A recent Hunter graduate was selected for a competitive program launched in 2021 by the White House to bring civic-minded early-career technologists to serve in the federal government.
Sachin Panayil ’23 was the first Hunter alum tapped to join the U.S. Digital Corps, where he will spend the next two years working at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services as a software engineer. Panayil was one of 70 fellows chosen from more than 2,000 applicants nationwide.
Panayil credits the good guidance he got at Hunter for preparing him for the fellowship.
“The career services at Hunter provided me with great tools to find courses as well as connections with real-world opportunities in tech,” he said.
He also gave a shout-out to his Hunter classmates: “I also wouldn’t be where I am without my Computer Science buddies from Hunter. We would pull all-nighters and cram for exams together all the time. The collaboration gave me the extra boost that I needed to succeed.”
The two‑year, paid USDC fellowship offers five tracks: cybersecurity, data science and analytics, design, product management, and software engineering. Fellows support projects at 19 federal agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Internal Revenue Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Applications for the 2025 cohort will be opening soon.
