<p>Hello, I am a Junior at the University of Maryland in College Park, majoring in Mechanical Engineering. I currently have a 2.7 GPA, but I am working to get it up. I was wondering if anyone could shed some advice on my chances on landing an undergrad research position (I want to work with processors and semiconductors). From this position, I would like to apply for an internship with Intel or IBM. I don't have much experience, but I have taken Thermodynamics, Calculus 1-3 and Physics 1-3. Any advice?</p>
<p>Go talk to professors whose work you’re interested in at your own school. Talk to professors whose classes you’ve done well in. Talk to any professors that’ll give you the time of day and possibly a position in their lab to do some work!</p>
<p>Your best option is to try and work with a prof at UMCP… get to know profs through office hours, and gradually talk more about their research. Or create a sheet of paper with your photo, courses you’ve taken, research interests, explaining that you are interested in summer research, and drop it off with profs whose research you’re interested in.</p>
<p>But Intel/IBM/etc are worth a shot… the apps are usually pretty easy to fill out if you have a resume, so fire a bunch off. Also check out the national DOE or DOD labs: sandia, etc.</p>
<p>I’ve seen a few job postings from IBM but they’re from their software divisions. It seems to me that IBM prefers coops to internships as they want to recoup their investment in training.</p>
<p>Try to get plugged into whatever email lists you can from your department and any other related departments. My son gets quite a few job/coop/internship notifications through his departmental email system.</p>