Aditya Nimbalkar

Aditya Nimbalkar, B.S. Urban Tech ’26, interned as a technical program manager with Microsoft over the summer

What motivated you to join the Urban Technology program?

My background has always been around technology and design, and I’ve always wanted to be a product manager, even since high school. I came across the Urban Tech program when I was applying to colleges. Initially, I wanted to go to business school, but I realized my tech and design interest could be enabled through the perspective of cities through urban technology. Despite not having an urban planning background, I have that passion for the built environment.

What were your experiences as an intern with Microsoft?

I was a technical program manager intern, so I had ownership over this one program improving identity and access management for physical security infrastructure. I was basically in the data center security world of security cameras, network video recorders, door alarms, and badge scanners. I was focused on one type of these devices: a network switch. Right now, these switches all come shipped from the manufacturer with default credentials. I was working on automating that rotation, or automating a rotating password solution, essentially multi factor authentication for devices within data centers to improve security and efficiency. 

What stood out to you about your internship?

In this internship, I was the glue of a team. I was essentially the generalist working with a bunch of different specialists across network engineering, security engineering, and architecture teams to make a solution come to life. That’s exactly what I signed up for, and that’s what I got. So I was super happy about that.

How did you use your urban technology education in these projects?

One thing I immediately applied to the project was taking the design-based approach of understanding a problem and not just solutioning immediately. In our studio courses, we really focused on designing or understanding the problem. That mindset was pretty important in my internship. These classes have shaped my mindset to really take a step back and understand the problem first, and then start thinking about solutions.

How has this internship helped you in your future career goals?

My long-term career goal is to start a company of my own, and I want that to specifically be within the urban technology field at the intersection of the built environment and technology. So working for a company like Microsoft, for example, fits into that path. As a project manager, I learned skills toward eventually starting that company, working with people from diverse backgrounds and turning ideas into a reality. It equipped me with the skills to pursue my long-term entrepreneurial dreams.

What would be your ideal project in this field?

I want to take this city-based thinking and combine it with technology. For example, using agentic AI for surveillance or security cameras in cities to solve urban challenges. If there’s a car crash on the street, I don’t think we should wait til somebody calls an ambulance. I think we should have that happen automatically. So, using technology to solve urban challenges to essentially create a utopia where fewer people are dying and more lives are saved and people feel safer. I think that we can use a lot of these technologies that exist but aren’t necessarily being optimized for civic solutions or civic problems.

— Interview by Joshua Nicholson