Internship Sets Cyber and AI Career in Motion

Heidys Cabrera didn’t know what to expect when she started her MITRE internship. She thought she’d gain technical skills but had no idea it would boost her confidence, too.

Now a full-time cybersecurity engineer, Cabrera says by the end of her summer as an intern in MITRE's Cyber Futures program, “I had grown a lot and was not afraid to try new things or ask questions.”

That was in 2022. The chance to keep broadening her knowledge on all fronts is what brought Cabrera back to MITRE—and keeps her here. She’s starting a master’s program through Georgia Tech, taking advantage of our Basic Educational Assistance Program education benefit.

“My focus is computer science, with a specialization in machine learning,” she says. “I’ve already taken some graduate classes and received a lot of support from colleagues when I needed flexibility.”

Cabrera sees the degree as a way to “prepare more for the growing opportunities in AI.” While her current cyber work already involves AI, Cabrera wants to deepen her understanding of its applications.

She’s part of a MITRE independent research and development team that uses algorithms and reinforcement learning to identify optimal courses of action for Department of Defense missions.

Another of her projects focuses on improving Retrieval Augmented Generation, or RAG. These techniques extract and analyze data from knowledge bases and document sets, making AI-generated responses more accurate and timely.

Expanding Horizons

Cabrera, a self-described math and tech enthusiast, found out about MITRE at a resume workshop during her junior year at Florida International University. MITRE senior cybersecurity engineer Janelle Mendez was part of the session.

Shortly after, with the support of family and friends, she took a chance and applied to the Cyber Futures program. The internship adds to the U.S. cyber talent pipeline for national security and economic security.

“I was a little hesitant to apply as a math major. I wasn’t sure what I brought to the table, but I was part of WiCyS [Women in Cybersecurity] at school and had some cyber knowledge.”

She relocated from Miami to McLean, Va., for 10 weeks. Her grandmother accompanied and supported her, while Cabrera worked and took online classes to stay on track with her undergraduate program’s schedule.

“I learned about mobile device security and digital forensics,” says Cabrera, who supported the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence during her internship. “I also gained understanding of cyber frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK® and MITRE ENGAGE™ and was part of a Capture the Flag challenge involving adversary emulation,” she adds.

Another perk? Cabrera got into hiking, something she’d never done in Florida. “My cohort would get together outside of work to hike in Great Falls Park, go to museums in D.C., or just explore the area. I met so many great people.”

Next Generation National Talent

After graduation, Cabrera applied to the MITRE Cyber New Professionals program. She knew it was an environment where she could keep expanding her skillset.

“MITRE gives me the opportunity to explore an interest, learn from experts in that area, and move in another direction,” she says. “I think that’s hard to find in other companies.”

Down the road, Cabrera would like to try teaching. “I have a lot I want to learn first, but eventually I know I’d like to teach at the college level.

“It's very important that we as professionals make the connection between education and industry. It was hard for me to make that connection by myself when I was getting my bachelor’s. I want to be part of that education-industry loop.”

She’s already helping bridge the two. Cabrera was instrumental in designing our new AI Futures program.

Working with one of our top AI experts, Christina Liaghati, she helped plan the first training week, introducing interns to the AI work being done at MITRE to advance federal missions.

“We covered natural language processing, reinforcement learning, large language models, automation, robotics, and a general overview of MITRE’s AI research,” she says. “They developed a good set of skills, and they’re better prepared for their MITRE projects and even opportunities they might encounter back at school.”

Cabrera also enjoys mentoring today’s Cyber Futures participants.

“It's something I really enjoy, talking to people, giving them my best advice,” she says.

“I had a lot of people help me when I was new. Now it's my turn to do the same.”