Students

Students Testimonials

We at the Nuclear Engineering Division of Argonne National Laboratory listen closely to our students, and we are pleased to share a few student testimonials regarding their experiences as a summer student.

At the end of each summer, we ask our students to fill out a questionnaire in which they tell us about their summer internship experience, features they especially liked, parts they would like to change, etc. We receive very positive feedback about the experience from just about every student; they seem to especially enjoy the opportunity to work directly with technical researchers. However, the benefits of the summer research appointment are not the same for all students. As you will see in the first two testimonials below, some students find that their time at Argonne reinforces their desire to pursue a technical research career. For others, such as the author of the third testimonial, their Argonne experience helps them realize that technical research is not how they want to spend their lives and that other types of technical careers are more suitable for them. Read on and learn about these three students’ summer experiences at Argonne.

Argonne Undergraduate Student Experiences, Summer 2008

Sophomore, Fall 2008, at Iowa State University, majoring in chemical engineering, considering a minor in nuclear engineering

“I was told about Argonne’s summer research aide appointment program by a gentleman who works at Argonne.  I applied to the program because it seemed like a fantastic opportunity in which to grow in my understanding of science as well as to expand my knowledge base.  The biggest advantages I found to this program are being able to get involved in actual scientific research work, as well as being able to jump right into the program.  There really are no disadvantages, other than that I don’t receive any university credit for being a research aide.  This was my first opportunity to interact with scientific researchers in a laboratory environment.”

“A typical day for me at Argonne began with checking my e-mail, then visiting with my supervisor to plan what I would do that day.  After that, I might work in the lab, do some background reading, or attend a lecture.  Following lunch, I would continue these activities in the afternoon, then have a quick talk with my supervisor before leaving about what I had accomplished that day.”

“My plans for the future include graduation from ISU, then going directly to work for a company that will let me work on my master’s degree while working for them.  I hope then to continue on to my PhD.  I believe that working at Argonne has given me the confidence, as well as the knowledge, to achieve these goals.”

Incoming freshman, Fall 2008, at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, majoring in aeronautical engineering

“I learned about Argonne’s summer programs for undergraduates from my high school physics teachers, from my neighbors, and from a seminar I attended at Argonne in the summer of 2007.  I applied for an Argonne summer appointment because I knew that I would be doing something worthwhile with my summer and I would be learning about the field I plan to study (and I’d be making money to help buy all those accursed textbooks!).  I found several advantages to the program:  having a view of the real world of science and engineering, getting to work in the field I wanted to before completing four or more years of college, and learning new things about subjects I never knew existed.  It also gave me my first opportunity to work with scientific professionals.  The only real disadvantage is the short (two-month) length of the appointment.”

“My appointment involved assisting with computer network administration and cyber security tasks in the NE Division, so I would begin a typical day by logging in to all the systems I needed and making sure nothing had gone off line (or exploded!) over the previous night.  I would then answer phone calls and receive tickets requesting technical support.  For each trouble ticket, I would fix the problem remotely, if it were a server problem, or take the van to the site of the problem if the trouble were with the hardware.  If a computer needed to be fixed, I would bring it back with me to my office and locate the replacement parts, or place orders for the replacement parts if necessary.   I would then repair and deliver what I could.  I would also perform small tasks assigned me by my supervisor.”

“My ultimate career goal is to work for a large aeronautics firm, doing engineering work.  My experiences at Argonne will help me with this goal by having introduced me to the office lifestyle and giving me experience in how different departments interact with each other in many different ways.”

Incoming freshman, Fall 2008, at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, majoring in molecular and cellular biology

“I became interested in Argonne during the Rube Goldberg competitions, and I applied for a summer internship at Argonne because of my infatuation with everything science.  The benefits I found from my internship are too numerous to list them all, but the main ones are the opportunity to communicate daily with real scientists, constant learning and using my own thoughts, and bragging rights with my friends.  Prior to my internship, I had never even spoken with a scientist.  The main disadvantage for me was that I lived at home and so had a one-hour commute each way every day, but had I wanted to, I could have lived in housing on-site or near Argonne and eliminated the commute.”

“A typical day for me was arriving at Argonne about 8:15 AM, logging in to my computer and answering e-mails, working on documents in Microsoft Word, and go to the laboratory and testing different variables that define the capabilities of the machine I was assigned to work with.  Data processing and online research were also part of my day, and I usually managed to throw in a lunch somewhere.”

”My career goals include becoming a doctor, perhaps an anesthesiologist. My experience at Argonne not only exposed me to a field that was new for me, it also provided me with practical experience in what it’s like to work in a technical research area. This experience helped me realize that, for me personally, I should not pursue research as a career option. This in no way means that I didn’t enjoy my time here, or that I disliked the scientists that I worked with. I simply found through participating in a summer research project that research just isn’t a fit for me. This one summer at Argonne may have saved me years of schooling for a career that wouldn’t fit me.”