Hello Retrievers and Welcome to 2023! We hope that the New Year is off to a great start for each of you. Whether you are participating in Winter Session classes or getting ready for the upcoming Spring Semester, this is an optimal time to begin thinking about opportunities that can help you build skills, gain experience in your field of study, and help you to navigate your career path. One great way to bring all of these elements together is through an internship. Many companies are posting internships now for Summer or Fall 2023, so this is a great moment to start your internship journey!

You may be asking, what exactly is an internship? It is a professional learning experience that offers meaningful, practical work related to a student's field of study or career interest. It benefits both the student and the employer by supporting the students' career development while the employer gains new ideas, fresh energy, and the new employee potential that an intern can bring to their site.

Internships provide an array of benefits for students including opportunities to:

• Network in an industry of interest - Make valuable career connections in the form of professional references, connections to future job opportunities, or possible mentors or career guides for your career journey.
• Gain work experience - An internship will allow you to add real world work experience to your resume. Even if ultimately you decide to pursue a different occupation or industry from that of your internship, all experience is valuable and shows future employers your impact. You will also experience a professional environment which can help you to understand where you may thrive, i.e. a traditional office vs. working outdoors, as well as to develop important skills in interacting with a supervisor, learning company culture, and collaborating on group projects.
• Develop transferrable skills - Building on the previous point, skills developed at any internship are transferrable across positions and industries, especially career readiness skills such as communication, teamwork, and critical thinking skills. This will also help boost your confidence in the workplace and in your future job search. These skills learned on the job can also be immediately applied in your academic course work through strengthening your leadership in group projects, enhancing communications with peers and professors, and shaping your academic course trajectory to develop skills relevant for a desired industry.
• Earn transcript recognition or academic credit - Career Center courses, such as the Intern Success Practicum or PRAC 102 for On-Campus jobs, provide a zero-credit, transcript notation highlighting your commitment to the career development process. These courses also provide important reflection opportunities to help you identify and articulate the transferrable skills you are learning.  You may also be able to earn upper-level academic credit for your experience via a course in your academic department. Many departments require the Intern Success Practicum as a co-requisite for earning internship/research credit, so contact the Career Center as well as a faculty member in your department for more information.
• Learn career likes and dislikes - Given the short term nature of an internship, it allows you to learn about a job, company, and industry before committing. This is an opportunity to not only learn about the position, but also about yourself - your preferences, skills, abilities, values and personality. These insights provide valuable information that can help align your educational and experiential choices with a career path that is going to be the right fit for you.
• Jumpstart your career - The statistics are impressive: according to What to Become, 50% of companies convert internships into full time positions, increasing the possibility that a company where you interned will hire you after graduation since they know you are a fast learner and an asset to the company. Regardless, completing an internship at any company increases job offers by 16% for all the reasons outlined above.

Want to get started with your internship search? Here are a few ideas:

• Get your resume reviewed during Winter Drop-In Hours
• Schedule an appointment with a Career Advisor
• Search for opportunities directly in Handshake
• Attend the Spring 2023 Career and Internship Fair

The Career Center is back in business following Winter Break, so feel free to connect with us in-person on the 2nd floor of the Math and Psychology building, virtually via Handshake, or by contacting our Front Desk at 410-455-2216. Hope to see you soon!

Name: Olisa Okolo

Internship, Co-op, or Research Site: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

Position Title: Data Analysis and Research Intern

Major or Program: Information Systems

Current Class Level: Senior

Work Term: Fall 2022

Tell us about your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day responsibilities. 

I am using my skills in data analytics, python programming and data science to support one of the many missions of the NASA Jet propulsion Lab

Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application? 

I heard about this position from UMBC faculty and my mentors Dr. Janeja and Dr. Karen Chen

Which of the following resources did you use to find your current experience? 

Student Organizations/Scholar Groups, Faculty Connections

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization?  

I enjoy the scale of the data that I work with and how much of a challenge it is. I have grown in numerous ways as a data scientist 

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

I have supported the team in ensuring the usability of the data analysis models.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience? 

Be very aggressive in curating your online image. Put yourself out there. 

Check out this post on our social media platforms!

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#UMBCintern 

URCAD is returning to campus! 

URCAD is Wednesday, April 12, 2023. 10 – 4 p.m. 

Congratulations to Jahir Antonio Batista Andrade, Ph.D. Candidate in Environmental Engineering, on his first publication related to his Ph.D. research. Batista Andrade, under the supervision of Dr. Lee Blaney, worked with a team of researchers including undergraduate (Erick Diaz, ‘21 Chemical Engineering & Diego Iglesias Vega, ‘23 Chemical Engineering) and graduate students (Ethan Hain, Ph.D. ‘22 Chemical and Biochemical Engineering) as well as postdoctoral researchers (Michael Rose) from Blaney Lab on the research published in the Water Research journal.

The journal article is titled: “Spatiotemporal analysis of fluorescent dissolved organic matter to identify the impacts of failing sewer infrastructure in urban streams”. The findings of this study describe the use of fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy and parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) to track hotspots of raw wastewater in urban streams. The study analyzed 296 surface water samples from 27 sites in two watersheds over a one-year period and found that the area-normalized ratio of soluble microbial product-like to humic acid-like fluorescence (R4/R5 ≥ 0.85) and the ratio of EEM-PARAFAC components with tryptophan-like and fulvic acid-like fluorescence (C4/C3 ≥ 1.45) could be used to distinguish when and where untreated wastewater is introduced to these streams.

The researchers validated the proposed ratios by detecting contaminants such as sucralose, antibiotics, and UV filters in the samples. They identified three sites impacted by septic systems and ten sites affected by sanitary sewer overflows and/or sewer exfiltration. These hotspots occurred almost every month, with the majority being identified in the spring and early summer.

The study's findings suggest that EEM-PARAFAC-based wastewater indicators could be a quick, easy, cost-effective, and scalable technique for identifying failing sewer infrastructure in low-order streams. This is important as failing infrastructure can introduce raw wastewater into these streams, potentially causing environmental and public health issues.

Dr. Rao, Dr. Frey and graduate students from the Chemical Biochemical & Environmental Engineering Department (CBEE) at UMBC as well as collaborators, released a transcript in bioRxiv, titled: “An approach to rapid distributed manufacturing of broad spectrum anti-viral griffithsin using cell-free systems to mitigate pandemics”.

The study details a way for swiftly and effectively synthesizing a protein with broad-spectrum activity. The protein, known as griffithsin, can now be made using either a plant-based or microbial cell-free technology in less than 24 hours and is effective against viruses like SARS-CoV-2 and HIV-1 in vitro. 

The production process is effective and scalable, and its quality and purity have been confirmed using accepted regulatory metrics. Being able to quickly deploy it anywhere in the world to aid in containing viral outbreaks at their source makes it a crucial tool for pandemic mitigation. The development of viral variants has resulted in frequent updates to current vaccines and decreased efficacy of some monoclonal antibody treatments, making proteins like griffithsin a potential asset to the suite of antiviral therapies.