<p>My son is looking for a summer internship for this summer. He will have completed one year at Stanford and plans to major in mechanical engineering. Of course he doesn't yet have a lot of technical experience. Any special programs? His grades are great and he is an URM if there are any programs still tailored toward that. Thanks.</p>
<p>Has he checked with the engineering department at Stanford? Many colleges have connections with engineering internship opportunities for their students. Being so close to the Silicon Valley, one would think that Stanford would be well connected with engineering firms at least in that area. I would start there..and/or with a favorite engineering professor who may also have an idea. Also, many engineering firms hire students in the summer. The work isn't glamorous but it's IN the business. My husband's company hires students in the summer and they do things like copying CAD drawings, running errands, and the like. It's a job...and a chance for some exposure to the field. Your son could also talk to engineering companies. Do you know anyone who works for one?</p>
<p>Well, he can just ask a professor if he can work in his lab. There doesn't need to be any special program for that. Most companies offer internships. I would tell him to ask the career office at Stanford what internships are available and how to apply for them.</p>
<p>He can also check the websites of local companies where he might be interested to work. If he lives in the same area as Stanford, there will be gobs of course. But there will be some in other areas as well. My Engineering S found an excellent internship this way last summer. Was hired virtually immediately after he hit the Submit button on the online application.</p>
<p>And, as others have said, Stanford will have lots of info re companies recruiting for internships. May or may not be applicable for Freshman summer. But, as I said, he can hunt on his own and should come up with options. FYI, my S didn't actually do this until summer had started (!?!), so he can start now and keep looking. More may get posted as summer gets closer.</p>
<p>My son is a sophomore engineering student and will be home for the summer. He wants to get an internship but didn't really get anywhere with his search over Christmas break. I was thinking that he had waited too long to look but it sounds from the above posts that it isn't too late.</p>
<p>He did talk to the dean of the engineering school but he was unfamiliar with any firms in our area. The career center has a number of positions posted but none of them are in our area either. Staying at school this summer isn't an option because he'd have to use all of his earnings to pay for his housing. I think he'd have an easier time of it if he'd gone to a state school instead of going to a more selective school out of state. Any other ideas as to where to look?</p>
<p>Find friends, family and school alums living in your area who work in the field that he's interested in. He can approach them to ask if they have suggestions for him: If someone does know of an opening, they can pass his resume along.</p>
<p>After just one year...
I concur with the posters who advised looking into helping out with research projects. Although, there are some universities (Ga Tech comes to mind) that are VERY good at connecting undergrads, even freshman, with extremely good internships. Sometimes, I wish S had gone there. I have a friend whose son, after one SEMESTER, is doing a work/study in Atlanta- staying on campus in a dorm. There are great opportunities out there. This is something I'd advise people to look at if they are planning on going into engineering.</p>
<p>First, if a freshman does not have an internship job during the summer before sophomore year, that is not the end of the world. A construction job, painting job, waiter/waitress job is also fine. Don't obsess about career advancement over this particular summer.</p>
<p>Second, think about internships that might not be directly in the particular Engineering field. EG, DS had a software related internship in a biotech firm, even though neither of those are his intended sub-field of Engineering. And this was after his Sophomore year, not after his Freshman year.</p>
<p>If the college/university career center and Dean are not good resources, then just look at a number of firms in your area -whether or not they seem, at first blush, like "Engineering" firms. There may be departments within those firms that have something.</p>
<p>If he's interested in research, rather than interning at a company, this could be a possibility:</p>
<p>Rice</a> AGEP</p>
<p>If he is interested, feel free to contact me about it - I spent one summer there and found it to be an interesting experience, but it would be a less compelling option if he has no ties to the Houston area.</p>
<p>National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergrads--
US</a> NSF - REU - Search for an REU Site
lots of engineering programs, physics and materials research might also be of interest. In addition to a fellowship (~$2000 or $2500) they provide room and board and cover (or contribute to) transportation costs. Application deadlines vary, but he should still have time. DS participated in REUs the past three summers and found them a good experience. (Last summer's he said was second only to RSI.)</p>
<p>Yes, there's a lot of programs geared for minorities; some of them are for engineering students. Although undergraduate research is less common for freshmen, there are some programs that accept students after their first year of college. Check out these sites:</p>
<p>Summer</a> Research Opportunity Browse<a href="easy%20to%20see%20which%20programs%20accept%20freshmen">/url</a>
[url=<a href="http://www.ibparticipation.org/IBPSummerresearch.asp?sort=alpha%5DIBP:">http://www.ibparticipation.org/IBPSummerresearch.asp?sort=alpha]IBP:</a> Summer Research
US</a> NSF - REU - Search for an REU Site
Science.gov:</a> Science internships and science fellowships
Summer</a> Research Programs
Federal</a> Internship Directory</p>
<p>For minorities:
minority</a> co-op/internships
FASEB</a> MARC Program
Summer</a> Opportunities for ALANA* Undergraduate Students
Minority</a> Access, Inc.</p>
<p>If he prefers to stay at Stanford, there are some programs there, too, i.e.
SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE (SURE) PROGRAM</p>
<p>Mechanical engineering is probably the most broad-based of the engineering discoplines. Any firm that manufactures a product, be it high tech biomed, or low tech widgets, has an engineering department. Even retail firms have engineers to design & implement shipping functions. I think it's such a flexible major that your son will find something. Good luck.</p>