Thank you to our wonderful speakers, Eliana and Kris, for sharing their wonderful testimonies about their summers in Taiwan and Germany as study abroad students! UA Study Abroad is an opportunity that even Optics students get to participate in, gaining incredibly valuable research experience while exploring new parts of the world! SOCk would like to encourage everyone who is interested in study abroad to click the link https://international.arizona.edu/study-abroad/program-search and see what other areas in the world you can visit! As Kris mentioned, there are significant stipends that help cover much of the cost for our students, so don’t let finances deter you!

    

Students gathered to ask questions to our internship gurus about their strategies and techniques to present themselves to companies. Topics ranged from resumes and interview questions. Thank you to everyone who attended and presented!

 

Thanks to Colin Potter, a current graduate student here at the Wyant College of Optical Sciences pursuing his PhD/MD. Colin elucidated the different ways PhD/MDs are trying to change the world. In fact, Colin talked about he is creating a quick way to detect the SARs-COV-19 virus using a novel diffractive optical system faster than current standard testing. Thanks so much Colin!

Dr. Robert Kester (MS ’07), co-founder of Rebellion Photonics, returned to the Wyant College to host a conversation about his experience establishing, running, and scaling a startup. Students asked pressing questions about how they can be successful in their own entrepreneurial enterprises. Everyone gained insight into some of the challenges he faced during his time building Rebellion. Thank you Dr. Kester for your time!

Thanks to our panelists Greg Nero, Logan Pawlowski, and Trenton Brendel for your insightful advice and answers to our students’ most pressing questions about gaining and choosing internships. We are sure that your recommendations will help our students in the future. It goes a long way!

Jilian Nguyen, UA OpSci alumnus and a current camera hardware engineer at Apple, gave a virtual talk about her experience searching for, interviewing, and landing internships at a variety of tech companies. Topics ranged from what companies in optics want out of employees to how to maximize one’s experience at Wyant College of Optical Sciences.