Calvin College student Musa Kwong spent his summer working at Gentex as an intern on the Cloud Development Team. Kwong loved contributing to the development of HomeLink, a connected car technology that integrates vehicle controls with smart home platforms.
“I think technology makes me unreasonably happy," Kwong said.
He was involved in building cloud-side functionality that allows users to activate smart home actions, such as opening a garage door or adjusting lighting, through the buttons embedded in the vehicle’s rearview mirror.
These actions are routed through a mobile app to the cloud, where the system processes and forwards them to the appropriate smart home service provider.
His other projects consisted of working on the back end of websites, such as the HomeLink marketing website. Kwong worked on updating different features on the back end so it can continue to function seamlessly while he and his team make other changes to the website.
In addition to his work on the website, he helped develop the web portal through which customer support would be provided. Consumers can access this portal with questions about the product and receive timely responses from professionals at Gentex.
“I love technology and learning about why it's not working or how it's working,” Kwong said.
Kwong has always been a curious and problem-solving person. When he was 12 years old running around in his neighborhood, he used an older kid’s remote-controlled drone. When he ran into problems regarding the software and communication, he spent hours diving deeper into the technology.
“Frustration at software was what got me into software,” Kwong said.
Along with aircrafts, Kwong loves music and cars. He plays the guitar and is the head of the men’s acapella group at Calvin. He loves watching Formula One racing and racing go-karts with his friends.
He heard about Calvin from family and was drawn by the opportunity to explore software development in an academic setting. He is currently an incoming senior, majoring in computer science with minors in data science and mathematics.
His favorite class at Calvin so far was about algorithms and data structures, seconded only by his philosophy course. Kwong enjoys learning about the root of how concepts work.
“I really like the back-end part of design,” Kwong said. “It just gives me enjoyment. I like to mess around with that sort of thing in my free time.”
Kwong’s favorite aspect of his time at Gentex was the sense of community not only in his department, but also with the other interns as well. After work, Kwong would often find himself on the pickleball courts with fellow Gentex interns.
“I can confidently say that even if I don't end up working at Gentex, I'd want to keep up with my coworkers,” Kwong said. “They're just fun people who are willing to take time out of their days to learn about yours.”
He also likes the environment at Gentex where anyone is open to answering his questions. “They're also very open to just sit down, teach you about why things aren't working or how things could be better,” Kwong said.
Kwong is happy to apply his knowledge from one of his professors at Calvin to his future career.
“So rather than just having a job and then living my life afterwards, I can learn to not only do my job and bring results for whatever company I’m working with, but I can be positive impact, too.”
As Kwong enters his final year at Calvin, his experience at Gentex has reinforced his passion for back-end development. Just as importantly, it’s shown him the value of a supportive and collaborative team which he hopes to find wherever his career takes him.