Brandeis Stories

By Susan Piland
September 29, 2025

Noam Reiner ’27, a computer science and math double-major, loves what she’s studying at Brandeis.

She had an idea that a summer internship at Capital One in McLean, Virginia, might give her valuable insights into how to turn her academic interests into an absorbing career — and it delivered in a big way. Working in the company’s Analyst Early Internship Program, she got a chance to incorporate her math skills into a project that sought to develop business strategy through an analysis of large-scale human-resources datasets.

“I’m very interested in analyzing data from a macro — as opposed to a micro — perspective,” Reiner explains.

At the internship, she was assigned to the human-resources analytics team. “We explored how organizational structure can influence how people work,” she says. “The challenge of measuring and considering ideas that aren’t necessarily easy to quantify, such as employee sentiment or employees’ personal improvement, was so interesting. And knowing my work could impact employees’ experiences was very motivating.

“The resources were amazing there,” she adds. “There were almost weekly evaluations. You got a great perspective on your work and what you’re especially good at. The feedback really shaped how I want to define my career and what my next steps might be.”

Brandeis had prepared Reiner well for success during her internship. For example, the work drew on many skills she had already learned in her Information Visualization course, which taught her methods of presenting data clearly and persuasively. She emailed assistant professor of computer science Dylan Cashman, who led the class, to tell him.

“He’s a great professor,” Reiner says. “He was so excited I was using skills he taught us. He appreciates hearing how his classes help us in our job experiences.”

Reiner, who comes from Israel, enjoyed working in an American corporate environment. “It’s interesting to figure out how to contribute meaningfully when you’re a small part of a very big organization,” she says. The best approach, she’s found, is to stay curious, stay open to feedback, gather lots of information, and discover new patterns and ideas.

From the beginning, Brandeis has felt like home to this Haifa native. “The big reason I applied to Brandeis” — the only U.S. university she applied to — “was because there is a strong Jewish community,” she says.

“And Brandeis is such a small school,” she continues. “That’s also what’s really nice about it. You get to know so many people on a deeper level, even outside your major and your immediate community.

“Everyone advises us to put ourselves out there, to try something new and to experience absolutely as much as we can.”