This summer, RoboticsCats was honored to collaborate with four University of California students through the CITRIS Workforce Innovation Program. Together, we prototyped new solutions at the intersection of wildfire detection, AI, and large language models (LLMs) — all to build smarter, more resilient tools for the future.
Our journey was one of crossovers: universities, technologies, organizations, geographies, and people coming together to create something new.
Crossing Campuses: UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis, UC Merced
The CITRIS and the Banatao Institute Workforce Innovation Program provides UC undergraduates with eight-week paid internships focused on emerging IT innovations.
This year, our team welcomed:
- Samantha Siew, UC Santa Cruz
- Jacob Lawson, UC Merced
- Celia Wang, UC Berkeley
- Sarayu Mummidi, UC Davis
Each student brought fresh perspectives in computer science and data science, forming a vibrant cross-campus team.
Crossing Technologies: Wildfire Detection × LLM × Chatbots
Wildfires are becoming more catastrophic worldwide. At the same time, LLMs and generative AI are transforming the way technology is used and communicated.
We asked our interns to imagine how these forces could converge to create powerful new tools. Their mission: design prototypes that extend our LookOut Wildfire Detection SaaS and explore new ways to communicate with customers using AI chatbots and APIs.
Four Projects, Four Leaders
Each student led a project and presented it at summer’s end:
- PowerShell automation – Scan folders for new images and send them to LookOut Wildfire Detection SaaS for wildfire analysis.
- AI-powered receipt OCR – Recognize individual items on receipts and log them to Google Sheets.
- LLM-powered trivia quiz game – A quiz designed to engage seniors (65+) and support digital adoption.
- LookOut Desktop – A Python application to use FTP files and YouTube Live feeds as image sources for LookOut, and send WhatsApp wildfire alerts to users.
From productivity hacks to wildfire response, the projects showed just how creative and practical student-led R&D can be.
Crossing Partnerships: CITRIS x RoboticsCats x APlus Digital Academy
Mentorship was central to the experience. With support from APlus Digital Academy, the interns gained hands-on skills in LLMs and APIs. Pen Kwok of APlus taught them tools like Postman, Google APIs, and Twilio, enabling rapid prototyping and real-world solution development.
Collaboration across organizations amplified learning and accelerated progress.
Crossing Borders: California x Hong Kong x Alberta
Our team also included two outstanding high school students outside the UC system:
- Grace Yeung, from Diocesan Girls’ School in Hong Kong, completed a three-day job shadowing program, writing research reports on wildlife monitoring, elderly fall detection, and urban heat resilience.
- Jerry Wu, from Sir Winston Churchill High School in Calgary, Alberta, interned for six weeks. He developed software to use YouTube Live with LookOut Wildfire Detection SaaS, an acoustic bird detection device, and a solar-powered weather station.
Together with the UC interns, they broadened discussions and inspired exciting cross-cultural exchanges.
Crossing Journeys: Learning and Leading Together
Over three months, these students stepped out of their comfort zones, practiced teamwork and leadership, and delivered impressive results. Their creativity reminded us why collaboration across backgrounds and disciplines is so powerful.
We also stretched ourselves: mentoring, experimenting, and imagining how emerging AI and software technologies can enhance disaster resilience.
Looking Ahead
The 2025 CITRIS internship projects are more than student exercises — they are early demonstrations of tools that can help detect wildfires faster, improve community safety, and empower more inclusive technology adoption.
At RoboticsCats, we believe innovation thrives at the intersections of people, ideas, and geographies. By championing young talent and collaborating globally, we reaffirm our mission: to build smarter AI solutions that protect lives, communities, and nature.
This summer’s crossovers are only the beginning of new journeys ahead.
