Summer 2010- Danielle DaSilva (senior, Bioengineering & Mechanical Engineering)

This past summer, I had the amazing opportunity to work as an Lean Leader at GE Healthcare in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A Lean Leader is someone who's sole purpose on the manufacturing team is to streamline processes and eliminate waste in order to increase productivity and therefore output. Every morning I would put my steel toed boots on, grab my safety glasses and head out to the shop floor excited for my daily tasks. There was no such thing as a typical day, as I had to communicate with a large team of management and union workers in order to drive continuous improvements each day. I had not had any previous experience with Lean Manufacturing, so going into the summer I was a little intimidated of the challenges that may lie ahead. Thankfully though, the internship program was structured to allow me to not only work but also learn a wealth of knowledge. I had a mentor who guided me and served as a point person for those "dumb questions" you need to ask but don't know who to turn to. I also had the opportunity to present twice to my entire team and the plant manager at my site, which was a big deal and not as stressful as I thought it would be. Overall, I absolutely loved my 10 weeks working and always woke up excited for the day ahead.

In addition to working, Milwaukee was a fun place to spend my summer with about 150 other interns. A large group of us all lived within the same apartment complex which was at the edge of the city. This allowed for a quick commute to work during the week and a short taxi or bus ride to the lake on the weekends. Never being out in the Midwest before, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect but made sure to take advantage of every opportunity. I got to see a ton of concerts at Milwaukee's music festival called Summerfest and played countless number of volleyball games at the "beach" near the lake. Interns also planned a lot of events, as we volunteered at a 5K for cancer research and also went to a Milwaukee Brewers game together. I truly made some amazing friends that I still stay in touch with which only added to my summer experience.

My best advice when looking for an internship would be to not be afraid of going too far away from home or to a place you've never been before. I lived with three other girls this summer and only briefly knew one before the summer. Together we all had extremely different work positions which allowed us to view a number of aspects and made the large corporation feel a lot smaller. Definitely try to reach out of your comfort zone during an internship so when you begin to think about a full time job, you have a much better idea of what you're looking for.

-Danielle DaSilva