How to Succeed at Your Engineering Internship
It’s the off season for hiring interns but it’s probably the right season to start thinking about your future internship for this summer or the next if you are an engineering student. Dressing appropriately is only part of the battle (and I love the tie from Sandra Lara via creative commons). Many of the suggestions might apply to many other industries as well. So I apologize if they’re a bit generic but as I’ve worked with a couple crops of interns so far I thought I’d offer some ideas from my perspective. Treat everyone with respect. Some interns save their kissing up for the bosses and senior folks only. But that’s real obvious to the other employees. And yes it can seem kind of insincere to be kissing up to everyone all at once. But really people will expect it from you and not hold it against you as long…
Engineering Education Beyond the Classroom
Engineering education is something that gets discussed a lot around here, and around the web. However, most of these discussions focus on what can be done within the classroom context. There are just certain limits to what can be done with a group of 30-100 students at one time, and there are many economic reasons to keep large lecture classes around. When it comes to studying theory, this method can be highly effective. But what about application? Most students struggle with bridging the gap between theory and application. Lab classes can be one way of connecting the two, but these are often expensive in equipment and instructor time. I strongly feel that every engineering undergraduate needs to do at least one project outside of the classroom. Many schools have some sort of senior design program, but by then, it may be too late, as students have left engineering (the leaky…