Hear from current and former interns in Canada and India about the projects, mentorship, and experiences that make a Ciena internship the perfect place to launch an engineering career.
A great internship provides more than technical experience. It's an opportunity to solve real problems, develop new skills, and discover what's possible at the start of your career. Every year, students from universities around the world join Ciena to contribute to technologies that help power global communications while working alongside teams that are invested in their success. From the projects they tackled to the people who supported them, the experiences of six current and former interns show why so many choose to launch their careers at Ciena.
From the classroom to cutting-edge networking
When student engineers join Ciena, they don't just observe—they contribute to the technologies powering some of the world's fastest networks. For Software Design Intern Siddig Ahmed, the opportunity to work on "cutting-edge technology that has true global impact" was one of the main reasons he chose Ciena.
During his internship, he helped build a prototype to enable future AI integrations into Ciena's design environment while gaining experience with advanced networking technologies including forward error correction (FEC), digital signal processing (DSP), and analog layout. He says one of the biggest advantages of the internship is being “exposed to highly specialized fields that you may not encounter elsewhere.”
Mattias Zeni, a WaveLogic Systems Design Architecture Intern, found that his “internship has lived up to exactly what [he] hoped for.” As he contributed to the design of an automated test environment for WaveLogic Nano transceivers, he learned important skills on how to balance engineering challenges such as power budgets, bandwidth, and reliability while supporting products at the forefront of optical networking.
Mattias at our Ottawa office
There's something special about knowing that your work at Ciena powers the internet across continents and makes a real difference in the world.
For Joanne, contributing to next-generation WaveLogic technology brought a new appreciation for the scale and significance of the work. Like many Ciena interns, she discovered that even as a student, her contributions were helping shape the technologies that keep people, businesses, and communities connected around the world.
Growing alongside experienced engineers
Meaningful projects are only one part of the internship experience. Equally important is the support interns receive as they develop new skills, build confidence, and navigate unfamiliar challenges. For Mattias, that support was one of the reasons he chose Ciena in the first place.
The best career advice I've received is to pursue opportunities where your environment will invest in you. From the moment I met my manager, I knew Ciena would push me to grow as a professional.
Before joining Ciena, Joanne’s previous internships had focused entirely on hardware. With her teammates’ support, she moved into software engineering and progressed from having no professional software experience to contributing code for next-generation products. She credits her team for acting as “a strong pillar in supporting my growth and development.”
Interns in Ottawa enjoying some friendly competition at an intramural soccer game
For former Software Engineering Intern Prakriti Jain, now a full-time Software Engineer in Gurugram, growth came through progressively taking on more challenging work. She started by writing unit tests and fixing bugs, which helped her build an understanding of the product, codebase, and development processes before moving on to more complex tasks. With each step, she developed her technical skills and confidence, helping prepare her to transition from student to software engineer.
Former intern Lakshya Kandpal, now an SVT/PV Engineer in Gurugram, came to Ciena eager to explore networking, a field that was entirely new to him. Rather than simply observing, he was trusted with meaningful work on protocols that help maintain network availability. The experience challenged him to understand how different elements of a network work together.
Lakshya and Prakriti are among many interns who have gone on to launch their careers at Ciena. In India alone, 79 interns accepted full-time roles this year after completing their internships.
Some of the 79 former interns now working full-time in our Gurugram office
A culture where people come first
Technical projects and professional growth matter, but it’s often the people who leave the greatest impression. Across teams and locations, interns describe colleagues who answer questions, share knowledge, and create opportunities to connect beyond daily work.
My team created an amazing learning environment where I felt valued as a team member. As interns, our growth and understanding mattered just as much as our deliverables.
For Nil, feeling part of the team also meant being trusted with meaningful work. During her internship, she contributed to her first-ever chip submission while still a student, reflecting both her team’s confidence in her and the opportunities they created for her to grow.
Team spirit also extends beyond daily work. Joanne helped organize an intern Mario Kart tournament giving interns a chance to connect and enjoy some friendly competition. Mattias Zeni says, “nothing will ever beat watching the World Cup in the cafeteria alongside hundreds of coworkers.”
For Siddig, some of the most memorable experiences came from everyday conversations with experienced engineers. He says talking with colleagues who had helped shape Ciena over many years gave him perspectives and insights that he "wouldn't find anywhere else."
Where your career begins
Whether they're collaborating on a technical challenge, sharing ideas over lunch, or cheering on their favorite team together, Ciena interns become part of a community built on curiosity, collaboration, and a shared commitment to helping one another succeed. For these interns, Ciena was more than a summer experience—it was the beginning of a rewarding career. If you're a student ready to challenge yourself, grow your skills, and help shape the future of networking, explore internship opportunities at Ciena.