EEs find jobs through internships and co-ops

A diverse workforce is valued in any job market

By Sue Marquette Poremba
Contributing Editor

'Job markets are cyclical,” says Sandi Kerentoff, SVP of administration and human resources at Hughes (Germantown, MD). “Although the current market may not be ideal for a job seeker, it will only be a matter of time until we see it rebound.”

Cliff Pemble, president and COO of Garmin International (Olathe, KS), is a little more optimistic.

“While the economy and the job market have been difficult over the past year, we are still seeking highly qualified electrical and computer engineers to help design new and innovative products,” says Pemble.

“For a recent engineering graduate who wants to start working on meaningful and exciting projects right away, Garmin is a great place to be.”

Whether the job market is good or bad, internships and co-ops help new grads land jobs. “We view them as extended job interviews,” says Melinda McGrath, global staffing manager at Mentor Graphics (Wilsonville, OR).

Mentor is an electronic design automation company that hires well-trained entry-level EEs. “Internships also create mentoring opportunities for our senior team members,” says McGrath, “and they ensure that we have a talent pipeline of strong technologists who are critical to the company’s long-term success.”

Diversity is also important at Mentor. “A diverse mix of nationalities, cultures, industry experience and technical expertise contributes to our success as a global company,” says McGrath.

Terry Howard, diversity and inclusion director at Texas Instruments (Dallas, TX), believes that it makes no sense to tie a company’s commitment to diversity and an inclusive environment to the ups and downs of the economy and/or job market.

“Our commitment is firm and steadfast,” he says, “even in the most challenging of times. Why? Because a truly diverse, fully engaged and inclusive workplace serves as a distinct competitive advantage for us.”

Willy Joseph is a software engineer at Mentor Graphics
Willy Joseph joined design automation software company Mentor Graphics after “a three-year interview.”

Joseph attended Kettering University (Flint, MI), a co-operative education school that requires students to spend as much time working as they do in the classroom.

During his interview for an internship at Mentor, Joseph asked the company to sponsor him for the entire co-op. “It was a position that fit well into my studies,” he explains. “I didn’t want to do it for three months and have that be the end of it.”

Joseph chose Kettering not so much for its co-op program but because he wanted to attend a school that didn’t have a football program. He explains that he’d been a football star in high school and didn’t have the passion to play anymore. “I needed to avoid the temptation,” the Bahamas native says. “It’s also a small school with a low teacher-to-student ratio.”

Joseph earned his BSEE in 2009. He had worked in the same group within Mentor through each of his co-op rotations. When the final rotation was coming to an end, a different group expressed interest in hiring him. “When I told my manager, he offered me a position,” he says with a smile.

Today Joseph is a software development engineer in system level engineering. His group works specifically with system modeling and analysis for the automotive sector. “Customers want software to replace their physical prototypes,” he says, “and I’m building software where things can be virtually tested. My software allows them to save money and perform tests in great detail.”

Joseph is still working on a thesis required for graduation. It’s based on the R&D he did during his co-op. “We’re working on enhancements to the product now,” he says. “So really, the only change I’ve seen going from intern to employee is that I now have more responsibility!”

Sunita Gupta is a design certification engineer at Garmin
Sunita Gupta got her BS in computer engineering through the school of CS and management at the University of Nebraska (Lincoln, NE).

“The school combines business with computer science, so you have enough business background to make business applications,” she explains.

After earning her BS in 2006, Gupta stayed on to earn her MBA and MSEE in 2008. She switched to EE because she discovered the hardware side of engineering. “I had done a few internships that were hardware based,” she says, “and found that I liked it.”

One of Gupta’s internships was at Garmin (Olathe, KS). She worked with the electromagnetic compatibility team. “I liked how hands-on all my projects were,” she explains. “I had ownership of them and got to build something at the end of one project.”

Gupta was familiar with Garmin’s navigation and communication products, and had dreamed of working there, so she sought out recruiters at a campus fair. She liked her internship so much that she took a fulltime job with the company after graduation.

Today she’s a design certification engineer. She’s back with the electromagnetic compatibility team, where she tests avionics to make sure they will continue working even if the aircraft is struck by lightning.

As an intern, her projects were small and specialized. Now, she’s involved with the whole scope of a project. Her team sets up tests in the lab as well as in the hangar so they can monitor the effects on airplanes. “We essentially get to blow things up,” she says with a smile.

Gupta finds her work very exciting and likes making a difference on products. The avionics in an airplane get the pilot where he needs to go. “The Garmin systems give the pilot GPS navigation data, autopilot functions and weather and traffic alerts,” she says. “Our systems provide a lot of information.”

Work isn’t Gupta’s only passion. She enjoys running and participating in triathlons. In fact, running is part of her social life at Garmin. “This is a fun place to work,” she says.

Shruti Dhingra is a hardware engineer at Hughes
After getting her BS in electronics and communications from a school in her native India, Shruti Dhingra moved to the U.S. for her masters.

She felt that she didn’t know engineering completely. “I wanted to understand how to apply it to real life,” she says.

Dhingra earned her 2008 MSEE at the University of Maryland (College Park, MD). “I chose the school because it was close to a large industry base that offered a lot of opportunities for engineers,” she says.

A campus career fair led Dhingra to Hughes (Germantown, MD), which makes broadband satellite systems and products and operates a broadband satellite Internet access service. She was immediately taken with the job opportunities and the company’s interest in hiring people from all over the world. Her team includes people from different cultures and levels of education. “It’s harmonious,” she says. “There’s a lot of understanding.”

Dhingra is an MTS 2 hardware engineer. She works with the design and implementation of algorithms and hardware functions for chip sets. “We do product development for external projects as well as our own satellites,” she says.

A desire to see communications in practice is what drew Dhingra to her field. “I’m designing products that are vital for communications,” she says. “It’s rewarding to see the final product.”

Hughes has a very strong mentoring program that helps new employees learn more about their jobs and what’s expected of them. To this day Dhingra maintains a good relationship with her mentor. “It’s also a role I see myself in some day,” she says. “I know what it’s like to be a new employee!”

Fern Yoon Ghouse is a stat engineer at Texas Instruments
When Fern Yoon Ghouse was a little girl, she liked to “tinker with things.” As a young student she had fun soldering circuits together. “That’s what got me interested in electrical engineering,” she says.

Ghouse moved to Texas from her native Malaysia when she was a junior in college. She earned her 2007 BSEE and 2008 MSEE at the University of Texas at Dallas (Richardson, TX).

The summer between her bachelors and masters, she interned at semiconductor maker Texas Instruments (TI, Dallas, TX). After graduation, TI wanted her back.

She’s now a stat engineer in the thin film lab. Her job involves supporting the manufacturing floor by enhancing processes that improve productivity, cycle time and yield. “We lay down thin films of metal and other materials,” she explains. “This involves a lot of interaction with the product development people and manufacturing specialists.”

Ghouse knew she wanted to work with semiconductors, but admits that she didn’t know exactly what she’d be doing. “It’s neat knowing what makes products like our phones work,” she says, “It’s not as simple as it looks.”

TI offers a women’s initiative and a new employee initiative to help with the transition from college to work. “It’s been a huge help talking with people who are in the same boat or who’ve been here a while,” she says.

Francois Mikobi is an electronic controls engineer at Cummins
In some respects, transitioning from a college student to a career in engineering might have been one of the easier challenges Francois Mikobi has faced.

Mikobi came to the U.S. in 2000 as a refugee fleeing war-torn Congo. His family settled in Indiana and began acclimating to a new culture and language. “French was the language I spoke,” he says. “Once I conquered English, everything else got easier.”

Mikobi earned his 2008 BSEE at Indiana University-Purdue University East (Fort Wayne, IN). “I picked that school because Purdue is a top engineering school,” he says. “And I chose engineering because I love problem solving.”

As an undergrad, Mikobi worked nearly full time. He also interned at GE Commercial Motors and ITT Corp’s aerospace and communications division, both in Fort Wayne. “I did those internships because employers look to see if you have experience,” he says. “They also allow you to prepare for your engineering job.”

A NSBE career fair after graduation led Mikobi to Cummins (Columbus, IN), a maker of diesel engines and related technology. He applied online prior to the event. “When I got to the job fair, I already had an interview scheduled,” he says with a smile.

Mikobi is an electronic controls engineer. He works with electronic modules that control an engine’s signal.

His job is to test the software that goes into the module to make sure it’s behaving the way it’s supposed to. “I also make sure the signal we’re receiving is what we’re supposed to receive,” he notes. He works on a number of projects at a time helping meet all of the electrical requirements.

Mikobi intends to keep improving himself as an engineer. He’s still involved with NSBE and plans to go back to school. “I enjoy having all the different challenges and options that are available to me in electrical engineering.”

Carole Bakhos is an embedded controls engineer at Xerox
After meeting with Xerox representatives at a campus career fair, Carole Bakhos was invited for an interview. She got job offers from companies where she’d interned, but joined document-management company Xerox Corporation (Rochester, NY) instead.

Bakhos grew up in Beirut, Lebanon, but wanted to attend college in the United States. An uncle who lived in Utica, NY sponsored her.

She was surprised to learn that upstate New York was different from New York City. “I came here from a big city to see trees,” she exclaims. “I was excited to see squirrels for the first time.”

Bakhos earned her 2006 BSEE at Clarkson University (Potsdam, NY) after getting her associates in engineering science. “I had exposure to other engineering disciplines, but I liked EE,” she says. “I liked that the work we were doing was hands-on, not abstract.”

As an embedded controls engineer, Bakhos is part of the hardware design group. “We do circuit board design and coding for Xerox products,” she says. “They’re similar to motherboards for PCs.”

She started as part of a team working on small projects until she had the expertise to work by herself. Her current project involves a circuit board design that she’s managing from start to finish. “I’m responsible for gathering the requirements, developing the physical board and testing it,” she states proudly.

During the first two years, Bakhos was the only woman on her team. “Coming from an engineering background, you get used to not having many females around,” she notes.

Bakhos is one of the founders of Young Professionals @ Xerox, which provides new employees opportunities to meet co-workers from around the company. “We do a lot of social activities together,” she says.

Deborah Chen is an EE at the FCC
Deborah Chen spent her high school years in Ohio after growing up in Taiwan. She then headed to California for college.

“Engineering is a popular career choice on the West Coast,” she explains. “I wanted a career in engineering and thought it would be easier to find a job if I went to school there.” Chen earned her 2007 BSEE at San Jose State University (San Jose, CA).

After graduation Chen wanted to work for a government agency because she thought those jobs offered more security. She worked a temporary job as she searched online and joined the Federal Communications Commission (FCC, Washington, DC) in 2008.

Today Chen works as an electronics engineer in the FCC’s San Francisco field office. Her group has been involved with the television transition from analog to digital television. Part of Chen’s job has been to do public affairs work regarding digital transmission. “It’s been fun,” she says. “I’ve gotten to meet a lot of people who deal with television and radio stations.”

Good communication skills have been vital to her work. “You have to deal with people,” she says, “so you have to learn to understand what they want and their frustrations.”

For example, Chen is now dealing with complaints related to the transition, like a channel that is still a VHF station. “I have to figure out why areas might be having trouble receiving signals,” she explains. “We have to do testing to get to the source of the interference.”

D/C

Sue Marquette Poremba is an engineering and construction writer in State College, PA.

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