Northport High School junior Francesca Malon recently completed the Women in Technology internship at BAE Systems in Greenlawn, where she worked to wire and code Arduino boards.
The open-source electronics platform consists of both a physical programmable circuit board, often referred to as a microcontroller, and a piece of software, or Integrated Development Environment, which is used write and upload computer code to the physical board.
Francesca was one of only 15 female students chosen from high schools across Long Island to participate in the program, which greatly influenced her to consider a career in engineering and technology.  
“This was a fantastic opportunity for Francesca and she was very grateful for the experience,” Francesca’s mother wrote in an email. “We would love to see more women form Northport High School participate in the future.”