Internship Experience- Straight Ahead! (Jacki Guillemette- Junior in Mechanical Engineering)

When I first came to college, I thought that my four years up at school were going to be the single main place where I had my experiences until I graduated. But once I arrived on the University Park campus, I quickly realized how valuable an internship experience could be to my engineering career and how much Penn State encourages you to partake in that opportunity.

I had my first internship the summer after my sophomore year of college. I worked at a company called Hamilton Sundstrand, which is a United Technologies Company, headquartered in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. Hamilton provides different systems for aircraft- both commercial and military- such as the air management system, engine systems, etc. They also are the main contractor for NASA’s space suit, which was a really neat thing to see up close. As an intern, I had the chance to do some manufacturing work within the mechanical engine systems department and helped expedite the assembly of jet fuel controls and starters for airplanes.

But this coming summer, now that I have finished my junior year of school, I will be working at a company called ConocoPhillips in Old Ocean, Texas! I am super excited for this opportunity because I have never lived in the south before and I also get to learn all about the oil industry. I have always wanted to go to Texas because I thought it would be a neat place to visit, especially since it is so different from my home- Pennsylvania.

ConocoPhillips is an oil company responsible for providing energy at an international level. I will be working at a refinery helping improve refining and production technologies and efficiencies and learning about the how the refining process works at ConocoPhillips. This will be neat experience and a lot different from my last internship at an aerospace company. It is such a great opportunity and I couldn't be more excited to start it! Being able to live in different locations for a few months and get real engineering experience is such a great way to enhance your learning and your character so I am very happy that I chose Penn State which gives me tons of opportunities like this to choose from. 

Summer Plans! (AJ Logan: Senior, Mechanical Engineering)

This summer I will be traveling to Nyeri, Kenya to manufacture and sell low cost solar dryers to small scale farmers. In Kenya, most people are living on about $2 per day, and 80% of the work force is comprised of farmers working on less than 5 acres of land. Unfortunately about 50% of the food that these farmers grow will spoil before it can be sold. Drying food is a great way to increase the shelf life of the product, and it can be sold for 3 times the price of fresh foods. Now, the common drying process is open air drying, which is slow going and leads to high amounts of contamination. Our solar dryers can dry more efficiently and block out most dirt and contaminants from the air. There are some dryers currently on the market in this area, but they typically cost between $500 and $2,000. Our dryers cost about $120. We are hoping to set up a sustainable business for entrepreneurs in Africa who are interested in learning how to build and maintain these dryers for the farmers. While I am over there I will be doing work building and marketing these dryers as well as research how well they work. The group going over also gets to have some fun. We will be going to national parks for Safari rides and we get to visit an African animals petting zoo! I'm very excited to have the opportunity to travel internationally to implement this project.