The Engineering Experience

For many engineering students, these past couple of weeks have been a pretty crazy time. We are in the midst of IR, or Industrial Roundtable, the career fair here at Purdue. IR is aimed at engineering students, although other majors do attend.  My First Job Fair As a sophomore attending IR, I was extremely nervous. This was the first year I was actually hoping to score some interviews and eventually land a summer internship. It can be intimidating at first, approaching the recruiters, promoting yourself, and hoping to make an impression. As a sophomore, I have no prior engineering experience; I was worried that many employers would turn me away immediately.  The Job Fair Experience I approached my first booth to warm up and try out my “elevator pitch”.  The recruiter for Colgate-Palmolive and I hit it off immediately. I was surprised that all I had to do was be myself. Unexpectedly, at that booth, my first of the day, I got an interview. It was a wake up call fo...

As a member of the Office of Professional Practice’s Global Engineering Alliance for Research and Education or GEARE program, I must complete an international research or internship experience prior to graduation.  I can chose to fulfill this requirement in any country that I would like to, but I chose to look for opportunities to extend my time in Colombia.  Thanks to a very proud Purdue industrial engineering alum originally from Medellín, I was connected with Grupo Nutresa.  Grupo Nutresa is a food processing conglomerate and the fourth largest food company in all of Latin America in terms of market capitalization.  It also is consistently named one of the best companies to work for in Colombia.  I successfully completed an interview in Spanish with one of Grupo Nutresa’s divisions, Compañía Nacional de Chocolates, and was hired as an operations intern for the summer of 2015. Marissa (on right) with her supervisor For my internship, I worked in...

I recently shared how I  decided to study Chemical Engineering . After touring labs and plant sites at Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, I was interested  in learning how to scale chemical processes from the lab bench to a manufacturing site. My internships have indeed spanned from lab bench to manufacturing, including experiences in  industry that I wouldn’t have imagined just 4 years ago. Close to 400 companies came to campus last week for Industrial Roundtable – one of the largest student-run job fairs in the nation. The Industrial Roundtable provided me the opportunity to connect with a variety of employers these past 3 years for internships to explore my interests in Chemical Engineering. Internships give you the opportunity to learn more about a company and a role for a few months while working on an exciting project. Do you wonder what it would be like to work in research & development? Experience R&D or undergraduate research for a summer. Interested in wo...

By Marissa Berns Hello again, Recently I published a blog post briefly describing the academic side of my semester abroad in Medellín, Colombia.  Although studying was an important part of my semester, I was able to create an entirely new and different experience with the activities I did outside of class. Normally study abroad students take advantage of their time in their host country to travel, and I was no exception.  From the beautiful beaches of Cartagena to the ornate Las Lajas Sanctuary in Ipiales, and the salsa clubs in Cali to the unique small towns of Antioquia, I was constantly amazed at the natural and manmade wonders of Colombia.  Even the backdrop of the Andes Mountains makes Medellin, a city with a population almost equivalent to that of Chicago, appear absolutely stunning.  Traveling in Colombia is also surprisingly inexpensive.  One night two other Purdue students and I shared a hotel room for the equivalent of two dollars per person!...

This summer, I was a camp counselor at a children’s overnight camp in Raymond, Maine. I applied for the job because I went to camp as a child and have always wanted to be a counselor. Before my summer experience, I thought that working at a summer camp was not going to enhance my resume. How much could my role as a camp counselor mean in the world of Industrial Engineering? I was simply working there for the experience. Turns out, I was wrong. Not only did I have one of the best summers in my life, my experiences will go a long way to help me in my engineering career. The main skill needed in working with children is leadership. The type of leadership needed to lead children, however, is different than what most  students experience. In college, we are leaders to our peers, whether it is in organizations, in classes, in sports, etc. At camp, I learned how to effectively communicate and lead with people of all different ages, whether it was with my boss, my fellow co-couns...

Hola Future and Fellow Boilermakers, My name is Marissa Berns, and I will be a senior this fall.  I am originally from southwest Iowa and am majoring in Industrial Engineering and minoring in Global Engineering Studies.  I am also working to complete the program for the Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation.  I would like to share with you a small part of my Purdue experience in a series of blog posts to be published in the upcoming weeks. Throughout my time at Purdue, I have had so many wonderful experiences.  I have made a great group of friends and future contacts and enjoyed learning at the best university on earth.   However, one of the most valuable experiences Purdue has given to me took place nearly 2500 miles away from West Lafayette. Beginning in January of 2015 I began an exciting adventure in the city of Medellín, Colombia as a member of the first cohort of Purdue students to participate in a semester study abroad at Uni...

Purdue interns at Eli Lilly From a young age, I could list dozens of career options that excited me. Among others, I considered professor, author, scientist, economist, business woman, park ranger, factory worker, and secretary for my father (so I could join him on his business trips). Engineer was not on this list. Frankly, car engines did not excite me. Nor did I want to build bridges. My dad gave me his old computers to take apart when I was younger. I enjoyed this activity, but not because of anything I learned about computer circuitry. I made jewelry from the colorful pieces.  Only later did I realize that engineering is so much more than a Dilbert cartoon.  Engineering is about the spirit of innovation. Engineers discover ways to improve our lives. Engineers help shape the future. Even with my mile-long list of career opportunities, I still didn’t feel that I had found a Goldilocks fit;  none felt just right. So in high school, I hesitantly agreed t...