ATA’s university intern and coop program promotes technical excellence at AEDC Published May 9, 2012 By Philip Lorenz III AEDC/PA ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, Tenn. -- An ongoing challenge to the future of flight simulation testing at Arnold Engineering Development Center is recruiting and retaining the best and brightest engineering students who will form the workforce of the future, according to Laurie Winton, ATA's University Programs Coordinator. Winton, who has been the program's coordinator since 2009, is excited about the opportunities students are provided during their assignments and the relationships the students develop with each other and with professional mentors and managers. Since ATA's contract began in 2003, the program has brought 172 students to AEDC from more than 25 universities in more than 12 states. Seventy-seven percent of the students have successfully completed the program and 57 have been hired as regular full-time employees. The goal at present is to keep between 20 and 25 students in the program at any given time. "[ATA's university intern and co-op program] is an opportunity for the students to have a paying summer job while obtaining real-world experience in their chosen field of study to help them solidify their career goals, find out if they're interested in the kind of work we do, and determine if they're a good fit with our company and this environment," Winton said. "We treat it as a long-term interview and utilize the program to give the students an opportunity to show us what kind of workers they're going to be prior to hiring them as regular full-time employees." Students are paired with an AEDC employee who acts as a technical mentor to the student. An effort is made to match each student with a mentor whose job is related to the student's field of study and interests. Winton said matching students with their AEDC mentor is more nuanced than it may appear. "We try to match the students' broad interests," she said. "For instance, we'll ask mechanical engineering students if they are more interested in doing systems engineering, project management, hardware design, or data analysis type work. For electrical engineering students, we may ask if their interests are in instrumentation, design, systems and maintenance or power distribution." Winton also serves as a type of mentor in assisting the students with the transition from school to the work environment and coaching on business communication, resume building and presentation skills. There are few differences in the two parts of the program. "Co-op students can apply once they've completed 45 semester hours and generally work either in the spring (January to May) or the fall (August to December)," Winton said. "They receive college credit in addition to being paid for their time working." In contrast, the interns, who are college juniors or seniors, work at AEDC for approximately 12 weeks during the summer months and while paid, they receive no college credit for their work assignment. Dr. Rob McAmis, Deputy Director of ATA's Integrated Test and Evaluation Department, has mentored many college students during his 28 years at AEDC. He said working with the program's students has been "a great experience." McAmis, who earned his mechanical engineering degrees from Tennessee Technological University (B.S.), the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (M.S.), and the University of Tennessee Space Institute (Ph.D.) said, "I enjoy passing along the passion for science and the breadth of opportunities that exist at AEDC to apply our engineering skills. "[This program] is important for the student and ATA and AEDC. The student gets exposure to real-world engineering problems and begins to understand the difference between homework problems and industry-based problems. "One significant difference the students see quickly is that most of the difficulty in industry-based problems exists in defining the problem. In college, the students are most often given problems and their efforts are focused on the solutions. However, problem definition is never that simple in industry." Scott Bartlett, AEDC's Chief Engineer and alum of Tennessee Technological University (BSME) and the University of Tennessee Space Institute (MSME), was a former intern at Pratt & Whitney and secured a summer job at AEDC with Sverdrup in 1980. "I had interesting and challenging (read that as 'not busy work') assignments in both places," Bartlett said. "These jobs and how they affected my view of the engineering profession are why I am interested in the co-op and intern program now." His interest is more than just talk. Bartlett has mentored several students in his 28 years at the base and views the opportunity to witness student intellectual curiosity as one of the most important aspects in evaluating a future engineer. "AEDC and ATA are a multi-discipline operation, and each year engineering disciplines are becoming more integrated," he said."We have a great opportunity to allow students to diversify their technical exposure here and find great fits between the students' needs and ours." Winton encourages feedback from the students who participate in the university co-op and intern program. "We have an in-depth exit interview questionnaire that we obtain from each student each time they work to help evaluate the students' experience with the program," she said. "We also ask them to assess their experience with their mentor, manager, and the University Programs Team to find out what we're doing right and what we can do better. "We feel good about some areas of what we're doing, but know there are areas for improvement as well." Tom Northcott, an ATA Mission Support Utility Systems Engineering group lead, first came to work at AEDC during the summer of 2001 as an intern and worked a total of three terms. He graduated from Tennessee Technology University in December 2003 with a B.S. degree in electrical engineering. Northcott said Tennessee Tech had posted information about the newly developed intern program at AEDC. "That was where I ultimately wanted to work, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to get my foot in the door," said the former enlisted Marine. "I think it [the intern program] greatly helped my ability to obtain a full-time position in January of 2004." He added, "Joe Capps was the engineer who I worked with the most. I worked with several engineers and electricians in the PWT area and learned a lot about the facility and electrical work in general. It reaffirmed my desire to continue pursuing my electrical engineering degree and come to AEDC for a full-time position." Dana Alexander, a system engineer with ATA roads and grounds, worked for ATA as an engineering intern during the summers of 2008 and 2009. "I first found out about AEDC and ATA at an engineering career fair at TTU," she recalled. "I spoke with the ATA University Programs representative at the career fair and was able to set up an interview." In May 2012, Alexander graduated from Tennessee Tech with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering. "My internship allowed me to connect the dots between what I was learning in school and how it can be used in real life," she said. "It also helped me see the big picture of what being an engineer will really be like. "My internship made transitioning to a full-time ATA employee much easier. After two summer internships, I knew I was going to work at a company that I was already comfortable with. The adjustment period was very short, which allowed me to jump in and get to work." She said her mentor, Erin Robinson, did a great job "and really helped me see what a day in the life of an engineer is like." "One of the most important things I learned as an intern was the importance of communication between co-workers. Everyone benefits from the intern/co-op program at ATA," Alexander said. "Students have a chance to learn real life engineering skills, and ATA has the chance to preview potential new hires." Summer students are scheduled to report to AEDC in May. There will also be some co-op students added in the near future for the fall 2012 semester. Applications should be made through ATA's online talent management system or contact Laurie Winton at 931-454-6686 or by e-mail, Laurie.Winton@arnold.af.mil for more information.