you started?
The access to information available to interns there. Before this summer, I interned at a national lab, and since you’re just there for the summer, they keep everything classified. It seemed like all the cool stuff was kept away from the interns! But at the NSA, interns are welcome to take on as much as they can, and use all available resources to do the best possible job.

What’s something about your company that others may not know?
I think a lot of people have the perception that the government is a big monolithic machine and people are doing one job, and doing it for their entire life—like they are stuck in a position. But the NSA really promotes growth, and they want employees to find what it is that they’re passionate about. You might hear about a project halfway around the globe or down the street, and you can opt in on this project.

What’s the most fun project you’ve done since starting?
My most fun project is something I can’t really talk about! But one thing I did that was really cool I actually started during the second week of my internship. It was my task to set up automated testing framework. It was a great way to learn the tools that the NSA uses, and I also got to interact with people from several different development teams, showing them how to extend the tools they already use. This was all in the second week of my internship: you don’t sit around twiddling your thumbs here!

What is your advice to students who want to work for the NSA?
Definitely get involved on campus as an undergrad. My current advisor on campus hired me for his research group because he noticed the extra time and attention I put into all my work. I think being a part of his research group got my foot in the door at the NSA, because not only did it look great on my resume, but it helped refine my skills more than other students.