Name: Alex Di Bianco
Graduation Year: 2024
Major: Computer Engineering
On Campus Involvement: IT Help Desk
Where and when did you intern? Linearizer Communications Group, Hamilton NJ, Summer 2023
How did you hear about the internship and what was the interview process like?
I heard about this internship through an email from Dr. Katz. The interview process was straightforward. It started with the potential interns being invited to take a tour of the company site, learn some general information about the company and what kind of work is done there. We then did a few one-on-one interviews with some Senior Engineers and the Operations Lead, mainly reviewing our resumes and getting a better idea of our prior experience.
Describe your role.
My role consisted of a few responsibilities, since we were assigned two projects to work on, and began learning about the testing process for products made at LCG. The main responsibilities for these projects were to research and start up a 3D Printing lab at LCG, since there was no printing capability when we started, and design and print parts to assist with the testing workflow. Our other project tasked us with designing a program to retrieve data for various tests from a network analyzer, and display that data in a clear way through Excel.
My role consisted of a few responsibilities, since we were assigned two projects to work on, and began learning about the testing process for products made at LCG. The main responsibilities for these projects were to research and start up a 3D Printing lab at LCG, since there was no printing capability when we started, and design and print parts to assist with the testing workflow. Our other project tasked us with designing a program to retrieve data for various tests from a network analyzer, and display that data in a clear way through Excel.
What was an average day like?
An average day for me would start by checking my email for anything sent to me after I had left for the previous day, which usually was about checking if a 3D print we did was ready for another engineer to use. If there were any problems with a print I would try to address it immediately, as it could occur in the future, which I didn’t want. Then, if a print was going smoothly, I would work on designing our program, working closely with one of the Software Engineers to learn about and create new features as needed. At the end of the day, we’d have a good idea of what we needed to address the next day, because something would usually break in the code, or we would finish one feature and move onto the next.
An average day for me would start by checking my email for anything sent to me after I had left for the previous day, which usually was about checking if a 3D print we did was ready for another engineer to use. If there were any problems with a print I would try to address it immediately, as it could occur in the future, which I didn’t want. Then, if a print was going smoothly, I would work on designing our program, working closely with one of the Software Engineers to learn about and create new features as needed. At the end of the day, we’d have a good idea of what we needed to address the next day, because something would usually break in the code, or we would finish one feature and move onto the next.
What was the best memory you had interning?
My best memory from this internship was being able to go to LCG’s parent company MACOM’s headquarters to present our projects. It was fun to talk with the other interns there about their own projects and experience in various fields of engineering.
My best memory from this internship was being able to go to LCG’s parent company MACOM’s headquarters to present our projects. It was fun to talk with the other interns there about their own projects and experience in various fields of engineering.
What have you learned from this experience?
From my internship I have learned a great deal. Since both of our projects were in areas I had either little or no experience in, like mechanical engineering or software design, it had a big learning curve. Overall I feel much more confident in both these areas. I also learned a lot about how to approach any task given with a more professional engineering mindset, as I often needed to account for small details which wouldn’t have crossed my mind previously.
From my internship I have learned a great deal. Since both of our projects were in areas I had either little or no experience in, like mechanical engineering or software design, it had a big learning curve. Overall I feel much more confident in both these areas. I also learned a lot about how to approach any task given with a more professional engineering mindset, as I often needed to account for small details which wouldn’t have crossed my mind previously.
What is one skill you feel as if you’ve improved upon while at your internship?
One skill I think I improved upon the most during my internship is communicating my ideas better. When designing our program for instance, it became convoluted quickly, and communicating any ideas I had for it required the usage of the correct terminology. I would give my ideas more thought as well, so that I could communicate clearly and effectively exactly what I wanted to do.
One skill I think I improved upon the most during my internship is communicating my ideas better. When designing our program for instance, it became convoluted quickly, and communicating any ideas I had for it required the usage of the correct terminology. I would give my ideas more thought as well, so that I could communicate clearly and effectively exactly what I wanted to do.
Do you have any advice for anyone who is applying for an internship?
For anyone applying for an internship, I would say try to be able to explain your projects and reasoning behind design decisions you made well. I think that helped me greatly during the interview process, as I could explain in detail what my past projects in labs were about, and specific details about how they worked. Also don’t hold back any interests that you have in other aspects of engineering. I’ve always been interested in 3D modeling, which isn’t used that much in computer engineering, but was a key component of one of my projects.