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FEATURE STORY
Lock It In Internships empower MSOE students to secure full-time jobs before graduation.
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From developing technology for rockets, to finding a niche, to following a Regent’s footsteps, MSOE students are making their marks in internship programs and locking in full-time jobs before graduation. When it came to post-graduation plans, Andrew Kempen ’21 had his eye on the sky. “I read Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashley Vance a number of years ago and was instantly captivated by Elon’s vision of the future and the stated mission of SpaceX. Ever since then, working at SpaceX has been my dream job.” After interning at Hydro-Thermal and Collins Aerospace his sophomore and junior years, Kempen’s dreams became a reality when he landed an internship at SpaceX the summer before his senior year. As an intern he worked on developing sensors for the Dragon capsule and for the Starship program. He then accepted a full-time position as a sensor development engineer after graduating in May 2021 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.
Andrew Kempen ’21
“Everything we work on is pushing the boundaries on either what we know or what we can do,” said Kempen. “But once you are able to overcome those challenges, definitely the most rewarding part of the job is having a hand in making parts and technologies that actually go on rockets to space—and back!”
Typically, 80–85% of MSOE students have one or more internships while at school. Jake Egan ’21, on the other hand, held not one but four different internships at Mayville Engineering Company, Agricycle Global, FedEx Ground Corporate Office and Steel Craft Corp. He joined Steel Craft full time as a manufacturing engineer after graduating with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and minor in business administration in May 2021. Not only did these internships allow Egan to apply what he learned in class and sharpen his skills, they also helped him find his niche. “I started as an architectural engineering student my first year at MSOE. After learning about industrial engineering and spending a summer working in a sheet metal fabrication factory, I fell in love with industrial engineering.” Rather than holding internships, nursing students gain their external, hands-on experiences through clinicals where they’re able to explore
Jake Egan ’21
