Internship Experience 3: Saul Wecht (Junior, Computer Engineering)

So let’s start at the beginning. Last summer, I was supposed to study abroad in Japan. I had my deposit sent in and my passport renewal in the mail. And then… the earthquake happened. Needless to say, the program was cancelled.

So there I was: A sophomore in March with nothing to do for the quickly approaching summer. I decided to approach Penn State’s Engineering Career Resources Office and see if there was anything they could do for me. To make a long story short, there was. After tearing apart and rebuilding my resume with me, they sent my information to a few different companies. Then, about a week later, I had an internship offer with Intel in Folsom, California.

So that was cool.

After finals week and a quick week at home to relax and pack (two things that I now know do not agree with each other), I was off to California. A few days after I landed, I was in Intel’s new employee orientation. Sound rushed? It felt rushed.

But, it was amazing. In a few short weeks I had gone from aimless student to full time Intel employee. I would say intern, but Intel doesn’t really make that distinction. One of the best parts about my internship was that I wasn’t treated like an intern. Once I joined my team, I was a full time developer just like everyone else. I attended team meetings, planned team projects, participated in team quarterly celebrations (which were awesome (and on company time)), and did pretty much everything else that anyone on the team did.

My team was responsible for Microsoft certification of Intel graphics drivers. Basically, Intel wrote software to control the graphics aspects of its computer processors and needed Microsoft’s seal of approval in order to call it a Windows certified driver. My team was responsible for executing the Microsoft-approved tests and getting that seal of approval. I specifically worked on automating that process. At the end of the day, my workload was mainly C# and aspx coding.

Possibly my favorite part of working at Intel, however, was the atmosphere. I’ve worked on countless teams in my life so far, and never (until this summer) have I been on a team where I genuinely liked every single member. Sure, I’ve had plenty of positive team experiences… but nothing quite like what I found at Intel. Each and every member of my team was friendly, knowledgeable, and supportive. And, from what I could tell, that was the case for every other team at Intel as well. Everyone was always happy, and there were no boundaries between offices. The CEO walked around in jeans and people called him Paul. The CEO of a multi-billion dollar international corporation. Paul. In jeans.

All things considered, I think you could say my summer was a success. After finding my last minute internship with this little company called Intel, I had an incredible experience where I learned a ton and met amazing people. I can only hope that I’m lucky enough to find my way back there again in the future!

Internship Experience 2: Terri Creech (Senior, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering)

Dreams Do Come True

One of the best things that Penn State encourages and assists students with is co-op and internships. These real world experiences help students figure out what the working world is like before they have even obtained a degree. As a senior in Industrial Engineer, I have done three internships (summer work experiences) and one co-op (semester work experience). I began with a summer internship after my freshman and sophomore years with General Electric (GE) Transportation in Erie, PA. My most recent experience was a spring co-op and summer internship with GE Energy in Minden, NV.

On my co-op and internship in Nevada, I had the chance to fulfill my dream of spending more than six months living out west. Minden (pictured below) is located at the base of the western Sierra Nevada Mountains, just 15 miles from Lake Tahoe, CA. The lifestyle that I had there was active, interesting, and challenging. Every day was different and dynamic. Through my experience, I learned so much about engineering, the western states, and myself. I was able to meet people from all over the country and travel to 16 states!

I spent 8 months as the West Region Services intern and worked for the region service manager who managed a team of 10 field engineers that lived throughout the west region. These field engineers travel to customer sites and are involved with the installation, update, and service of my company’s product. The customers are energy companies such as BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, and many power plants. In my job, I was able to travel to customer sites to assist the field engineers. For example, I travelled to Central California and worked at a power plant that provides electricity to 1/3 of central CA. Below is a picture of me inside of a gas turbine at the power plant; I’ll never turn a light switch on the same again!

The culture at GE Energy in Minden, NV was highly focused on an active lifestyle paired with hard work. Many of my coworkers were avid skiers, mountain bikers, hikers, rock climbers, and outdoor enthusiasts. In Nevada, I was able to ski every weekend through April and I learned how to mountain bike during the summer. The interns I worked with were from several different schools throughout the United States. I now have friends in Puerto Rico, Iowa, New York, Georgia, Nevada, and California! We took many trips together including Yosemite National Park, Crater Lake National Park, Zion National Park, and Redwood National Park (pictured below).

What is your dream? I urge you to follow your dreams. Take risks. Move someplace that makes you uncomfortable and embrace your surroundings- it may just change your life. Penn State Engineering can help you get anywhere you want to go, and do what you want to do. Develop your passions and remember that at the end of the day, no matter where you are, WE ARE… PENN STATE!

Internship Experience 1: ConocoPhillips!

This is the first of several posts where current ambassadors will tell us a little about their co-op/internship experiences.

Here's Ashley Elias (Senior, Mechanical Engineering) talking about her internship with ConocoPhillips!

This past summer I worked with ConocoPhillips at their Bayway Refinery in Linden, NJ. This was the first internship I had ever had in the Oil Industry and I loved it! Not only could I go out into the refinery to actually see what I was working on, but I got a lot of hands on experience witnessing different projects and processes in action. My title was the Mechanical Design and Reliability Intern. My group was in charge of analyzing heat exchangers, pressure vessels, and piping systems to ensure their functionality and structural integrity.

I was a little nervous at first, not knowing if I would understand all of my assignments, but with the help of other engineers in my group I was able to successfully complete all of the projects that were assigned to me during the summer.

Some of my projects included calculating the minimum required thicknesses for pressure vessels and heat exchangers. Operators would then go measure the thickness of these components and make sure they weren’t too corroded. If they were too thin, repairs or part replacements were necessary. I also worked on a really challenging piping analysis project. There was a piping system running in and out of a furnace and Operators noticed a lot of vibrations in the pipes. I was responsible for analyzing the stresses and vibrations in the pipes and designing a guide system to help support them.

Overall, I learned a lot throughout the summer and now I’m seeking a full time job in the Oil Industry!

Not only was the work very interesting, but all of the people I worked with were really helpful and welcoming. I was set up with a mentor and a buddy (a younger new hire to show me around). I also spent a lot of time with the other interns. ConocoPhillips set up apartments for all of us in the same building so that made the experience a lot of fun! I highly recommend doing an internship to anyone even if you don’t know what you want to do with your career; learning what you’re not interested in is just as valuable as learning what you are interested in!

Career Week

Just a few short weeks ago, Penn State hosted its annual Fall Career Week. This is an excellent opportunity for students of various disciplines to connect with employers from all over the country. Here is what some of the Engineering Ambassadors had to say about their experiences.

Anna Rish - Senior/Computer Science

This year at the career fair I had the unique experience of searching for an internship as a Master's Degree student. Because I am enrolled in a special 5-year Integrated Undergraduate/Graduate degree, I am technically a graduate student who has time for one more summer internship before graduation. While most companies did not treat me differently from other students, some companies have special programs aimed at both undergraduate and graduate students. I feel that some of my success at the career fair was due to my early appearance -- recruiters are still fresh (many fly in the night before and are battling fatigue throughout the day), and the booths are not too crowded yet. I was able to talk to all 5 of the companies that I was interested in (IBM, Cisco, Microsoft, Intel, and National Instruments), as well as another company called iDirect which actually pulled me into its booth to talk about my experiences as a computer science student. Out of this I was able to interview with 4/5 of the companies that were doing on-campus interviews. One company reviews resumes and then returns for interviews in October. Many companies also give applicants final decisions by the end of October -- so hopefully I'll my summer plans in order in the next few weeks!

AJ Logan - Senior/Mechanical Engineering

I had a little bit of a different career fair experience. I got to work as a recruiter for the entire day on Thursday, for the technical full time. I have signed a contract with a company, Schlumberger, and the head recruiter asked me to come along to the career fair to help out and take resumes from students and talk about the company and what I did at my internship. It was really cool, because I got to see the other side of the booth and talk to the students about my favorite topic, our company! I also got to meet 7 new Schlumberger employees who were also helping out, all of which were great people who held different positions within the company. It was interesting talking to the students as well and trying to judge whether they would fit into a position at Schlumberger, which taught me a little more about how students can do a better job of talking to recruiters. I found that excitement and personality are key. Many students were quiet or seemed shy, but they needed to be enthusiastic about what they wanted to do in life, if not then it seemed as though they didn't really want to work for us. Overall, they day was very fun and exciting and we even found some good candidates for jobs within the company.

Jacki Guillemette - Junior/Mechanical Engineering

Career week can be a very busy time with information sessions, career fair, interviews, and company dinners. This past career week, I had the opportunity to attend the HUGE career fair that Penn State offers with hundreds of companies. I got to speak with representatives from all the companies that I was interested in and ended up with 4 interviews as well as an invitation to a dinner with one of the companies and other intern applicants. Interviews can be a little intimidating but as long as you are prepared for possible questions they could ask (questions about previous group projects, problems you had to deal with, how you handle your work load, etc.) and have some confidence, you are all set! The dinner I was invited to was great too because I got to learn more about the one company in a more casual setting. In a few weeks I should find out whether I got an internship or not so I have my fingers crossed!

Megumi Woltermann - Junior/Chemical Engineering

Penn state does a great job with the career fair. For one day, I get access to over a hundred employers. I applied to over 10 internships, and I met with a lot of great companies. A lot of companies will be interviewing within the next couple of weeks, so hopefully I impressed them enough to get an interview. I got a call back from P&G to go out to dinner the same day as the career fair. They took me out to The Tavern, and I got to know some of the recruiters a little better. I will know in a couple weeks if I will get an interview. Over the years, I have had a really good experience with the career fair. The career fair has given me the opportunity to meet and learn about different companies in such a short amount of time.

2010-2011 Year in Review

Welcome back! Hope you had a great summer and are excited for another school year! Here's a little video summary of this past year...be sure to tune into our blog throughout this upcoming year to see all the fun things we've been up to! Enjoy!

Job Search- Deanna Jacoby (senior, Chemical Engineering)

A few weeks ago, I was given the opportunity to fly to Holly Springs, NC for an interview with Novartis, a pharmaceutical company. What is unique and special about this opportunity is that Novartis was interested enough in me as well as 5 other Penn State students to fly us down, all expenses paid.

This situation came about through the Penn State’s engineering career fair, held every spring and solely dedicated to recruiting world-class Penn State engineers. Students looking for full-time, internship or co-op positions are given the chance to network with over a hundred companies in hopes of landing a job. In my case, I was looking for a full-time position after graduating with my degree in Chemical Engineering this May. Job searching can be a terribly stressful ordeal in this economy, but with dedication and 4 years of Penn State behind me, I was fully confident in my ability to land a job.

The interview itself went well in my opinion: the standard questions were asked as well as a few trickier ones. (Give me a time when you really messed up and how did you get things back on track?) The roundtrip flights in a single day are also worth mentioning. I had never been on a plane before, and this was definitely not the way to start. Each flight we were scheduled to take was delayed, cancelled or missed because of maintenance issues and weather. We left at 6am, and didn’t return to State College until midnight! But, after the incredibly long day, we had another interview under our belts and we all went home with a sense of accomplishment eager to find out if we got the job.

Bottom line: When you choose your college, don’t just think about what you can gain from them in your 4 years, but also what you’ll be gaining from them in the life-long journey after you graduate. Your college should be able to give you opportunities to help you start your career after graduation.

-Deanna Jacoby

Engineering Ambassadors Seminar & Corporate Sponsor- Kimberly Harrison (senior, Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering)

Many of my fellow ambassadors have seemed to find their “niche” amongst our very talented group. Whether it is designing the website, filming/starring in the webisodes, or even crafting invites to our various social events via PowerPoint, each ambassador is leaving their mark on this new organization. One of the roles that I seem to have fallen into is serving as an “ambassador” for the ambassadors both nationally and internationally. Last month, myself and fellow ambassador Katie Kirsch had the opportunity to visit the University of Connecticut to partake in a discussion and planning meeting on expanding the Engineering Ambassadors to other universities in the Northeast. The expansion has been made possible by the generous sponsorship from the United Technologies Corporation (UTC), who has recognized that Engineering Ambassadors possess the communication and leadership skills they seek out for potential managerial positions.

Representatives from four schools (Penn State, UConn, Worcester Polytechnic, and Rennsalear Polytechnic), as well as senior leadership from UTC (including the Vice President of Engineering at Pratt & Whitney, Mr. Al Brockett) were in attendance to share best practices and establish a collaborative vision for the Engineering Ambassadors. Katie and I gave a presentation to the group on space exploration to show an example of our high school outreach model. As a result, Penn State will be hosting an Engineering Ambassadors workshop in early April for our three partner schools to help them develop presentations that they can implement to high schools throughout their respective regions. I’ve always been so passionate about the mission of the Engineering Ambassadors, and I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to play a role in this expansion. I’m looking forward to working with fellow students from different engineering programs towards the common goal of high school engineering outreach, as I’m sure our different experiences and perspectives will allow us to come up with some very new and exciting presentations.

It’s humbling to see how much this organization has grown over the last two years at Penn State. I’d like to take a moment to recognize the hard work and dedication of each and every Penn State Engineering Ambassador, who have really paved the way for an incredible cause that just continues to grow with each speaking event. Further, I’d like to recognize the contributions of members from the College of Engineering, such as Dean Renata Engel, Professor Michael Alley, and Dr. Karen Thole, who have supported the Ambassadors from the beginning and continue to provide us with new opportunities. And lastly, I would like to recognize the selfless dedication and leadership of our faculty adviser, Melissa Marshall, who has become both a friend and mentor to all involved with this organization. With the support of UTC and the newly establish partnership between UConn, WPI, and RPI, it feels like the Engineering Ambassadors will take over the world pretty soon.