The future is now for 49 students enrolled in the 2018 class of the UO’s Master’s Industrial Internship Program.
Following a networking dinner Monday evening, Sept. 11, the students will put what they learned in intensive laboratory and coursework this summer into two days of interviews, Tuesday and Wednesday, that could land them nine-month internships.
In all, 25 companies and government labs, represented by 42 interviewing teams will conduct more than 350 interviews in the Erb Memorial Union.
"The faculty and staff have done a tremendous job this summer of preparing us both technically and professionally to not only succeed in the interview process but to succeed for the next 30-plus years in our careers," said participant Christina Rozeske, a graduate student in chemistry. "The skills we've gained this summer will allow us to make an immediate impact in industry and continue to advance the frontiers of science and technology."
Interviewers are seeking students with experience in the fields of polymer science, photovoltaic and semiconductor-device manufacturing, and optical materials and devices.
The internship program, along with the Applied Bioinformatics and Genomics Master’s Program, is now part of the graduate training program of the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact.
The graduate-training programs provide an accelerated academic format and provide opportunities for students to get real-world knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in the industrial environment.
"The intense summer course work gave me the technical know-how to confidently approach any problem that I might face in the industry," Anthonee Georgette, a graduate student in applied physics. "This program also sets itself apart from any other because of its focus on professional development. I stepped into every interview with poise because of the soft skills that I had been taught. The expertise I developed in this program accelerated my growth as a professional, and landed me a job.”
The Master’s Industrial Internship Program is now in its 20th year. Participants have gone on to careers in such areas as personal care, footwear development, research and development, defense, software development, semiconductor manufacturing, solar energy and drug delivery.
Participating companies are: Arclin, Brewer Science, DigiLens, Electro Scientific Industries, Emerald Kalama Chemical, Fiberguide Industries, FormFactor, Hexion, Hitachi HTA, Hewlett Packard, IPG Photonics, Johnson & Johnson, Keysight Technologies, Lonza, Lockheed Martin Aculight, Los Alamos National Lab, Microchip, Nanohmics, nLight, Qorvo, Stowers Institute for Medical Research, Taiyo America, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Timbercon, and W.R. Grace.