Name:Kaya Knake
Internship, Co-op or Research Site:Robert Bosch LLC.
Position Title:Intern Software Developer
Major(s)/Minor(s):Computer Science
Work Term:Summer 2018
Tell us about your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day responsibilities.
This summer, I was fortunate to intern for a second time with Robert Bosch LLC. I worked within the Information Coordination Organization department to create shared service software. I assisted in database maintenance and created a dashboard in Power BI for Bosch Latin America. On a day-to-day basis, I programmed with SQL, attended customer meetings, and worked independently on assigned projects.
Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application?
I became aware of the internship position for a software developer from a Bosch employee in January 2018. I applied online and had an in-person interview in March. The application process was more streamlined as this was my second internship with Bosch. Therefore, eliminating many of the requirements for new interns, such as watching the online introduction videos, orientation, and some paperwork.
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization?
As a software development intern at Bosch, I enjoyed employing data visualization tactics to create the dashboards. Data visualization was enjoyable as it allowed me to creatively analyze and display customer data. This experience was enhanced by reading “Storytelling with Data” which explains how people process charts and visuals.
One of my most enjoyable experiences with Bosch was becoming involved with Women in STEM. I assisted in leading a Women in STEM event for Detroit middle schools girls visiting Bosch to learn about working at STEM companies. I lead four sets of girls through a Sphero programming challenge that I wrote. This activity was fulfilling and I was fortunate that Bosch provided me the opportunity to help out our community.
How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?
I believe I made an impact as a software developer at Bosch through my work on the Power BI dashboard. I created multiple dashboards tailored to customer specifications. I also was given the opportunity to create macros to better organize data, instructed my team on the use of these macros, and apply them to other company dashboards.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
I would recommend to any other student seeking an internship to avoid limiting yourself during the application process. Internships are an opportunity to gain experience but also can open new doors. Remember to network with your coworkers and have fun!
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Name:Sean Jordan
Internship, Co-op or Research Site:Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
Position Title: Software Engineering Intern
Major(s)/Minor(s):Mathematical Statistics Major, Computer Science / Judaic Studies Minor
Work Term:Summer 2018, Winter 2019
Tell us about your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day responsibilities.
At my internship, I work to develop computer algorithms for a graph analytics platform that helps to detect anomalies in big data. In the past, I wrote code in Java that helped researchers analyze a biopharmaceutical dataset that dealt with patients who are suffering from schizophrenia, in the hopes that better data analysis tactics could help determine which single nucleotide polymorphisms correlated most heavily with the disease. Currently, I am writing code that helps analyze data taken from NAVAIR flights in order to help determine the cause of certain cases of hypoxia and other illnesses experienced when pilots embark on flights.
Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application?
I first heard about the possibility of an internship with the Applied Physics Laboratory from my grandfather, who worked there in the past. In the spring of my junior year of high school, I applied to their ASPIRE high school internship program, and luckily got accepted. After completing the internship during my senior year of high school, I got hired back as a college intern for the summer, and have been going back between semesters ever since.
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization?
I have really enjoyed meeting and networking with coworkers that have master's and doctorate level experience in the fields that I am interested in. I have been able to gain valuable insight from them regarding the undergraduate and graduate college experience required to work at such a place as the Applied Physics Laboratory. I have also thoroughly enjoyed working alongside the full-time staff to solve challenging problems that require innovative solutions. The Applied Physics Laboratory also has a variety of events geared specifically at interns, so my experience was filled with fun activities that made me feel like I belonged there.
How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?
I think that I have written long-lasting code that researchers at the Applied Physics Laboratory can use for years to come on multiple other projects. I have also helped synthesize new datasets and use them to draw significant conclusions, which helps further the missions of the projects that I was working on. Additionally, I believe that I have brought positivity and enthusiasm to the workplace, which has brightened my coworkers' moods.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
Don't be dissuaded if you find out that your internship isn't what you thought it was. Give it your all anyways, and if you don't like it, move on to a different career focus. Internships are as much about finding what you DON'T like as they are about finding what you DO like.
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Want to be the next Intern of the Week? Make sure to fill out this form and stay tuned. New interns are announced every Friday!
]]>Name:Abhishek Dhaktod
Internship, Co-op or Research Site:Knorr Brake Company
Position Title: Project Management Intern
Major(s)/Minor(s):Engineering Management
Work Term:Summer 2018
Tell us about your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day responsibilities.
Knorr Brake Company (KBC) is a part of the Knorr Bremse Family located in Munich, Germany. Located in Westminster, Maryland, KBC is a manufacturer of Braking, Door, and HVAC systems for the Mass Transit Rail Industry. As a project management intern for the Rail Services - Brake Division, I work on multiple projects all across the North America supporting Project Manager and their activities such as updating current database such as Bill of Materials, scheduling, procurement and supply chain activities. Currently I am working on a localization process in which I will be responsible of developing an action plan for the Knorr Brake Company to support projects that come under FTA/FRA "Make in USA" regulations. Since the project involves multiple departments and their internal processes, from the base level manufacturing processes, supplier quality assessment to upper level long term planning, I am getting the maximum exposure an Intern would expect.
Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application?
I heard about the position in November 2017 during a career fair organized by UMBC Career Center. I met the HR representatives and since then I was taken regular follow-ups on the position requirements and status. The career center helped me design a resume specific to the positional requirements since the HR representative clearly told me that my resume was good for almost all available position but, it she was not able to point me in a particular direction. Finally I got an interview call in mid May which and a few weeks later I got a confirmation call.
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization?
Project Management is a domain which will help you get maximum exposure in a company. A project manager here at KBC is responsible from the earliest contract stage of a project till the closure or warranty phase. After years of experience, a project manager develops multiple skills like marketing, negotiating, scheduling, managing budgets and customer relationship which is what I am looking forward to in near future.
How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?
Project Managers usually handle multiple projects and they have huge responsibilities on them. These projects are worth millions of dollars and when an intern helps him/her in accomplishing a task at a faster rate, I believe it is a significant contribution towards the organization.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
The subjects we choose and previous experiences/projects and activities can definitely help someone land an internship like this.
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]]>Name:Yaw Owusu-Boaitey
Internship, Co-op or Research Site:Colorado State University Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in Molecular Biosciences
Position Title: Research Intern
Major(s)/Minor(s):Biological Sciences
Work Term:Summer 2018
Tell us about your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day responsibilities.
I had a phenomenal experience in the Colorado State REU in Molecular Biosciences in summer 2018. I had the pleasure of working in the lab of Dr. Erin Osborne Nishimura as part of my first long-term research experience through the REU. My project assessed the impact of two common E. coli dietary sources on the health and behavior of the free-living nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, an unexpectedly charming model organism of study with many useful and fascinating characteristics.My day-to-day responsibilities included media making for the worms and bacteria, worm transfer between various agar plates and growth conditions for experimentation purposes, counting worm populations, conducting protocols to stain for fat levels within the worms, tracking worm movement, and creating weekly reports and updates for my work.
Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application?
As a student in the Meyerhoff Scholars Program at UMBC, I received lots of guidance in applying for summer internships, including help with drafting personal statements and a resume. The UMBC Writing Center and Career Center were also instrumental during the revision process for my application materials.I began to research summer 2018 internship positions as early as fall 2017, mostly utilizing resources from the Research Opportunities webpage on the UMBC Undergraduate Research website. I submitted my applications in January 2018, since most summer research internships I applied to had deadlines in February and March 2018.
What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization?
Every aspect of the REU program was phenomenal and far exceeded my expectations. My lab members were incredibly friendly and knowledgeable, and the people I met in the program and in other labs at Colorado State helped me to develop as a research scientist. This development remains incredibly important to me, since I intend to pursue a graduate research degree in developmental biology or molecular genetics. Through the REU, I strengthened my understanding of developmental biology as well as my professional skills. The opportunity to spend ten weeks away from home developing my passion for research also provided me with the space to grow personally and learn about a school that I will consider attending for graduate studies. Lastly, and most importantly, I thoroughly enjoyed working with C. elegans, and its usefulness as a model organism continues to constantly fascinate me. For example, adult C. elegans worms have exactly 959 cells, and researchers know exactly when each cell type will arise during development. The worms take only four days to grow from embryo to adult. They can even be frozen indefinitely and brought back to life!
How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?
My particular project was one that lacks comprehensive study in labs that use C. elegans as a model organism. Most labs culture worms on agar plates seeded with the OP50 E. coli strain as a diet for the worms. If labs want to grow very large quantities of worms, a thicker-growing strain of E. coli, NA22, is instead provided as a diet for the worms. These two E. coli strains are often used interchangeably in C. elegans studies, and worm health under the two diets is largely assumed to be similar. However, sensitive genomics assays, quantitative experiments, or investigations into behavior or intestinal biology may be confounded by even subtle differences in worm development. Thus, we aimed to quantify effects of the two food sources on three key worm phenotypes: worm brood size, intestinal fat deposit levels, and motility. My project excited me and made me feel that I made a worthwhile impact in C. elegans research.
What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?
I would advise students to visit the Career Center, Undergraduate Research website, and other campus resources to browse opportunities they are interested in and keep track of deadlines well ahead of time (for internship applications, 3-4 months ahead of deadlines). I would also advise students to make appointments with the Career Center and Writing Center on campus to prepare the strongest possible application materials, including statements, resumes, and requests for letters of recommendation.
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Want to be the next Intern of the Week? Make sure to fill out this form and stay tuned. New interns are announced every Friday!
I have a confession to make: up until a few weeks ago, I didn’t have a Linkedin account. To some that may sound insane, to others completely normal. I’d been receiving the occasional Linkedin email from friends syncing their contacts for years. I think some part of me wanted to resist the urge to join just to spite them. Show them that annoyance wasn’t going to wear me down. Then, I start applying for corporate internships. I saw friends accepting offers after talking to recruiters on Linkedin. I caved. I made an account and was immediately able to find friends who’d interned at the place I wanted to intern, reach out to them, and talk about their experiences. I will admit, Linkedin is incredibly useful. Even if they need to tone it down on their email campaigns. So whether you’re just joining or want to revamp your profile, here's a quick and easy guide to setting up and making the most out of your Linkedin account.
The Basics:
Make your account using a professional email you check regularly. Notification emails can be annoying, but they let you know when important things are happening.
Upload a professional profile picture. Get a friend to take one with your phone camera if you have to, although the Career Center often has Linkedin head shot stations at our Career Fairs.
Write a brief but keyword-filled description of your career goals.
Keep your list of positions and companies up to date.
Fill out your skills and projects section with some examples of your work and skills you feel confident in showcasing.
Going Farther:
Begin making connections. Maybe you’re a member of a professional organization or club on campus. Add the members to your network. Make friends in classes and add them. On the job, add your coworkers and supervisor (if appropriate).
Endorse other people's skills (to get endorsements yourself). Much like the age-old follow-for-follow Instagram profiles, to get endorsements, you must give endorsements.
Join groups that are relevant to you. My first suggestion: the UMBC student-alumni group!
Check out the Linkedin student job portal. Not only can you filter jobs by qualifications, fields, and locations, but they also have handbooks in the form of free downloadable PDFs to walk you through the job search and interview process.
Want to go further? Look at Linkedin’s guide for students and check out our Career Guide (page 50) for more LinkedIn information.
Attention all UMBC student employees!
What could be better than having an on-campus job?
Having an on-campus job and getting a notation on your transcript that tells employers you made the effort to enhance your professional development!
Make your campus experience stand out and count!
Enroll in PRAC 102 Building Skills for Career Success TODAY! Don’t worry, it’s not a formal class! With the minimal commitment of attending a few workshops and career events you will be better prepared for the world of work and have the proof on your college transcript to show your employer. Don’t let this opportunity pass you by!
Click HERE to enroll in this zero credit practicum for Spring 2018 . Also, obtain the Syllabus below (SEE DOCUMENT DOWNLOAD). Open to both undergraduates and graduate students from all majors/fields of study.
Deadline to enroll: March 5, 2018
Must be a UMBC student employee working at least eight hours per week on campus.
Supervisor confirmation of employment will be requested.
QUESTIONS, please contact Caroline Bodnar at the Career Center at carolc@umbc.edu or (410) 455-2216.