What is your role at Leonardo?

Currently, I’m working on a project to essentially stop all possible leaks in laser racks. So, I’m working on a shut-off valve that detects if and when there is a leak and stops the flow of water so that it doesn’t become a large problem.

What do you study in school?

I study Electrical Engineering at Ohio University in Athens, OH.

What are some of your future goals?

After this internship, I’ll probably look for similar internships within electrical engineering, but I would ideally want to work in fusion after college. I feel like working in the renewable energy area would be fun and beneficial to the world in general.

What inspired you to pursue an internship at Leonardo?

I was coming back home from Ohio because I’m born and raised in Tucson, and I was looking for possible internships. I saw that Leonardo was a partner with Lawrence Livermore National Lab. I applied through the Internal Fusion Energy Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (IFE-SURE) as well as through Leonardo. I filled out a resume and answered why I was interested in the internship opportunity. Then, I got an interview, so I interviewed, and they later reached out to me and said they’d love to have me.

What are some challenges you’ve faced and overcome during your internship?

I think one challenge would be timing. For my system, I’ve had to order some parts, so each time I’ve realized I need a new part, it sets me back a week to wait for that one part to be delivered. Other than that, I don’t think there’s been any other challenges.

Most students struggle to see how STEM comes alive in the real world; can you identify how you use it in your day-to-day?

I think it applies in a lot of different situations. For example, when you’re doing any physical activity, you need to figure out how to move optimally. Different movements create different pressures on your muscles. Other day-to-day examples would be working with websites or cars, seeing how those systems function, and understanding the thought process behind them. When you do this, you may think to yourself, “This programmer wanted this to be accessible through these means and that’s why they used this specific menu label.” Other than that, being aware of what is going on in science is always useful because we can understand why things happen the way they do.

Would you recommend an internship and why?

Definitely! I think it gets you a lot of in-field experience, and you get to talk to people who might not even be in your exact field. I’ve talked to people about lasers, different power systems, and more. It’s been a great experience learning about all these aspects that end up partially applying to my field. Also, you find out new things and realize it’s all related.

What do you do outside of your internship?

I hike a decent amount when the weather permits. I also play a lot of volleyball and video games. As far as activities related to engineering, I occasionally help with my old high school robotics team, and I also sometimes take apart electronics for fun.

What is your role at Leonardo?

I am currently taking code and finding where the beamlets are in a laser diode array. I have it all written in MATLAB. Basically, I’m transcribing it and making it more efficient in Python. The overall goal is to produce a code that analyzes laser diode arrays using performance metrics and understanding how the product works and what goes right or wrong. With Python, I would say the bulk of it I’ve already known and gotten used to, but some other parts I’ve done for the first time in my life and I’m learning on the job.

What do you study in school?

I’m a double major in Electrical Engineering and Applied Mathematics at the University of Arizona, entering my junior year this fall. After this internship, I may want to specialize in photonics since this has been such a great experience. I’ve just learned so much, I feel like I want to apply it somewhere. I might as well throw that in the mix.

What are some of your future goals?

I’d like to do the accelerated master’s program for Electrical Engineering. I really like math, so I want to do more advanced stuff. After that, I want to get into the industry and design more efficient tools in optics. My main future goal is optimization.

What does a typical day/week look like?

First, I get to work and plan out what I’m going to be doing based on the previous day’s work. It’s always going to be something coding-related, but I need to ask myself if I need to research something or read up on necessary documentation first. Then, I meet with my supervisor and try to talk with him and get his advice. After that, the last few hours, I’m just implementing the strategies and making sure they work. Things don’t get done in a single day. If I need to, I’ll spend the rest of that time testing out things and then celebrating if I get it right!

What do you do outside of your internship?

I would say I read a lot of Mathematics books. I also try to stay active by working out. I’m trying things like rock climbing and soccer. I like cooking a lot, and it’s probably my favorite. I love putting things together, seeing the results, and people’s reactions.

What is the best thing about your current role?

I would say I had an idea of what industry might be like: very serious, you had to get everything right, kind of perfectionist. It’s not like that at all. I’d say the best thing about the internship is everyone working together and the community here that listens to each other.

Has anything happened during your internship that surprised you?

I think it surprised me how relaxed it is here and how friendly everyone is. I guess it was surprising how easy it was to work with everyone, especially with all that I had heard about the industry and how horrifying it might be.

Why was an internship the right path for you? Would you recommend an internship?

I definitely think an internship was the right path for me because I feel like an internship gives you that experience you’re not able to get when doing a personal project. This is what people are looking for. It’s good to get that experience and know what it is you might like or might not want. You don’t really know that until you get an internship. The skills are so invaluable. I could’ve gotten these skills in other ways, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it at this rate. An internship really pushes you and means the work you do is important to a huge group of people. I would recommend an internship. I think the industry is not for everyone. If you throw yourself into it, you’ll end up in unnecessary pain. You need to figure out what you do and don’t want. It’s good to know sooner rather than later.

Most students struggle to see how STEM comes alive in the real world; can you identify how you use it in your day-to-day?

It’s all in the scientific hypothesis. You make a guess or inference on how something’s going to work. You need to define your problem, understand which part you’re interacting with, and then test it out. Validating or disproving theories is the biggest part of science. It doesn’t matter the conclusion you receive. The best part is just seeing things interact in the world. I see it not just in the programming I’m doing, but also in cooking, rock climbing, and even talking to people.

What has been the biggest difference between your internship experience this year and last year?

Last year was more of a learning curve because I had to get used to the tools and processes the company uses. This year, I came in already familiar with the team and systems, so I was able to jump right into actual engineering and design work.

What skills or knowledge from last year have helped you succeed this time around?

Last year, I spent a lot of time learning how to create models and drawings in SolidWorks. Already being familiar with it this year has made it easier to design things more efficiently and test things in CAD before building or ordering them in real life.

How did your first year of school go? Has it sparked any new interests?

My first year went pretty well. I enjoyed taking physics and engineering courses, especially because I can apply some of what I learned to my work here this summer. I also got to learn the theory behind some stuff I worked on last summer.

Have your career goals or interests shifted since your last time at Leonardo?

Not really. I am still planning to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. After college, I plan to go into the aerospace and defense industry or aviation. I’m also considering a minor in business administration now to get a stronger understanding of business operations and leadership skills.

What kind of projects have you been working on this time around? Are these projects related to last year’s projects?

This year, I’m working on three projects. One is building a system and running tests to find more cost-effective and efficient filters to use in laser cooling setups. I actually started working on this with another intern last year, but we ran out of time to complete it. This year, I completely redesigned the system and got it up and running, and have been running tests for the past few weeks. I’m also working on designing a specialized box to hold and preheat lenses while they are smoothed with a laser. My final project is making improvements to a previous design for an optical table mover.

What’s it been like reconnecting with the team this year?

It’s been great reconnecting with the team this year. Since I already know most of the people from last year, it’s been easy to jump into projects, and everyone has been helpful and supportive.

Have you taken on any mentorship roles with the new interns this year?

I haven’t really taken on a mentorship role since the new interns this year are in optical and electrical engineering, while I’m in mechanical engineering. Even though we’ve mostly been working on different things, I’ve still gotten to connect with them and see what they’re working on and show them what I’m working on. It’s been a good opportunity to learn more about other engineering disciplines.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone doing this internship for the first time?

I’d say take advantage of opportunities to learn about things outside of your immediate projects, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. There are a lot of really cool projects and things to explore in the facility, so being curious will make the experience more valuable.

What’s something cool or unexpected that has happened during this internship?

One cool part of this internship was getting to send out parts I designed in CAD to get manufactured. Seeing them come back as physical components and using them made the design process seem more interesting and rewarding.

What is your role at Leonardo?

Currently, I am working on automating a system to expedite the process of measuring photo diodes. There are a couple of product design projects that I will begin working on shortly. Mostly, I work on optical design and do a lot of coding in Python. I knew a little bit of Python before, but I’ve also learned a lot more.

What do you study in school?

I study Optical Sciences and Optical Engineering at the University of Arizona. I’m going into my Senior year this Fall.

What are some of your future goals?

One of my big goals is to have a patent for a piece of equipment that can go into either a laser or anything else optics-related. Most of my siblings are in the medical field, so finding a way to apply my career to medicine would be great. There’s a lot of applications in optics to medical imaging and developing different mechanisms so you can image things like cancer cells.

How did you find out about the internship with Leonardo? What was the process of applying?

I found out about it from Jason Helmrich, who is actually my supervisor. I talked to a few other companies around the nation about internships and decided I wanted to stay and do an internship in Tucson. I know Jason pretty well, so it’s nice to work under someone I know. I’ve had a lot of opportunities to start the internship off on the right foot and get going quickly.

What related activities are you involved with outside your specific job role?

I play lacrosse at the University of Arizona, and I also coach a high school team at Salpointe Catholic. I’m also coaching a summer team right now: Copper State. For the last two years, I’ve been an outreach coordinator for the optics program. We do STEM events and sometimes do classroom presentations for schools, so I help manage that. The Student Optics Chapter has been a part of optics at the University of Arizona for a while. One of the big things I do is help run Laser Fun Day. We have demos, and it’s a big event for our college. It’s good for the younger kids to introduce optics, as it’s not a well-known subject.

Most students struggle to see how STEM comes alive in the real world; can you identify how you use it in your day-to-day?

Currently, when I’m working, I do a lot of math. I think it changes the way I view the world. A lot of people make judgments based on what they see, but they don’t have a good perception of statistics. Understanding statistics, mathematics, and even physics changes the way I look at how and why things happen. When it comes to my major, I try to notice anything with light, like weird light phenomena in my day-to-day, and I try to characterize them based on the information I know.

What inspired you to pursue an internship?

I worked at one last year. The big thing is getting involved in industry and the workforce as soon as possible. That way, when you step into it, after you get your degree, it’s not so confusing. I’ve always been an individualist, so I’ve always wanted to have my own company. Just getting into the industry and understanding it from a relatively early age means you can apply it in the future.

Has anything happened during your internship that surprised you?

My last internship was with the government, working directly in a division of the Navy. They didn’t allow me to do my own work and contribute to projects. At Leonardo, having the ability to actually contribute to a project someone’s working on makes me feel more important.