Noah found his internship through his research advisor, Professor Carroll. A typical day in his internship involved checking his emails and messages in the morning to see if there was anything that he missed during his off hours. Then, he would check his schedule and talk with his coworkers about the plan for that day, what he needed to do, and how he should do it. At the end of the day, Noah would review the data that was collected.

The work that Noah was involved in was in the field of optics, which involved lenses and mirrors. Specifically, he worked in electro-optics. Although there was some overlap, there are no courses on optics at Ursinus, so he was thrown into a new realm of Physics.

Noah believes that analytical/quantitative skills were very important during his internship, but he also noted that, before his internship, he was pretty independent. But the company placed importance on teamwork. Psionic Technologies is a small start-up company with lots to do and not a lot of people. Being able to work in a team was super important to Noah’s experience. He was able to communicate clearly and act in the interest of the larger group, as well. Noah met frequently with his supervisor, who graduated from Ursinus, and his supervisor’s supervisor for check-in reports. Noah notes how he was applauded for upholding company standards and meeting the company’s mission statement outside of work, as well.

Both before and after his internship experience, Noah is unsure of what he wants to do after he graduates. The most challenging part of his experience was having to learn a lot of new skills. Even though it was challenging, the company knew that he was new to lots of things so they accepted that and helped him throughout the learning process. Despite this challenge, the coolest part of Noah’s internship was being able to work in the National Institute of Aerospace and help with projects that are planned to go into space!

Noah said it was cool to be in a new city this summer because he likes to explore!

Written by Alexa Alessandrini ’24