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Howdy! My name is Lohitaksh Allampalli, and I’m a sophomore in computer engineering. Over this past summer, I participated in the Student Engineering Council’s Directed Internship (SEC DI), a unique internship program. I’d like to share about it and my thoughts and experiences!
Real-world Application
The SEC DI culminates in giving students experience with company interaction and team-based project development. Students are placed in groups of five, and each group is then paired with a company. My team and I (shoutout to Team 3; they were awesome!) were paired with Arkisys, an amazing company in the aerospace industry with big ambitions to re-imagine space exploration and experimentation.
We were tasked with developing the mechanical and thermal components of The Bosun’s Locker, a modular protective enclosure for research institutions and small companies to send satellites into space. This is a goal and effort that Arkisys is putting forth to make an impact on the industry, and they chose us to support and further their ambitions.
My team quickly acclimated to each other and made the important realization that, in long-term projects, one person simply cannot do everything. So we broke down the problem statement into achievable tasks, delegating them amongst the team — the analytical member focusing on the deeply technical thermal component, the designers focusing on the vast mechanical aspect and the “people persons” (me included) focusing on how to pitch and sell the product. The latter element may feel out of place, but SEC DI and Arkisys taught me that design and marketing are equally important in product development. Industry loves innovation only if we can prove why it is innovative!
Theory of Business
Throughout the intense learning curve, we were given immense support from both professors of practice and mentors from the company. Every day for six weeks, the professors hosted entrepreneurial and leadership workshops to help students append the business mindset to our engineering-focused views. These workshops helped simplify conversations about pitching a product and enabled the incorporation of design with marketing, establishing a powerful tool at our disposal.
Every week, my team and I would meet with the company CEO, who would passionately discuss elements of the company and industry. He helped narrow our scope and establish achievable goals, providing a myriad of resources for us to learn from. We received far more exposure to the industry than otherwise possible and directly interacted with the corporate world in a safe learning environment.
Mission Successful
The SEC DI exposed me to unique situations and discussions, providing a safe playground for personal growth. An example of this is how my team members and I each assumed some leadership roles during the program. We all learned to become accountable, a trait that most students only ever hear about!
I highly recommend partaking in this wonderful program. Gig ‘Em!
Computer Engineering
If you found this blog post interesting, you may consider reading “Amazon’s Peculiar Ways, a Q&A on interning with AmazonThe Co-op Connection” and “3 steps to land an internship.”