我最初被材料科学与工程（MSE）所吸引，是因为它的多功能性：任何事物都要用到材料！我喜欢有多种选择可以探索的想法--无论是工程、产品设计、能源还是可持续发展，但这种灵活性让我很难选择自己最喜欢的专业。
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed learning about MSE in school. Many of my classes focus on the basics, which equips you well with transferable skills. Learning about fundamental theories and laboratory practices also gives me a good introduction to a breadth of topics. Through the years, I’ve enjoyed lab work the most out of any class sessions. I still vividly remember one of my first lab projects in freshman year, in which we tempered steel in a furnace to the point where it was brittle enough to snap with your bare hands! That being said, I was super excited about my project as a summer intern at Indium Corporation, hoping to explore new lab techniques and materials that I have never worked with before.
总的来说，我的实习项目与课堂项目非常相似，都是文献综述和实验室实验验证的结合。不过，有两大不同之处让我印象深刻。
First, any literature review I’ve completed for academic courses has included an overview of the theory and how widely it can be applied. In contrast, for my internship project, I specifically looked into works that have employed similar processes or alloy compositions. This makes my search for papers more streamlined and specific, and I’m putting Google Scholar’s advanced search to good use!
Second, there is a lot of room for exploration within my project at Indium Corporation. At school, when you’re completing a lab project, you know exactly what aspects of the process you’re changing and then specifically test for the expected changes. On the other hand, in a real-world project like this, you don’t know the specific causes of the results observed, and so each experiment and testing method needs to be planned thoroughly in advance, keeping the independent and control variables in mind. A school laboratory gives you clear-cut directions on how to reach the end point while in a real-world scenario, you’re embarking on a scavenger hunt, with some clues of course, but you still need to put two and two together.
我很高兴能参加这次探险，探索更多我不熟悉的先进设备。我主要从事数码显微镜方面的工作，对在不同条件下测试的各种样本进行成像。我很高兴能接受这种新设备的培训，因为它比我在学校使用的显微镜先进得多。这台机器把我宠坏了，回到学校使用手动显微镜时我会想念它的！
单独完成项目是另一个让我印象深刻的地方。我在学校做实验时，通常都是以小组为单位，由多人共同完成实验和报告，从而加快了实验进程。不过，通过这个实习项目了解我是如何单独工作的，这对我来说是一次宝贵的学习机会。看到自己的效率和信心在这几周里不断提高，我对这次机会感到兴奋和感激。我喜欢冒险的一面也喜欢随之而来的灵活性和探索性。
在项目之外，我还喜欢参观三家制造工厂。这是我第一次参观生产车间--虽然我在课堂上已经了解了一些生产流程，但亲眼目睹这些生产流程在生产车间里栩栩如生，还是一种独特的体验。例如，我在学校实验室看到的小规模铸造和在这里看到的大规模铸造之间的区别就非常有趣。
Beyond its technical aspects, MSE drew me in because of its close-knit community. As one of the smaller engineering departments, MSE students at my school have the unique opportunity to work in smaller groups and connect with both peers and professors more frequently. Academics aside, community has been an important factor in my life, as I continue to delve into new environments. Connection is an important theme in my life, whether that be with people or places I interact with. For that reason, as I discovered how close-knit the community at Indium Corporation was, it excited and impressed me deeply. The internship program also presented valuable opportunities to make new friends and build connections in this area (which I knew nothing about as a non-local). It has been great getting to know the other interns both in and out of the office. Since we’re all from different schools, I have had so much fun hearing about their journeys. I’ve also enjoyed getting to know the people working in the various facilities–it’s so nice to see familiar faces when you walk around, right? Everyone being so welcoming has definitely made my transition into a new role and a new environment easier.
