Tanvi Prabhudesai, a second-year Interior Design major, spent her summer as a camp counselor at a sleep away camp.
“I had to sleep in the bunk with 14 kids and three other counselors. Each day, we had a schedule of activities for each period, and after dinner, we would have evening activities where the kids could bond before bed by doing trivia games and even dress-up games.”
Prabhudesai’s favorite part about being a counselor was seeing how spirited the kids were during the various events hosted at the camp, including a week-long event called Color War. She says that being able to see kids enjoy being outside, away from technology and making unique memories, was truly a one-of-a-kind experience.
Prabhudesai says that her time at camp required a significant amount of teamwork in order to ensure that she and her three co-counselors were on the same page when making decisions and dealing with issues. She added that her responsibility to look out for the kids taught her to be more assertive and confident when making decisions. “These are skills I definitely feel I can apply to my own major since interior design requires a lot of decision making, and I won’t always be working independently,” says Prabhudesai.
Ruhika Iyer, a second-year Biology major and student in the 7-year BS/MD program spent her summer in Baltimore, Maryland doing research with professionals from Stanford and Johns Hopkins University.
“My specific contribution to the narrative review was focused on surgical simulation and autonomous robotic surgery. I learned how machine learning and artificial neural networks can be used to interpret visual and kinematic data to maximize synthetic data and learning.
Iyer also shadowed at Bayview Hospital and Johns Hopkins Hospital under Dr. Jeffrey K. Jopling, a board certified trauma surgeon. She described how Dr. Jopling supported her interests by letting her shadow multiple sessions throughout his day. This included overnight call shifts, both elective and emergency surgeries, and meetings to understand what his day-to-day schedule looks like. Iyer also had the opportunity to visit other surgical departments including the neurology, pediatric, and cardiovascular departments. “I truly appreciate his efforts [in] helping me take part in such an enriching experience and I hope to continue with his team!” she says.
Grace Nigro, a third-year Civil Engineering major, spent the past summer in Mott MacDonald’s Iselin office in their water department.
“As a water intern, I was primarily helping out on projects dealing with tank rehabilitation or water treatment plant facilities. I was responsible for filing documents pertaining to said projects which included but were not limited to agendas, payment applications, and permit applications. I was able to contribute to the CAD design of these projects as well, editing civil drawings and detail sheets,” expressed Nigro.
During this internship, Nigro was afforded the opportunity to explore areas that involve water; she learned about the rules and regulations, became familiar with the equipment and materials used on projects, and became more fluent in reading design plans and specifications for projects. This semester, she will be taking a courseload full of water courses, so this internship has presented her with technical skills that she can apply to the concepts in the classroom.
Nigro credits the hybrid schedule with improving her communication skills. She received plenty of emails and took video calls which made the transition into the position a bit more difficult than she anticipated. “Professionalism translates much differently across those medias, so I feel like I grew in terms of how I present myself,” Nigro shared. She also received the opportunity to continue with Mott MacDonald as a part-time intern during this fall semester. “I learned so much from multiple mentor figures, and I’m happy I was able to break out of my shell.”
Aisha Khan, a third-year Biomedical Engineering major, assisted in the developmental and commercialization initiatives of allograft projects during her Ortho R&D co-op. Some of her responsibilities consisted of processing orthopedic tissue for two platform development projects and protein and biological characterization studies. This involves work in the lab, along with occasional data analysis and written reports summarizing the outcomes and insights.
“A key takeaway from this role was gaining exposure to the various characterization techniques used in research, ranging from biochemical assays to animal studies which I plan to apply in both my coursework and future research. Beyond developing my laboratory skills, this role taught me about the biological mechanisms and the intricate connection between the systems of the body,” shares Khan. She found the experience incredibly fascinating seeing how allografts can be developed to both induce and facilitate these healing processes. With this foundational knowledge, she plans to further explore regenerative medicine and medical device innovation.
This co-op allowed her to grow in her ability to contribute most noticeably when she faced challenges that required troubleshooting. Khan also feels this experience has provided her with stronger communication and interpersonal skills.
“My next steps are to continue to build a strong foundation through academic coursework while working on research projects. I plan on expanding my horizons and exploring other areas within biomedical research to not only develop myself technically and professionally. I am most proud of presenting my findings on optimizing the lyophilization process as these results have broader application beyond those I was involved with.”
Bilal Veysel, a fourth-year Financial Technology major, interned this summer at ADP as a Franchise & Affiliations Sales intern within the Small Business Services (SBS) department. The franchise team at ADP looks to form partnerships with franchises such as Jersey Mike’s, for example, and have their locations use ADP for their payroll and HR management. His day-to-day role consisted of outbound dials and emails to prospective clients to schedule product demos for his mentor to try and close these partnerships.
“ADP is considered to have one of the best sales training in the world, and as part of the program we had almost-daily sales training,” shared Veysel. During the training, the topics discussed ranged from market research and prospecting to cold-calling and closing deals.
“I would say the most important non-technical skill I learned is how to network with managers, and people in departments different from mine. As an intern or anyone early in their career, it’s easy to have imposter syndrome and feel as though you may not belong in certain rooms. Speaking with people who have more experience, you quickly realize that they were once in your exact shoes. More often than not, they are not as scary as their job title may suggest!” Veysel continues.
As he enters his senior year, Veysel has been spending a lot of time thinking about the next steps for his career. Ultimately, he wants to work for a startup within the financial services industry and will be putting in a lot of effort to try and work at one post-graduation.
Veysel is most proud of getting a return offer from ADP. Going into senior year with a job lined up is a massive weight off his shoulders and he is extremely grateful for the opportunity. Being able to have an impact in such a short time and be asked to return is definitely his proudest accomplishment during the internship.
