“What I did Last Summer”REU & Internship Experiences

November 23, 2009

6pm, SL 104

Introducing…

REU’s, Internships, Research Experiences by…

• Carol Wood

• Deepti Kalluri

• Funmi Adebayo

• Greg Lucini

• Angelica DeMartino

• Lydia Bakalova

• Liz Tuite

Interdisciplinary Materials REU

Selective Interactions of

Charged Nanoparticles

1.2

0.8

0.4

0.0

Ab

so

rban

ce (

AU

)

750500

Wavelength (nm)

Before Filtration After Filtration

1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2

1.0

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

Ab

so

rba

nce

(A

U)

12080400

Time (hours)

Control enTMOS

Benefits

1. Awesome

2. Shenanigans

3. Networking

4. Science

5. Dolla’ Dolla’ Billz

6. Friends!

7. Fun!

University of Texas Health Science

Center at San Antonio

Physiology Undergraduate Research

Experience (PURE)

Background

• Synaptic connections are being continuously

remodeled

– Responsible for learning and memory

• Loss of connections leads to neurodegenerative

diseases

My Project

• Role of Darf2 in Synapse Growth and Protein

Localization

• 2 domains

• Which domain is responsible for loss of synaptic

connections?

– Decreased growth

– Altered protein localization

Results

Mutant 1 Mutant 2

• Domain 1 is responsible for normal synaptic function

Wild Type

What I got out of it

• Opportunity to present my poster at a poster

session

• Learned a lot about genetics/ neuroscience/

physiology

• Journal clubs & luncheon sessions with graduate

students and faculty

How I got it

• http://people.rit.edu/~gtfsbi/Symp/summer.htm#skip

• Volunteering in a lab

• Application, personal statement, recommendations,

transcript

WPI Bioengineering REU

WPI Bioengineering REU

•10-week Program

•Housing was provided

•$4000 Stipend

Research

•Tissue Rings

•Vascular Tissue

Engineering

•Cell-Derived Rings vs.

Biopolymer Gel rings

•Mechanical Testing,

Histology

Other Knowledge

• How to write an abstract

• PowerPoint Presentations

• How to write a resume

• Applying to graduate schools

BioDiscovery

BioDiscovery

• One-week program

• Mentored middle-school girls in

Biomedical Engineering research

• So much fun!!!

Tons O’ Fun!

BMES Conference – Pittsburgh PA

Mass Life Sciences Center Internship

Challenge- Bristol-Myers Squibb

• How did I get the job?

– MLSC Internship Challenge

– Government encouraged biotech companies to hire

interns

– Paid internship 8 weeks for $4800 ($15/hour)

• ^^^ pretty decent

What I did last Summer?

Lydia Bakalova

November 23rd, 2009

The company

• Located in Raynham, MA

• Have 4 divisions of DePuy

– Orthopaedics – hip, knee, shoulder implants

– Mitek – sports medicine (tendons, ligaments,

anchors)

– Spine – spinal care

– Codman – neurosurgical therapies

DePuy Orthopaedics

• Manufacture knee, hip and

shoulder implants

• Cleaning process

• Passivation (if applicable)

• Package

• Send for sterilization

http://www.kneereplacement.com/binary/org/DEPUY/images/joint/knee/product/Sigma_rpf_LargeImage.jpg

http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/figures/1471-2474-9-147-2-l.jpg

What I did?

• Join the Manufacturing Division

– Clean & Pack team

• Co-op May-Dec. 2008

• Intern May-Aug. 2009

http://www.globalpackagegallery.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=47298&g2_serialNumber=3

Co-op Responsibilities

Responsibilities

Validation of new packaging

configurations

Creating and executing DOEs

(Design of Experiments)

Validate and document any

repairs or changes

Ensure the equipment meets the company and

FDA requirements

Intern Responsibilities

• Involved in LEAN manufacturing project

– Video-tape manufacturing process

– Brake-down tasks

– Doing time analysis

– Create new plan for time and error reduction

– Validate the concept

– Rearrange the work stations

– Train the operatiors

What are the benefits?

Benefits

NETWORKING!

Meet with many people

Make impression

Possibility for long term

job offer

Industry exposure

Work independent and in team

Communication

Different departments

Different educational/

hierarchy levels

Operators, maintenance technicians, managers

Management, engineering,

sales

How I found the opportunity?

• Co-op:

– Applied on the JnJ website

– Received a call for co-op interview

– Got the job

• Intern:

– Made good impression

– Networking

– Received e-mail from previous supervisor

– Got the job without interview

Questions?

Words of Advice

• Apply Early!!

• Apply to as many REU’s as you can

• Ask your professors for advice

• They can help you!!

• You will meet new people anywhere you go

•Make the best of your experience

How did I get involved in this program?

• Submitted resume online to MLSC

– Really easy, just upload resume

– No extra stuff to complete

• Waited

– I found out about MLSC really late.

– Kept waiting

• Mid-June

– Phone call!

– Asked to setup phone interview

– I had a job offer within four days of initial contact

What did I do at BMS?

• Worked in Devens, MA

• BMS’s brand-new under construction large scale

cell culture facility

• Produced biologics

– Primarily Orencia, a protein-based drug used to treat

rheumatoid arthritis.

BMS? That sounds like Chem Eng?

• Manufacturing Engineering/Technical Services

– Maintained and operated the bioreactor equipment

– Learned a lot about chem eng stuff too!

• Corporate Environment

• Regulated Environment

– Document Control, Quality Control, Validation testing,

startup testing

– Strict government regulations on pharmaceutical

companies, had to adhere to them

Women & Infant’s

Molecular Biology Lab

Kilguss Research Institute

Summer 2009

Testing novel drugs for ovarian cancer

Cells:

• SKOV-3 Cells

Drugs:

• PACs

• MT19C

– Vitamin D Derivative

Culturing Cells

Bradford Assay

• Determining Protein Concentration

Western Blotting

What Does

This Mean??

DAPI/TUNEL Assay

Benefits of Doing an Internship

• Gained valuable lab experience

• Learned about writing grant proposals and

manuscripts

• Worked with people from different backgrounds

Intern at Myomo, Inc.

• How did I get the internship?

Intern at Myomo, Inc.

• What did I do? Quality

testing!

User-interface

testing!

SBIR Grant!

Buying!

Interact

with

patients!

BenefitsStart-up Company Experience

Worked directly w/ CEO & DOE

Made some $$

Contacts & references

Met Shawn Thornton @ the gym in my office complex