Happy National Intern Day! Internships are an essential step for professionals to jump-start a successful career. National Intern Day honors the vital contributions interns make to the organizations that they work for. At Symba we celebrate interns, so for National Intern Day we would like to highlight five contributions interns have made to the world.
Oftentimes the first week of an internship program involves paperwork and various introductions, but on his third day working with NASA, Wolf Cukier made an “interstellar” discovery. While interning at Nasa’s Goddard Space Flight Center, he noticed a dark area between two stars over 1,300 light-years from Earth. Once Wolf brought the findings to his research mentors, he spent weeks confirming his hypothesis that the dark patch was indeed a planet.
2. Saving Lives
Nancy Dominguez saw too many stories about children and pets left in hot cars, so she decided to take action. While interning at AT&T, Nancy designed a sensor that alerts the car’s owner if the vehicle conditions become dangerous. The device includes motion detectors and a carbon dioxide reader to determine if a person or pet is in the car. If the car becomes too hot, the devices’ temperature gauge sends a text message to the vehicle owner. Nancy’s prototype is the precursor to a device that can help millions.
Putting his best foot forward as an intern at Camper Shoes, Eric Hullegie wanted to reimagine the manufacturing process. Eric began experimenting with new materials and streamlining the production process to create the best shoe possible. Hullegie’s hard work resulted in a vacuum formed shoe that is cost effective and durable. The fashion line, now known as Shoefactory Revised: Vacuum, features simple, soft color schemes and gradients that are both functional and fashion forward.
Before he became the famed filmmaker of movies like Jaws, Jurassic Park, and Schindler’s List, Stephen Spielberg was an intern for Universal Studios. Despite working in the editing department, Spielberg found himself on set and was given the opportunity to create his own short film. While interning for Universal, Stephen wrote and directed Amblin’. Now the namesake of Spielberg’s production company, Amblin’ won seven BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes. Without an internship, the movie industry may have looked very different today.
While interning with Intel, Tim Balz led his team to develop the Connected Wheelchair. The device is capable of measuring the user’s health including: body temperature, heart rate, and blood pressure. Moreover, the wheelchair can determine the accessibility of places it visits and can self-balance. The Connected Wheelchair even caught the attention and endorsement of world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking.
For more information on National Intern Day, ways to celebrate your interns, or how Symba can help you, find out here. Interns have incredible potential; given the proper resources and support, their possibilities are endless.
By Andrew Yohanan
