Khoury alumni take on new elite US Digital Corps fellowships

Not long after graduating, two Khoury alumni are leveraging their technical skills in a new government-run fellowship program.

The US Digital Corps (USDC) offers a two-year fellowship for early-career technologists to work in areas such as customer experience, public health, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. The program, a collaboration between independent federal agencies and White House offices, is highly competitive; in 2024, just 70 fellows were selected from a pool of more than 2,000 applicants, an acceptance rate of 3.5%.

Monideep Chakraborti, who graduated from Khoury College in 2022 with a master’s in computer science and a specialization in AI and data science, is working at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), focusing on product management. Griffin Milas, who graduated from Khoury College in 2023 with a bachelor’s in data science, works at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on the data science and analytics track.

While the classroom studies provided a foundation in machine learning and algorithms, Milas said, it was Northeastern’s co-op program that taught him “what it looks like to apply theoretical concepts to real-world applications.” His co-ops at Johnson & Johnson, Dassault Systèmes, and Liberty Mutual Insurance provided him with a range of experience, including the opportunity to work on data visualizations, analysis, webpage recommendations, and designing data structures, as well as frequent collaborations with stakeholders. Milas is now applying that experience to his fellowship, where he works on a customer experience team.

Chakraborti also attributed much of his existing skill set to his time at Khoury College, specifically the “team-based learning pedagogy, where you do the pre-readings and then have a great discussion with your teammates.” This interactive learning model helped him prepare for his time in the Corps, as well as for the application phase. Chakraborti had kept up with the USDC for a while before graduating, and given his additional background in biomedical sciences, it seemed like a natural progression to apply.

“It offered a unique platform to use my AI and biomedical skills to work on impactful projects that affect health and well-being across the country,” Chakraborti said. “My background in biomedical sciences and AI was going to be directed toward things that I really wanted to work on.”

Milas remembers feeling extremely excited, too, and impressed by the tailored application process. Chakraborti concurred, noting that interviewers were clearly interested in matching applicants with the projects they most wanted, using extensive interviewing, matching questionnaires, and surveys to do so.

Milas participates in the Corps remotely; Chakraborti relocated to Bethesda, Maryland, where the NIH is located.

Milas, who is part of a customer experience team, said he primarily works with cybersecurity and security-oriented experts and groups. This work mainly includes “trying to understand the needs of stakeholders and making sure that people doing these projects are listening to their customer base,” which involves visualizing data received from different subsets of customers, as well as gathering data into a centralized location.

This means that understanding “boots on the ground (people) is the most important function of our team,” Milas continued, adding that listening to feedback and finding ways to make sure stakeholders understand their customers’ security needs has been one of the most rewarding aspects of the job.

Chakraborti is also working with large amounts of data. His main project focuses on improving search techniques within National Center for Biotechnology Information databases to create “scalable, user-friendly systems that cater to diverse users.” Because the project will likely take three to five years, Chakraborti has spent much of his time so far learning what work has already been done and how the database has been used. In doing so, he said, he applies his skill set from his “background in biomedical sciences to understand the needs and challenges of a community.” His experience working on speech recognition software for his Khoury capstone project also honed his product management skills, which have helped significantly in his NIH role.

Chakraborti and Milas are scheduled to complete their fellowships in 2026, at which point they both hope to stay on in their respective departments as full-time employees. They also hope to take advantage of the “huge network of past, present, and future Digital Corps members,” Milas said.

The Corps represents a broader shift within the US government toward a more digital future, and for these two Khoury alumni, it represents a unique opportunity to apply technical expertise and varying academic backgrounds to careers in the public sector.

“[When I applied for private-sector jobs], I was missing the impact that I wanted to have on my community, and on other people.” Milas said. “But in the Corps, I’m helping my community, I’m helping my country, and that’s really important to me.”