Engineering Student Accepts Internship with GE Aviation

Published: January 29, 2020 | Author: Kierstin Pitcher-Holloway | Read Time: 2 minutes

After attending GE Aviation’s Annual Female Leadership Summit, Sabrina Kim, a junior in Southern Utah University's Mechanical Engineering program, recently accepted an internship with GE Aviation. This summer Kim will be working with the GE Aviation team studying aerodynamics and thermodynamics. 

The Female Leadership Summit seeks to identify and recruit highly talented minority female students from a wide spectrum of backgrounds and SUU’s female mechanical engineering students were encouraged to apply. Kim applied and was selected to attend the conference, giving her the opportunity to attend leadership panels, professional development seminars, and to meet with employees from GE. Being in such a supportive environment was inspiring to Kim. 

“When we’re in our classes sometimes we don’t want to say things that would have the males in our class judge us or think of us in a certain way,” said Kim. “When we were only around females none of us held back and we could completely be ourselves.”

At the end of the leadership summit, attendees were given another opportunity, an interview for 2020 internships with GE Aviation. A highly competitive program, Kim was among only 28 out of 700 applicants who were selected for positions. 

“This is a pretty unique experience because I feel like across the world it's pretty common that engineering is a male-dominated field of study,” said Kim. "I'll be working with the mechanics of the engines, such as studying their aerodynamic and thermodynamic aspects. Which is cool because that is a lot of the material that I'm learning right now, so learning how to apply it in an airplane engine is something that I’m really excited about.”

The GE internship program has a few different options for different majors. As a mechanical engineering major, Kim listed her preference for working with the design of the engines. These internship opportunities allow students to explore their future career field while doing impactful work and working with others to solve real-world problems. 

“Sabrina has superior skills in doing analytical and experimental work,” said Dr. Ali Siahpush, associate professor of engineering. “As a person, she is well balanced, intelligent, and self-disciplined. She is mentally and physically tough, and she sets the pace and expectations for other colleagues and raises the standards.” 

Engineering is a hands-on program at SUU. Small classes, modern labs, and dedicated faculty give students the best chance for success. Advisors work side by side with students to ensure that they have the educational foundation necessary to achieve their goals. Learn more about the Engineering Program at SUU. 

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Tags: College of Engineering and Computational Sciences Engineering

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