Undergraduate Student Co-op and Internship Award Winners

“I began my co-op journey in Fall 2021, not knowing if the three-semester time commitment would jeopardize the social aspects of the college experience. After much thought, I took the chance and have not regretted it since. Throughout my time at GTRI, I was never treated as the stereotypical intern doing coffee runs or meaningless paperwork; I attribute this fact, along with my ability to work on a variety of projects, to my manager and mentor Scott Silence. Any request I may have had whether it be to work more software tasks or receive a security clearance (which helped distinguish my resume) was met with enthusiasm, support, and a line of resources to help foster the desired skills.

To be more specific in my accomplishments, I created a database that modeled a hierarchical decomposition tree consisting of one-to-many relationships and housed thousands of entries. Additionally, I developed and managed an Excel spreadsheet with 150 product lines with Visual Basic Application macros to efficiently calculate/update pricing models depending on user input. Finally, I aided in the completion of four 30lb Hardware-in-the-loop (HWIL) test chassis with thousands of feet of wire and 20+ military standard connectors in accordance with IPC cabling requirements.

Overall, I not only learned a variety of niche technical skills (that have been useful in classes and other professional experiences) but also gained an appreciation for the foundational engineering principles that drive any project regardless of scale!”