How I, an Engineer, Ended Up with a Law Firm Internship (Part I)

The summer of 2021 was one I had been looking forward to since late September, 2020. At the start of that Fall semester, I began to question what I wanted to do with my major after I graduate. I had research and development (R&D) experience from a co-op in the medical device industry but was uncertain whether it was what I wanted to do long-term. As a biomedical engineer, you can do so much – work towards a Masters or PhD in engineering, medical school, industry, even law school. But law school tends to be the road less traveled, and therefore didn’t come to my attention until the start of my junior year. As a WIEP Leadership Team member, I have the opportunity to host Access Alum events, and hosted a current Indiana University law school student who graduated from Purdue in Chemical Engineering. From this experience, I was able to learn a ton about what it looks like to be an engineering student in law school and began to understand the importance of engineers in the intellectual property field.

2021 HFZ Summer Interns - I am on the right!

Fast forward a few weeks, and I noticed that a boutique intellectual property law firm, Hanley, Flight & Zimmerman, LLC, (HFZ) was going to be in attendance at the Industrial Roundtable career fair. I signed up for a time slot, and on the day of, my what was supposed to be 10-minute chat turned into an almost hour-long career fair with the hiring representative. I learned about the path from Patent Engineer to Patent Attorney in an intellectual property firm, and was instantly roped in. Although it was a field I had little to no experience in, I was extremely eager to learn more and was sure that my background in engineering and interests in reading and writing would be great at a firm. 

 

A few weeks and a few rounds of interviews later, I landed the internship with HFZ for the summer of 2021! I was hopeful of having an in-person experience, as the 8-week internship was to be located in Chicago, IL. I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and was anticipating getting a taste of living downtown. Luckily, in February 2021 I received confirmation that the internship would be in-person. Later in the semester, I learned more about the internship – there were 6 other interns, and we were to dress business casual every day for work. This was new to me, as the dress code at my previous co-op never exceeded jeans and a top. I booked an Airbnb long-term in a neighborhood just 2 miles out of the city, Old Town, with another intern who was also a BME student at Purdue. With it being a new type of job, new (big!) city, and new people, I was anticipating, maybe even a little anxious, for the start of the internship program. I had no idea what to expect! Keep an eye out for part II where I talk all about my summer in Chicago and (of course) the internship, and if you want to learn more, contact us with the information below!

Emily Hamman, BME

WE Link Leadership Team

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