Local Internships Empower Regional Students

University of Maryland (UMD) student Shannon Austria is carving her own educational path.

The senior already has her associate’s degree in mechanical engineering from the College of Southern Maryland (CSM) and is now enrolled in UMD’s Clark School at USMSM program, which helped her secure an internship at the UMD MATRIX Lab.

She is now getting real-world research experience working with MATRIX Lab PhDs Justin Stine and Wei-Kuo Yen on an autonomous underwater vehicle. The "Buoyancy Operated roBot-tle", or "BOB," was designed by a group led by UMD Aerospace Engineering Professor Derek Paley and will be used for underwater surveys.

“The experience of hands-on activity in a professional environment is great. I’m learning a lot of skills like 3D printing, soldering, and designing printed circuit boards,” Austria said.

CSM student and fellow intern Ryuta Griffith is working with Austria on the BOB. He was introduced to the MATRIX Lab through Democratizing Research and Experiential Education for Microelectronics (DREEM). The program was created through a National Science Foundation grant and connects community college students with UMD’s resources to give students the skills they need to have a lucrative career in the microelectronics industry workforce.

“I’ve been on MATRIX Lab tours a couple of times and visited during the workshop phase of the DREEM program. I saw all the labs and equipment and thought if there were any sort of internship opportunity here, I would like to take it,” Griffith said.

Both Griffith and Austria have been able to access these opportunities while continuing to live, learn, and work in Southern Maryland. The convenient local access to world-class equipment and resources was also a draw for high school intern Camille Nelson, who is working with MATRIX Lab Manager Joe Copenhaver to 3D print different types of filaments and test each one’s strength levels.

“I really like that it’s a local program, so I didn’t have to drive really far,” Nelson said. “I also like the fact that it’s focused on 3D printing. I don’t have a lot of previous 3D printing experience, but I’ve done a little bit in class and I’ve really enjoyed it, so I wanted to continue doing that.”

Students can take advantage of MATRIX Lab opportunities regardless of their location or school. Internships and apprenticeships can be curated to a student’s experience level and goals. For example, UMD aerospace engineering student Andrew Dolecki is spending his MATRIX Lab internship designing, assembling, and launching a rocket. His goal is to get the rocket to launch straight up in the air using thrust vector control to stabilize it.

“My project is a proof of concept, because if you can get a rocket to go straight up with thrust vectoring, then you can do a lot of other things with thrust vectoring,” Dolecki said. “In the real world, thrust vectoring is used in missile guidance, self-landing rockets, and highly maneuverable aircraft like fighter jets.”

The MATRIX Lab’s state-of-the-art spaces have allowed Dolecki to achieve the goals of his internship like developing a control algorithm, making a printing circuit board (PCB), making a parachute, and soldering. The versatility of the spaces allows interns to gain experience in multiple areas.

“I’m a mechanical engineering major and I’m now learning about other disciplines like electrical engineering and bioengineering. The most exciting thing I’m looking into is robotics,” Austria said.

If you’d like more information on research- or project-based internships like the ones described, please email the MATRIX Lab Team at matrix@umd.edu. Include your name, school, graduation year, and interests.

If you'd like to learn more about the Clark School at USMSM program that Austria is a part of, you can find more information on CSM's Transfer Agreements page.

Published July 24, 2024