September 03, 2025 - by CSCS
Could you briefly introduce yourself?
My name is Leonardo Asaro, and I’m a bachelor’s student in computer science at USI, Lugano. I have always been interested in low-level programming, so this internship seemed like the perfect opportunity to gain experience in this field.
What fascinates you in the world of supercomputing?
The focus lies on writing code that is as performant and efficient with resources as possible. Our programs and algorithms impact many fields, such as medicine, physics, and industrial applications.
How did you first hear about CSCS?
I first read about it online while researching supercomputing programs, but one of my teachers at USI also mentioned CSCS during a course.
Why did you want to intern at CSCS?
HPC is an exciting field in which to work, and the internship’s description seemed to really match my personal interests.
What projects have you worked on so far during your internships at CSCS?
I have worked on an eBPF framework for kernel-level monitoring. With that experience, I have built a program which detects and blocks privilege escalation attempts; one monitors and logs network connections, one tracks syscalls, and one files access tracking.
How would you describe a regular day as an intern at CSCS?
I come to the office between 8:45 and 9:30. After settling in, I have a standup meeting with my supervisor to plan the day’s tasks. At lunch, I grab a coffee and some fruit around 12 or 12:30, and I have lunch with my coworkers. I work on my tasks for the rest of the day until around 17:30. We would also have a longer meeting once a week, during which participants would briefly demonstrate the features they had worked on during the week and discuss the next steps to building them.
What will you take home from this experience?
I learned a lot during this internship, both on a technical and professional level. I had never worked on a project of this scope that collaborates with others, nor had I ever gotten this in-depth on the technical topics I had to work on during the internship. Overall, it has been an enriching experience.