Internships


What is an internship?

Relevant work experience in your major field. This may be a part-time job
while going to school, full-time job during the summer, or a co-op (alternating semesters of work and
school)

Why should I get an intenship?

Benefits to Student:

  • Build CONFIDENCE
  • Learn about your major and what engineers do
  • Determine your preference for engineering major, company size, and environment
  • $$$ Make money $$$
  • Gain new skills
  • Earn credit toward a technical elective
  • Makes your more employable after graduation

When should I look for an internship?
Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior, Senior –  When in doubt APPLY!

Who hires engineering interns?
Local employers that have hired our students include HP, Micron, Microsoft (Boise), Clearwater Analytics, CRI, Sybase,  Balihoo, Mark Monitor, Cradlepoint, PinnPointe, FTF Technologies, TenXys, Power Engineers, Idaho DEQ, Intermountain Gas, Boise Inc, and several others.

Stop in ET 101 to discuss specific companies and contacts.

Examples of what interns have done for employers:

  • Converted MRIs or CT scans into 3D models of bone structures to assist surgeons.
  • Prepared training material for parametric testing.
  • Performed electrical failure analysis to characterize defects to increase product yield.
  • Programmed a tool for LaserJet printers to count PostScript operator usage.
  • Estimation and support tasks for project managers.
  • Created Java applications for tracking equipment checkout and user logins.
  • Measurements in a meso-scale soil deposit and analysis of data.
  • Checked designs and drawings for form, fit and function; SolidWorks modeling.

How do I find an Internship position?

  • NETWORKING!!! 20% of jobs are posted, 80% are who you know!
  • Join student organizations, attend guest speakers, seminars, and events. Tell family
    and friends you are seeking an internship.
  • Read Leandra’s emails (job announcements)
  • Read the weekly College of Engineering Student On-line News!!
  • Register on BroncoJobs and search for opportunities
  • Research list of companies and submit cover letter and resume.
  • Attend the BSU Career Fairs every Fall and Spring semester (October 5, 2011)
    http://career.boisestate.edu
  • Network and Practice speaking to employers.
  • Create a resume now
  • Determine your SKILLS. Skills gained through work, class projects, hobbies
    (troubleshooting, working in teams, gathering data, analyzing data, testing, design, build,
    solving problems, writing technical reports, presenting results, fixing computers, working on
    computers, programming, drafting, electronics, machining, mechanics).

Earning credit for Internship:

  • All students can earn credit for their internship experience.
  •  Three credits toward technical elective as junior or senior.
  • Some students may choose to sign up for internship credit to establish or maintain eligibility for
    financial aid, or to maintain full-time status.

What do I have to do to earn the credit?
Depending on the department…..

  • Write a paper at the end of the semester
  •  Write weekly reports
  • Presentation at the end of the semester
  • Talk to your advisor about the requirements.

How to earn credit for an internship:

  • Fill out the Internship Application for Academic Credit on-line at http://
    career.boisestate.edu
  • Print out the final form
  • Obtain your advisors signature
  • Send the signed form to the Registrar’s Office, Mailstop 1365
  •  Deadline is 6 weeks after semester begins
  • Students must work 50 hours per 1 credit (150 hours during the semester or summer
    session). That’s about 10 hours a week during school year.
  • To earn credit during summer must pay for summer school credit.

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Even More Paid Opportunities in UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH

What is Undergraduate Research?
You can get paid to conduct research for a faculty member at Boise State or other universities!!! Ask
professors if they have undergraduate research opportunities! Express interest in their research!

Here are two resources for finding undergraduate research opportunities across the country.

National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (mostly summer)
Hundreds of NSF sponsored internships all over the country http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm
Eligible: Freshman through senior
Application: Deadlines vary — see Web site

Pathways to Science
For Undergraduates: Paid Summer Undergrad Research Placements:
Over 400 programs – REU and Other Summer Research Opportunities for Undergrads www.pathwaystoscience.org/Summerresearch.asp

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Opportunities with NASA

Internship, Undergraduate Research Information

How to obtain Internships, Research and other opportunities:

  1. Research – Look at potential areas of research and determine which best fits your interests
    For example, if you are interested in NASA centers:

    •  http://usrp.usra.edu/ This outstanding link, the home page for NASA’s Undergraduate Student Research Program, (USRP: one of NASA’s many undergraduate internship programs) is a user friendly, one stop shop to learn what areas of research each of the NASA Centers focuses on. Just click on the “Find Your Vision” map.
    • http://usrp.usra.edu/students/locations/ Use this link to select your area of interest, and learn which NASA centers focus on this research.
    • http://www.nasa.gov/ This is the main NASA site with links to each center. However you can also find a direct link to each center when you use the “Find Your Vision” map at the USRP site above.
    • http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp This is a link to externally published NASA research reports for download. This is an ideal link to look at specific areas of research for specific individuals.
    • http://scholar.google.com/ This is a great link to look at research papers beyond NASA.

     

  2. Communicate – Make contact with the Center, University, or employer of your choice.
    For NASA opportunities, the University Affairs Officer (UAO) is the ideal starting point. http://
    www.nasa.gov/offices/education/contacts/highed.html
  3. Connect – Express your interest in a specific research area and request a potential point of
    contact in this area.
    At NASA, the UAO should be able to place you in contact with a person working in your area
    of interest.
  4. Contact – Craft an email and/or follow up with a phone call to the contact expressing your interest.
    Researchers are interested in talking about their research, particularly with excited students.
  5. Persistence – Don’t give up after one try. Look at several opportunities and put in the time/effort
    required to achieve success.
  6. Apply – You can’t get the position unless you apply. Go all the way and fill out the application
    documents.

NASA Langley in Virginia (Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars Program) (LARSS)
http://www.nianet.org/larss/ – February 1 application deadline

Helpful NASA Resources for undergrad and graduate students seeking opportunities:
- One Stop Shopping for NASA-supported internships, fellowships and scholarships:
http://intern.nasa.gov/

NASA Centers and Facilities

Each center offers different experiences in a variety of specialized fields.   We encourage you to research and acquire these opportunities.

  1. Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
  2. Dryden Flight Research Center, Southern California near Edwards AFB
  3. Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio
  4. Goddard Space Flight Center, Goddard, Maryland
  5. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas,
  6. Kennedy Space Center, Florida,
  7. Langley Research Center, Virginia
  8. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama
  9. Stennis Space Center, Mississippi

Internship and Undergraduate Research Opportunities: 

These are just a few of the many opportunities available to Boise State students.

Idaho National Laboratory (summer and academic year), http://www.inl.gov/education/internships.shtml
Eligible: Freshman through graduate students
Application: now open, deadline February 2012

U.S. Department of Energy, Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (summer & academic year)
http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/SciEd/ERULF/about.html  (Boise State has priority for this program)
Eligible: High school graduating senior through college senior
Application: Opens Oct. 5

U.S. Department of Energy and NSF, Faculty and Student Teams Program (summer)
(Boise State has priority for this program)  Must form team of one faculty and two or three students
http://www.scied.science.doe.gov/scied/fast/about.html
Eligible: Freshman through senior
Application: Opens Oct. 5

National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (mostly summer)
Hundreds of NSF sponsored internships all over the country  http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm
Eligible: Freshman through senior
Application: Deadlines vary — see Web site

Bettis Summer Intern Program      

http://bettislab.com/internprogram.html

Apply: from October 1 through October 21

Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory (KAPL)            

http://www.knollslab.com/interns.html

Apply by November 30th
Eligible:  undergrads (completed sophomore year), or graduate students in engineering, science, or business.
All candidates must be a U.S. citizen
Questions:  interns@bettis.gov

Office of Naval Research – Naval Research Enterprise Intern Program – NREIP  (summer)
https://nreip.asee.org/
Eligible: Juniors, seniors, graduate students
Application: Opens Oct;  closes  Jan.  

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Opportunities
On-Campus at Boise State:  INBRE http://inbre.uidaho.edu/student_programs/
or Google “INBRE Summer Research” to find sites at other states!
NIH Website:  https://www.training.nih.gov/programs

United Launch Alliance
http://www.ulalaunch.com/site/default.shtml

Pathways to Science

Case Western, Undergraduate Research – For students interested in polymer research http://polymers.case.edu/highlights/undergrad_summer.htm  – February 1, deadline

Cornell, Undergraduate Research -  including  LSAMP Summer Research www.engineering.cornell.edu/lsamp

Cornell Center for Materials Research Programs http://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/education/reu/ 

American Society for Engineering Education – Fellowship Programs  http://www.asee.org/fellowship-programs

The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship Program for Graduates  http://ndseg.asee.org/

The National Science Foundation East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes (NSF-EAPSI) Program  http://www.nsfsi.org/

Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) Defense Scholarship for Service Program (for Graduate and Undergraduates) http://smart.asee.org/

Need help?  Follow up with campus resources:

*ALWAYS copy Kim Long at kimberlylong@boisestate.edu

Got questions?

Leandra Aburusa
Student Support Coordinator
College of Engineering, Boise State
1910 University Drive, MS 2100
Located in room ET 101, (208) 426-4432 or by email at laburusa@boisestate.edu
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