Article by Alex Bansleben (Q18)

While some relaxation following final exams is definitely in order, QUEST students know that the summer months are the perfect opportunity to gain some professional experience through jobs and internships. See how some QUESTees are going to put their time to good use this summer!

Daniel Gerzhoy (Q17):

I’ve been away since January working at Intel in Folsom California. For the past few months I’ve been testing the newly released IvyBridge Processors from Intel for power and performance data. Working with prototypes from many computer companies and newly fabricated chips makes me excited to go into work every day. And living in northern California isn’t bad either!

Cat Ashley (Q19):

With summer rapidly approaching, I couldn’t be more excited for what the next few months have in store. After spending a few days at home, I’ll be relocating up to Elkton, MD for my internship at W.L. Gore (a.k.a. the people who make Goretex and everything else cool). I’m definitely looking forward to working alongside peers and friends at a Fortune 500 company doing chemical engineering-related things. On top of that, I will be attending Bonnarroo in June while volunteering with Engineers Without Borders!

Manas Kulkarni (Q18):

I’ll be interning in Unilever’s Marketing department working on Brand Development. The company has several exciting brands in their product line, and while I don’t know yet to which brand l’ve been assigned, I’m looking forward to an incredible experience. Their corporate headquarters is about 20 minutes from New York City, so I plan to live it up in the city as well!

Benita Poon (Q19):

I’ll be interning with JP Morgan Chase this summer in their Finance Analyst Development Program in Newark, Delaware. But before that I’ll be heading down to Miami, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and Mexico with my family. 🙂

Josh Kohn (Q18):

I’m going to be living in my Courtyards apartment and working at Applied Predictive Technologies in Arlington, VA. They are a small software/consulting firm that sells software to businesses that statistically analyzes data and helps the companies to make better data-driven decisions. They’ve done everything from helping Starbucks choose every franchise location since 2004 to Subway developing the Five Dollar Footlong promotion. They have both software and consulting internships and jobs so QUEST students should definitely consider them next year!

Liz Blankenhorn (Q18):

This summer, I’ll be working as an intern for Frito-Lay in Aberdeen, Maryland. As a chemical engineering major, food production is one of my main interests and I’m really excited to gain some manufacturing experience as I work in the plant. And of course, I’ll do my best to bring back some free snacks for the QUEST lab.

Rochelle Samuel (Q19):

I am going to be interning at the Department of Energy in DC. I received the internship through the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship Program, and will be working in the Office of Fossil Energy. I was lucky to get it, and plan on incorporating my new-found interest in Environmental Science here. I think it’s a great opportunity (also paid)! The only downfall is that they won’t be paying for my housing so I have to live at home; that will take some getting used to. But I’m still excited!

Brendan Fennessy (Q18):

I knew I was going to graduate in the Fall 2012 semester and so this summer became all the more important.   What fascinated me were all the changes I had been making to my life to get through school.  This summer however, I knew I wanted to go on an adventure and get back to myself a little.  It wasn’t until I was at the conclusion of my interview with National Instruments that I realized a great opportunity was about to begin.  When I offered to describe the wonderful program/community of QUEST (what is more appropriate, really?!?) we all cherish, the interviewee, Mark Lewis, shared that he was a proud member of Cohort 2.  I knew there was something special about a company which could hold on to one of our alumni so long.

Austin, Texas was never on my radar for an internship and I wondered what I could make of it.  I quickly learned that Austin is deemed the official “Live Music Capital of the World.” This really grabbed my attention, in addition to learning about the outdoor adventure that Austin offers.  While it was difficult to decide if I wanted to drop everything in Maryland and head out to Texas, the opportunity to experience another perspective was certainly enticing. After talking it through with friends and family (Dr. Bailey included), I decided that this internship could help me understand more of what I want and how to go about achieving it.  I’m really excited to be spending the summer in Austin, TX at National Instruments and can’t wait to tell you all about it when I get back!