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GT's Global Internship Program Sends Nearly 200 Students Abroad

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The Office of International Education is pleased to announce that the Global Internship Program sent 188 students abroad for international internships during the 2016-17 academic year. This is a 25% increase over the 2015-16 total, and a 54% increase since 2014-15.

Georgia Tech’s Global Internship Program facilitates overseas internships for GT students with the purpose of allowing students to gain practical work experience in their disciplines while developing critical cross-cultural skills. Global Internships also allow Georgia Tech to expand its network and reputation around the world, with students interning in 45+ countries. For the host companies and organizations, they gain access to top-notch students, internationalize their workplace, and increase their own brand awareness on Georgia Tech’s campus.

While many overseas internships take place in traditional corporate settings, students also do research internships, government internships, and service-based internships.  Global internship students are spread all over the world, however, there are certain locations that are more common for GT students due to their corporate cultures and links to GT. The top countries during the 2016-17 year were Germany (44), France (20), Japan (19), India (17), China (14), Switzerland (7), England (6) and Singapore (5).

Global Internship Program staff develop relationships with overseas companies and organizations to offer internships to GT students, and provide resources and advising to students on how to seek, obtain, and prepare for international internships. Roughly half of the students who intern abroad find the opportunities on their own, showcasing our students’ entrepreneurial savvy. Through the process of seeking, interviewing for, and undertaking overseas internships, students exercise their professional development, networking, and intercultural communication skills.

Students intern at large multinational companies such as BMW, Bosch, Siemens, Safran, NTT, Microsoft, and Airbus, as well as with start-ups, government offices, and prestigious research universities such as Technical University of Munich (TUM) and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Students make meaningful contributions during their internships on tech-related projects including self-driving car technology, drone technology, sustainable energy consulting, machine learning, and data visualization in bioinformatics. However, global internships are not just for engineering and computer science students. Students from all six of GT’s Colleges participate in global internships. One College of Science student developed AP science curriculum for a Dominican Republic high school, while an Ivan Allen student assisted with European Parliament policy and research in Belgium.

Nikhil Dhawan, a Mechanical Engineering undergrad, said of his recent internship with conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra in India, “My work at Mahindra Electric allowed me a grassroots-level understanding of working in an electric vehicle company, as well as the unique challenges associated with advancing electric vehicle production in a developing country like India. Through this internship, I got to apply the skills I learned at Georgia Tech in a focused and practical way.”

Mary Stephens, a Biology undergrad, echoed these sentiments regarding her summer internship in Peru. “My international medical internship was amazing! I spent 7 weeks immersed in a new culture, working in a clinic alongside doctors and nurses to meaningfully contribute to the community. I learned a lot about the healthcare system and had the opportunity to improve my medical Spanish.” (See more about Mary’s internship at https://youtu.be/2rYk1dB7Msw.)

Sergio Monroy, a Mechanical Engineering Master’s student, interned with inodú, a start up consulting firm focused on sustainable energy in Santiago, Chile. “Having the opportunity to work closely with the inodú team was a very valuable experience for me, given their passion for what they do, as well as their technical expertise. Being able to work at a startup-consulting company immersed me in a fast-paced environment, where I had to quickly learn and apply my knowledge to different problems and situations in the context of the energy industry. This internship was a phenomenal opportunity and allowed me to grow both as a person and as an engineer.” (See more about Sergio’s internship at https://www.inodu.com/single-post/2017/06/28/Sergios-Internship-Story-2017).

Students who aim to intern abroad are encouraged to browse the Global Internship Program website for resources and student testimonials (https://oie.gatech.edu/gip/home), speak with the Global Internship advisor in OIE, and attend the upcoming Global Internship Resource Fair on September 28.  

Companies who would like to host a Georgia Tech global intern may contact the Director of the Global Internship Program, Jennifer Evanuik Baird, at jennifer.baird@oie.gatech.edu

Status

  • Workflow Status:Published
  • Created By:Jennifer Evanuik Baird
  • Created:08/11/2017
  • Modified By:Jennifer Evanuik Baird
  • Modified:08/11/2017