Are there any Engineers on the board?

[MikeS]

Several of the companies that I’ve worked at, including where I work now, hire what could loosely be called interns. I think this summer we paid $10 hour. They end up doing a little bit of everything, whatever is needed, from sweeping the floor, to loading the truck, to assembling components and complete SATCOM systems. I think it’s a great chance for them to get exposure to satellite communications and it’s a great source of cheep labor for us. They get too learn from a lot of different people planners, wiremen, assemblers, draftsmen without being under pressure. Once they start as an Engineer most of these people will look at them differently, so it’s a unique opportunity. Being a small company everyone has to do a little bit of everything so they get exposed to a lot. If nothing else they get exposure to a small company culture. For me the big company versus small company cultures has been the biggest factor in job satisfaction.

Mike

 

[Aquamaniac]

Yep, Electrical Engineer here, Power genearation/Large Rotating Machinery Specialty.

If you ever have a need to service a +200 MegaWatt Turbine Alternator, or need to Rewind a 2000HP DC Winder motor, Im your Man!!!!

Dave

PS, I can also change the batteries in your flashlight

 

[notabob]

In the good ole' days of 4-5 years ago it tended to be pretty easy to get an internship. Depending on what field he's more interested in, he might be lucky and still be able to find something. Hi-tech jobs including internships, as abundant as they were only a few short years ago, are very hard to come by, most companies are laying off and cutting costs. He might be better off finding something in the mechanical, civil, or bio eng. fields. Co-op positions tend to be paid, I was making >$14 an hour while I was co-oping back in 97 and was lucky enough to be pretty heavily involved in working on actual projects instead of mopping floors. Learned a ton! It may be a little bit harder for Jordan to find an internship these days, unfortunately, especially as a freshman. But have him keep at it, he should eventually be able to find something. I have no idea how the job market is in Chicago or wherever he's going to school/spending his summer, hopefully much better than in Mass. If his school holds job fairs, have him go to those and pass out resumes. If not, have him look through the papers for companies that are hiring engineers, and then send out resumes to those companies. I haven't seen many places post job openings for internships lately around here, but that doesn't mean that they won't be open to hiring him if they are given an opportunity. Hope this helps!

-Roman.

 

[clive francis]

4 yr mechanical engineering apprenticeship and a BEng (Hon's) degree in electronic systems design (hardware, software, business etc.) that is black box systems design (mainly defence, but now railway safety systems) not looking after a computer network

in the UK we can do summer placements, apprenticeships, year/gap placement as part of a 4 year degree, and you get payed for all.

If i had a son, and he said he wanted to go to university, i would say what for?

go to college, do a trade (sparky/plumber) there is a lot more scope for working private jobs in the evenings and weekends, plus you don't get in sh*t loads of debt paying your way through university!

 

[scuba-punk]

Undergrad: Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. Working on Master's and PhD of Comp Sci, then back to graduate work in Engineering. Probably get my P.E. license in the next couple of years too...

 

[Northeastwrecks]

BSIE, 1989

J.D., 1996

I worked as an industrial engineer for a few years before practicing law.

My internship with Polaroid was part of my undergraduate thesis. It was against the rules for us to be paid because we were receiving academic credit.

 

[DennisW]

I guess you found a few. Donna and I are both Electrical Engineers. We met in Physics class at UF. Donna was a co-op student at NASA Langley for 4 years. She had a great experience and learned a tremendous amount about Engineering. NASA has a very good Intern / Co-op program. You should check them out. NASA has research centers all over the country.

I was too intent on graduating since I was paying my way through school. So, I never explored an intern position. I wanted to make real money as soon as possible.

Donna went on to get her MSEE and then a PhD in Science Education / Engineering. Me, I hate school (well, not really) but I do have an MBA.

I decided to become an Electrical Engineer because I knew absolutely nothing about electronics and electricity. I figured I should learn something in College.

 

[Spectre]

I was in college with a major that basically is a combined Math Major CS minor. I started my experience as a student working in the computer clusters... making sure the systems were running and paper was in the printer, but by nature ended up answering a lot of student programming questions.

The summer between my 8th and 9th semester [yea yea yea], was as an intern in the MIS department of my current company. I came back to college and took an Integration Testing co-op with Cabletron, and then returned to my current company after I finished school.. in MIS again, but with a focus on the software rather than the hardware side of things.

A few months later I got 'loaned' to engineering...

Almost 8 1/2 years later... they seem to have forgotten about the 'loan'.

Yes, I was paid hourly for both my internship positions.

I would assume that there is a career center in your son's school, probably in connection with wherever one would go to get work study positions. They would be the best starting source for finding local companies that have large internship programs [for example, Cabletron was a huge supporter of UNH and maintained many co-op positions... many who moved into their general work force].

 

[Big-t-2538]

with a PM...I have a lot to say....I just finished in 2000, have been pursuing my master's...and recently joined the official workfor...(SCARY STUFF) anyway....

 

[Natasha]

Great information. Jordan has read both pages. And Big T. I sent him the PM you sent me.
His comments were that #1 A big company would take him, but he'd learn more in a small company.
#2 His first step should be to go to the career center.
Big T. He is going to Marquette University in Milwaukee.
By they way, he recieved 3 scholarships to go there. His interest at this time, is Civil Engineering.