Students share a little about their experiences as interns in their own words.
Abhijeet Maniktala
As an intern at JTEC Energy, Inc., I execute experiments with senior scientists and help build experimental prototypes of the revolutionary JTEC Device.
Some of the best ideas in the world are waiting for materials science to catch up. As a materials science engineer, you can help accelerate the future.
I started at Penn State in 2017 and will graduate in the fall of 2021.
Sierra Astle
This summer I'm a research intern at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. My project is to examine the viability of PV glass samples to be upcycled, so I'll be examining each glass sample for its chemical structure and what it contains. I'm responsible for a few things. First, I core and drill into PV samples and catalogue the glass. Then, I examine each sample using XRF and collect data on the cored samples, and finally, I analyze that data and enter it into an ongoing spreadsheet. That pretty much sums up my usual week!
I love MatSE because of its versatility—materials are everywhere, so for someone with a lot of interests and a strong passion for science, this is the right major for sure! You can pretty much end up in any field and make a difference there, too.
I'm a junior and I will graduate spring 2023.
Anthony Romero
As a battery research and development intern at the Battery Innovation Center (BIC) in Newberry Indiana, I am responsible for assisting with the development of manufacturing processes and capabilities for BIC’s clients, encompassing the entire development process – from mixing and coating slurry to constructing coin and pouch cells.
The field of MatSE drives innovation, actualizing breakthroughs in the materials we use and rely on every day. MatSE is the future – make it part of yours.
I will be graduating spring 2022.
Katelyn McCreery
I am currently working as a quality control intern at North American Hoganas High Alloys in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. In this internship, I am pressing powdered metals, sintering them on a new high temperature furnace, and gathering the data to report if the tests have proved to be successful or a failure.
Materials Science and Engineering is a fantastic major for those are interested in many different scientific and engineering related topics because it is such an interdisciplinary field that allows us to study many different aspects of materials and why they behave the way that they do.
I am entering my fourth year this fall, and I intend to graduate in the spring of 2022.