For many engineering students at the University of Rhode Island, learning doesn’t end when the academic year comes to a close. Here are just a few examples of internships students conducted this past summer in laboratories and at companies.
Aidan Kindopp
Major: Chemical Engineering and French IEP*
Hometown: Keene, New Hampshire
Internship: Nanobio Engineering Laboratory
Aidan Kindopp worked closely with Assistant Professor Daniel Roxbury in URI’s Nanobio Engineering Lab. His internship was sponsored by the Rhode Island IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships (RI-INBRE SURF).
“I learned a lot about the research process and how to collect data toward a manuscript for publication,” said Kindopp. “Because I worked in this lab for the 2020-2021 academic year, I was able to skip the training and go straight into data collection and analysis. I researched the effects that the state of aggregation of single-walled carbon nanotubes have on uptake and cytotoxicity in mammalian cells.”
Kindopp plans to finish his studies at URI in 2023, before studying in France for his fifth year in 2023-2024.
Nicole Mendoza
Major: Chemical Engineering and Spanish IEP*
Hometown: North Providence, Rhode Island
Internship: Blount Fine Foods in Fall River, Massachusetts
Nicole Mendoza worked as a research and development intern to further the product development process at Blount Fine Foods.
“I connected with the process engineering team to improve cycle efficiencies to effectively thaw frozen products,” said Mendoza. “I am continuing my internship this fall, as I work on improving thermal distribution for cooking methods and applying thermodynamic principles to real-world heat transfer applications.”
Mendoza expects to study in Spain in her fifth year at URI and graduate in 2024.
Mycarthy Newton
Major: Mechanical Engineering and German IEP*
Hometown: North Kingstown, Rhode Island
Internship: Toray Plastics America in Quonset Point
During Mycarthy Newton’s 10-week internship at Toray, she worked on many projects that focused on safety, machine improvement and process efficiency.
“I designed parts on Autodesk Inventor that were then manufactured, assembled and used in the plant,” said Newton. “These CAD projects included improving the design of existing parts and adapting machinery to updated components, such as new motors or load cells. I also did a project with reverse engineering technology, where I scanned assembly parts and pulled their measurements from the resulting 3D model.
I learned valuable industry insights, such as conventional manufacturing materials and methods, professional project procedures, common machine terms and processes, 3D printing, and finite element analysis. One of the projects that I designed, ordered, assembled and tested was a hydraulic cylinder assembly that made lifting a six-ton casting drum much safer and more efficient.”
Newton expects to graduate from URI in 2024.
Gianna Wadowski
Major: Industrial & Systems Engineering and Italian IEP*
Hometown: Southington, Connecticut
Internship: Triumph Group in West Hartford, Connecticut
Gianna Wadowski worked in the product support hydromechanical engineering department at the Triumph Group.
“I worked on trouble shooting issues on aftermarket products,” said Wadowski. “My largest projects were developing a testing fixture from the ground up and creating an interactive dashboard to display data on different testing configurations. The fixture was 3D-printed and was implemented into inspection. The dashboard could be manipulated to show exactly what the user wants to see instead of combing through hundreds of rows in an Excel spreadsheet.
It was incredible to witness the engineering design process and to collaborate with other departments at Triumph. I learned how diverse and exceptional the engineering profession is and I’m humbled to have this experience so early in my college career.”
Wadowski expects to graduate from URI in 2025.