CEC internships

Civil engineering student builds a solid foundation with summer internship

Shayla Brown — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 14:29:57 +0000

Civil engineering student builds a solid foundation with summer internship Shayla Brown Mon, 10/07/2024 - 10:29

More than 250 people are working on the construction of the Fuse at Mason Square building, including ��AV senior Leslie Hernandez.

“It’s my way of giving back to my school and community,” said Hernandez, who is majoring in civil and infrastructure engineering in the College of Engineering and Computing (CEC).

Hernandez has had four internships with Clark Construction since her senior year of high school and has previously worked on projects such as the Amazon headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.

“The Amazon headquarters project was really special to me because it was the first project that I got to see full circle from when it was just a pile of concrete up to the final product,” said Hernandez.

At Fuse, Hernandez is focused on field operations. “I’m like the middleman between the architect and the general contractor, working with inspectors, owners, and trade partners,” the Honors College student said.

For Hernandez, the highlight of the summer was working and bonding with her colleagues. “The labor force on a construction site is composed of a good percentage of Hispanic or Latino individuals, and I identify as both of those. Because of this, I was able to create meaningful bonds with individuals as we engaged in day-to-day conversations about the work we do,” she said.

Hernandez says engineering professor Catalina González-Dueñas is also a huge source of inspiration. She shared her background with the CEC professor during office hours, where they bonded over their respective experiences.

“I feel like I'm able to see myself in her,” said Hernandez, first generation college student originally from El Salvador. “She’s a representation of what’s possible for me. She told me that one of the reasons why she does what she does is to be that representation for Hispanic and Latina women.

This admiration is a two-way street, said González-Dueñas. “I aim for my students to learn and feel inspired, but I am often inspired by and learning from their questions and perspectives as well,” she said.

“What stands out the most about Leslie is that she always relates the concepts taught in class to her own internship experience,” said González-Dueñas. “This not only allows her to put concepts into action, but also helps her classmates by providing real-world examples that illustrate abstract ideas.”

Leslie Hernandez at her Clark Construction Internship outside the Fuse at Mason Square building. Photo by Cristian Torres/Office of University Branding

Alongside her internship position, Hernandez has also been working part-time for Clark Construction for the past two years. During the summer, the internship and part-time position responsibilities merge.

“They offered me the position, which is great because it allows me to gain experience in my field while I’m going to school. They’ve been very flexible with my class schedule as well,” said Hernandez.

“When I first started working at Clark Construction, everyone would encourage me even though they didn’t even really know me yet,” said Hernandez. “I’m so glad to have this background and experience in the construction industry because I do see myself in this industry later on.”

Hernandez says the only thing she’s more dedicated to than construction is family. “I have two little sisters and a little brother and I'm trying to not only set a good example but open doors for them so they see that anything is possible,” she said.

“I feel such a sense of pride because I’m leaving a little piece of myself in every project. Once the Fuse building is done, I'm forever going to be part of that project and my school.”

In This Story

Catalina Gonzalez-Duenas

Topics

internships

College of Engineering and Computing

Information technology students stepped up to secure Virginia’s elections

Teresa Donnellan — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 14:19:47 +0000

Information technology students stepped up to secure Virginia’s elections Teresa Donnellan Wed, 08/28/2024 - 10:19

Secure elections are the cornerstone of democracy, and the Virginia Cyber Navigator Internship Program (VA-CNIP) has equipped students with the skills to strengthen the cybersecurity posture of election infrastructures. As an intern last summer, information technology (IT) major Duong Thuy Nguyen helped secure a rural county's technology for the upcoming presidential election alongside two other George Mason students, Maha Khan and Sophie Bates.

Sponsored by the National Security Agency (NSA) and run by the University of Virginia (UVA) and five other Virginia universities including George Mason, VA-CNIP was developed to address the need for improved election security in localities that may not have the resources to implement necessary cybersecurity measures.

Nguyen, who is pursuing a dual concentration in database technology and programming and cyber security, traveled to Campbell County for a few days each week over the summer to support the county’s dedicated and hard-working IT staff in complying with the Locality Election Security Standards (LESS) required by the Commonwealth of Virginia. The LESS requirements are designed to ensure that all localities, regardless of size, have baseline cybersecurity measures in place, with further goals to achieve "preferred" or "premium" levels of security. The program thus not only prepared students for future careers but also left a lasting impact on the local governments they serve.

From left to right, Albanese, Hicks, and Nguyen with two other VA-CNIP interns. Photo provided.

George Mason Associate Professor Max Albanese helped lead VA-CNIP, designing a course in election security that was a prerequisite for all interns. In addition to the course, a two-day boot camp at UVA provided interns with training, including hands-on activities and talks from high profile industry experts and election officials. This year United States Election Assistance Commissioner Thomas Hicks spoke at the boot camp.

“Especially this year, the focus was on trying to send interns to localities that were in most need of upgrading their security posture,” said Albanese, “and that means the more rural or less technologically advanced counties.”

Each week, students worked remotely for part of their assignments but also traveled to their assigned localities for on-site work. Due to the often-rural nature of the counties involved, VA-CNIP provided a $3,000 travel allowance to each intern in addition to their $9,000 stipend. This allowed students to travel long distances and, when necessary, stay overnight in nearby towns to avoid lengthy commutes. The George Mason interns this year traveled about four hours one way to reach Campbell County.

Nguyen in Campbell County. Photo provided.

Nguyen noted how rewarding it was to work in-person with the local IT department. Her tasks included developing security policies, conducting research on cybersecurity tools, and even designing tabletop exercises to prepare local officials for possible cyber incidents on election day. Nguyen raved about her internship, which was her first. Even though she had to travel a lot, she said, she would not change her experience.

“They were all very welcoming, and they gave us all the support that we needed,” she said.

VA-CNIP exemplifies the power of academia, government, and students working together to tackle one of the most pressing challenges of our time—ensuring the security and integrity of democratic processes. While funding for VA-CNIP ends this year, there are ongoing discussions about sustaining the program going forward.

In This Story

Massimiliano Albanese

Explore career options at University Career Services

Topics

information technology

Information Sciences and Technology Department

information sciences and technology

CEC high impact stories

CEC internships

Break Through Tech Sprinterns collaborate, build community during micro-internships

Teresa Donnellan — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 19:29:55 +0000

Break Through Tech Sprinterns collaborate, build community during micro-internships Teresa Donnellan Mon, 02/13/2023 - 14:29

During winter break, fifty-three George Mason students participated in three-week micro-internships via Break Through Tech DC’s Sprinternship program. Assigned to one of thirteen partner companies, each student worked on an assigned project and presented findings to supervisors. Partner companies included American Express, Bechtel Corporation, Booz Allen Hamilton, Commvault, Crown Castle, KPMG, Mastercard, Microsoft, Ticketmaster, and Verizon.

Sprinterns were able to glimpse the professional tech world, not only experiencing what it might be like to work at their assigned company but also hearing from professionals in various roles, allowing them to consider different tech and tech-adjacent roles. Three themes emerged from a survey of Mason’s 2023 Sprinterns: collaboration, collegiality, and community.

Collaboration is key.

Most Sprinterns remarked on the difference between individual classwork and the collaborative nature of professional work.

“I've never had like a collaborative project in a computer science class before,” said Wijdane Mifdal, a Sprintern at Crown Castle. “You know, they always like tell you all of your work is individual [in class].”

Part of collaborating is figuring out who’s doing which tasks. Grace Ollivant, a Sprintern at Booz Allen Hamilton, served as project manager for her ten-person team. She explained, “They were kind of letting us direct the project ourselves; so we had a few people on the engineering team, a few people on government, and a few people on operations.”

At the end of their micro-internships, each Sprintern group presented to upper-level management on their assigned project. Mifdal recalls the CEO of Crown Castle particularly complimenting her group’s smooth presentation. “He loved how we collaborated together,” she said, "It just went so perfectly, and then he himself told us to apply for summer [internships]. It was really cool.”

Collegiality is welcome.

Sprinterns were pleased by the friendliness and respect with which employees at their host companies approached them. Employees at each partner company helped Sprinterns approach and complete their projects. Davina Lim, a Sprintern at MasterCard, said, “They helped us a lot in the project. They were very open and let us ask them questions whenever we needed help.”

Such mentorship is crucial to the Sprintern experience. In addition to project guidance, most Sprinterns were able to hear from professionals in various roles throughout their assigned companies. Lim was able to attend information sessions with employees working in cybersecurity, data science, and product management. “It was good learning more about what they actually do,” she said.

Mifdal warmly remembers her supervisor at Crown Castle, who set up informational interviews for each Sprintern according to her interests. She was especially intrigued to learn about the different roles available for a software engineer, such as architecture designers working at the macro-level of a software project.

Moreover, several Sprinterns commented that their temporary colleagues were much less intimidating than a nervous student might imagine. Lim noted, “I was expecting it to be a little stricter, and I was a little intimidated at first. But everyone was really nice.” Mifdal said, “I wasn't expecting such a warm welcome like that.”

Community is built.

A sense of belonging in the tech industry is especially valuable for underrepresented students in computing. Collaboration and collegiality in the Sprinterns’ experiences fostered a strong sense of community among the Sprinterns, who were able to network with peers and professionals alike.

Topics

College of Engineering and Computing

Computer science; computing; School of Computing

Amber Brown discusses Federal Highway Administration internship

Teresa Donnellan — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 15:07:57 +0000

Amber Brown discusses Federal Highway Administration internship Teresa Donnellan Thu, 10/20/2022 - 11:07

Despite having graduated high school in the teeth of the covid-19 pandemic, Amber Brown has made the most of her time on campus. After a freshman year that was almost entirely remote, Brown felt deprived of a year of involvement in campus life and student organizations. She remembers frantically searching during her sophomore year for a way to gain experience in her field, civil engineering.

“It's actually crazy, because I've always been scared to reach out to teachers, not because they're not open. It's more so because it's just new and uncomfortable. I'd never really done that before, networking with your teacher.”

Brown’s statics teacher mentioned his organization was hiring, which gave Brown the courage to reach out to him.

"I emailed him, and I was like, ‘Hi, I really enjoyed your class today. I heard you were hiring. Is there anything [for me]? If not, I understand.’ He sent me the program [information], and he's like, ‘Yeah, apply, and I'll put a good word in for you.’”

Brown became an intern at the US Department of Transportation Summer Transportation Internship Program for Diverse Groups, or the STIPDG program, run through The Washington Center. She worked on the Climate Challenge Program in the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA).

"I got really lucky,” Brown says, "because my mentor was a lead manager. So it kind of allowed me to see the other side of engineering. I did a lot of organizational skills and management work on [things] like planning, webinars, [and] proposals. I was mirroring project managers.”

She adds, “It was an exciting time, everyone was saying, because Biden was just passing legislation giving out money ... as it relates to anything sustainability.”

The program “relates to tracking greenhouse gases, which is done via an LCA, a life cycle assessment, or an EPD, an environmental project declaration,” Brown explains. In her role, Brown kept tabs on the program’s email inbox, made updates as needed to the program’s website and shared documents, and wrote up meeting agendas and event plans.

"I was in a bunch of meetings ... helping plan webinars to get information out,” she says, adding, “My favorite part was just seeing where states are at as it relates to tracking greenhouse gases. It's kind of crazy, because transportation is the biggest producer of greenhouse gas emission, and doing this is going to allow us to track it, make better aggregates, and all that stuff. So I was able to learn a lot about pavements and design.”

“I definitely think it gave me a lot of insight,” Brown reflects. When asked how the internship influenced her career plans, the junior says, “I'm still trying to figure out which avenue of civil [engineering to pursue], because I didn't realize it was so big.” She explains, “That internship gave me more of the construction management side, which I love. But now I kind of want to get more into...the field engineering side of it, seeing what that is and what that looks like. Then maybe I’ll have a better idea of what I want to do when I graduate.”

Topics

networking

American Society of Civil Engineers

civil engineer

Civil Engineering

civil engineering; stormwater infrastructure; climate variability

CEC internships

First Mason student wins prestigious commercial spaceflight fellowship

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Feb 2021 14:47:06 +0000

First Mason student wins prestigious commercial spaceflight fellowship Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 02/08/2021 - 09:47

Learn about Mechanical Engineering at Mason

“I am incredibly honored to be the first Mason student in the Matthew Isakowitz program,” says Boakye. “I have dreamed of becoming a rocket engineer since I was 10.”

Photo credit:

Ron Aria / ��AV

The Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship is an internship, mentorship, and networking opportunity awarded to exceptional college juniors, seniors, and graduate students pursuing careers in the commercial spaceflight industry.

Many people dream of being an astronaut and rocketing into outer space, but senior Sidney Boakye just landed an opportunity that launches him closer to that long-standing dream.

Boakye, a mechanical engineering major, is the first ��AV student to be awarded the Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship, a highly selective internship, mentorship, and networking program for students interested in spaceflight.

“I am incredibly honored to be the first Mason student in the Matthew Isakowitz program,” says Boakye. “I have dreamed of becoming a rocket engineer since I was 10.”

Former recipients of the fellowship have hailed from schools across the country such as Columbia University, MIT, Princeton University, Georgia Tech, and more. “The list of former fellows is impressive, and I’m excited to be a part of the 2021 group of fellows,” says Boakye. Once selected, fellows receive a paid summer internship at one of the program’s host companies. They are also paired with a notable commercial space industry leader who provides mentorship.

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What drew Boakye to this fellowship was how the program embeds recipients within the commercial space industry by providing mentors, internships, and networking opportunities. “I know I will learn a lot from this experience,” he says. “This is a unique opportunity to learn a lot and apply your knowledge. At the end of the summer, there is also a big networking event where we get to meet other fellows and commercial spaceflight professionals, so I will also get to meet like-minded people."

Boakye has dreamed of being an astronaut since he was 3 years old, and when he came to Mason, he knew he wanted to pursue mechanical engineering. Since freshman year, he has immersed himself in Mason Nation through student organizations and community involvement.

“I am graduating in three years instead of the traditional four years, but it was important for me to plan in time to get involved in clubs,” he says. In addition to being a community assistant for Mason Housing, he has served on five different executive boards across organizations like Mason’s collegiate chapters of the American Society for Mechanical Engineers, National Society of Black Engineers, and for Engineers for International Development, and SatCom GMU.

As a project lead for SatCom GMU, Boakye channeled his fascination with space into devising and building a CubeSat. “Large satellites have a lot of functions, but CubeSats are much smaller and have more limited capabilities,” says Boakye. “We got to design and build one that actually hitched a ride into space on NASA’s NG014 in October 2020.”

Boakye hopes that through the Matthew Isakowitz fellowship, he can gain more experiences like this, and he urges all students to seek out opportunities on and off the Mason campus. “I hope that I’m not the only Mason student to receive this amazing fellowship, but there are plenty of opportunities like this out there to go for,” he says. “And if you dig a little at Mason, you can find clubs and opportunities that can also give you experience in what you enjoy and expose you to new things.”