Taking Lehigh to the World and Bringing the World to Lehigh

Iacocca International Internship Program
Student Report

Summer 2016

OFFICE OF
INTERNATIONALAFFAIRS2016 International Internships
Table of Contents:
Individual Internships
Bankuti, Molly …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Blatt, Joshua ………….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Brint, Alexander …….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Brown, William …….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Chan, Allen …….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
Chen, Bohan …….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Chung, Juliet …….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Circus, Jack …….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Clark, Brenna …….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Datta, Kris …….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Dinardo, Justin …….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Ellenbogen, Annika …….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Ferguson, Leah …….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Gemberling, Brielle …….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Gorman, Sonja …….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Gottwald, Jacob…….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Grofe, Andrew …….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Hartmann, Carter …….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Jeffrey, Caraline…….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Kelly, Clarisa…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Kenna, Kevin…….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Kristiansen, Kyle…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Kudryashova, Yelena…….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Lambert, Matthew…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Lee, Sabrina…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Leung, Farren…….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Lutz, Elizabeth…….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Marshall, Madison…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
McMahon, Fei…….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Miller, Reagan…….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Moncada, Daniel…….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Morrison, David…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Nieves, Kiana…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Nussbaum, Elizabeth …….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Okrepkie, Emily…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Pai, Cynthia…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……..
Radin, Eliyana…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..….
Rankin, Alexandra…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………..…...
Reichert, Gannon…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Resnick, Emma…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Salazar, Katherine…….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Silverstone, William…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Sirdeshpande, Divya…….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Sloan, Trevon…….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Stirling, Bryan…….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...
Tsaousis, Barbara…….………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Utterback, Benjamin…….…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

6‐7
8‐9
10‐11
12‐13
14‐15
16‐17
18‐19
20‐21
22‐23
24‐25
26‐27
28‐29
30‐31
32‐33
34‐35
36‐37
38‐39
40‐41
42‐43
44‐45
46‐47
48‐49
50‐51
52‐53
54‐55
56‐57
58‐59
60‐61
62‐63
64‐65
66‐67
68‐69
70‐71
72‐73
74‐75
76‐77
78‐79
80‐81
82‐83
84‐85
86‐87
88‐89
90‐91
92‐93
94‐95
96‐87
98‐99

2

2016 International Internships
Table of Contents:
Group Internships
Cambodia …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

100‐107

Birabaharan, Harrison; Cooper, Chelsea; Fitzgerald, Corina; Grace, Kelly

China (USTC) ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

108‐115

Banning, Logan; Hipwell, Chelsea; Miller, Lauren; Yehia, Myrna

Costa Rica ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..………

116‐123

Bausano, James; Gregorio Alarcon, Jocelin; Lauck, Kianna; Li, Christy

Czech Republic ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

124‐131

Gobes, Kira; Johri, Prarthna; Nguyen, Minh; Stevenson, Emma

Germany …………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………………..

132‐139

Barr, Katelyn; Palacio Moreno, Juan; Randall, Samantha; Young, Juliana

Ghana ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

140‐145

Cousens, Xavier; Haggert, Alexis; Jones, Tamara

Ireland ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

146‐153

Barrella, Jennie‐Rose; Fodera, Daniella; Houck, Ellen; Rollo, Angel

Italy (Milan) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……….

154‐165

Cossel, Matthew; Cotton, Simone; Elsayed, Nadine; Farmer, Casey;
Jazwinksa, Klaudia; Silverman, Samantha; Thomas, Mitchell

Italy (Rome) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……….

168‐175

Connelly, Jamal; Pagan, Paige; Perevezentseva, Anastassiya; Topp, SamuelJapan (Kanazawa) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

176‐183

Jeffrey, Jasper; McKinney, Veronica; Sakdiponephong, Sean; Sullivan, Christina

Japan (NIT) ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

184‐191

Augustyn, Kevin; Cline, Joseph; Nguyen, Angela; Schaedler, Peter

Malaysia ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..….……..

192‐199

Digilio, Ryan; Milstrey, Melissa; Plaza, Hannah; Timchenko, Artem

Uganda …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……….

200‐205

Brice, Dabney; Buss, Tanner; Rana, Priyokti

Faculty & Staff Contributions ………………………………………………………………………………….………..

206

3

Iacocca International Internship Program
Growth Chart

4

2016 Iacocca International Internship Program
Student Demographics
COLLEGE REPRESENTATIONPREVIOUS STUDY ABROAD
EXPERIENCEFINANCIAL AID LEVELS

5

Molly Bankuti
Kazakhstan
College of Business and Economics
Accounting and Finance

Education USA
InternCompany and Position Description:
Education USA is a US Department of State program centered around counselingstudents on applying to and preparing for US Universities. As an intern thissummer, I spent my time preparing presentations and leading workshops about
US Universities, the various aspects of the college application process, andstandardized testing strategies. I had the opportunity to work directly with the
EducationUSA Club, a group of Kazakh high school students preparing to apply to
US schools, focusing largely on standardized test preparation and essay writing. I
also worked closely with the Education USA Almaty advisor in various outreachefforts, hoping to make EducaitonUSA more well‐known and more accessible topeople in various parts of Kazakhstan. I travelled with my supervisor to the city of
Taraz to present the services Education USA has to offer and to encourage themto seek EducationUSA advising in the future.

Myself with the EducationUSA
Almaty club members.

Myself and the EducationUSA
students in Taraz, KZ.

6

Molly Bankuti
Kazakhstan

Adam and I standing in front ofa Yurt, the historicallytraditional Kazakh home.

The fountain at the entrance ofPresident’s Park in Almaty, which isan entire park dedicated to their
President of 25 years, President
Nazarbaev.

Value Derived from the Experience:
The primary language spoken in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and most big cities aroundthe country is Russian. I went into my experience knowing one, single Russian
word (that, it turns out, I was pronouncing wrong) and hoping for the best. While
many people in Almaty knew a few words of English, it was nearly impossible tocommunicate for myself. My inability to communicate made me immediately
realize how fascinated I am by foreign languages. As the two months went on,
however, I realized my fascination with foreign languages extends to my
fascination with other cultures—not just different food, or clothing, but thedifferent values and opinions of others; different countries have an entirely
different set of superstitions, different beliefs about what is considered “right.”
Going abroad, particularly in a predominantly Muslim country, enabled me tounderstand, not just that we should accept other cultures, but how absolutely
necessary it is for each individual to truly embrace and celebrate these differences(which, in reality, are not very big differences). Two months of throwing myself
into an unknown culture gave me a sense of confidence and adventure I haven’t
had before, as well as a new desire to travel and find out everything I can about
languages and other people. Before my Iacocca Internship, traveling seemed
unfeasible and unnecessary; now, the world feels accessible and exciting, and I
can’t wait to continue to travel in the future.
7

Josh BlattHong Kong
Integrated Business andEngineering
Industrial and Systems
Engineering

Hutchison Port Holdings
Operations Development &Technology InternCompany and Position Description:
Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) is one of the largest shipping terminal operators in
the world with at least a partial stake in 48 ports. In 2015 HPH handled over 80
million shipping containers.
At HPH, I interned in the Operations Development and Technology Department.
My role was to run shipping vessel simulations. I analyzed six months of historical
data from eight different ports to build Excel models. With these models I
manipulated the average vessel length, operating rate of quay cranes and numberof vessels berthing weekly to examine their impact on waiting delay of each
vessel and total throughput of the port. Our goal was to build a model to relate
Quay length and total throughput. With this information HPH would be able tocalculate a more accurate value for the maximum number of containers a new
port would be able to handle. They could use that information to justify whether
HPH should invest in a new port or avoid this project. Additionally we wanted tosee the impact Mega Vessels (Over 400 meters long) would have on thethroughput.

Getting ready to tour the MOL
Beauty, an over 300 metershipping vessel

A view of the shipping yard at
the Hong Kong International
Terminal

8

Josh BlattHong Kong

Watching the sunset at the
top of Devil’s Peak hiking trail

The famous Big Buddha
on Lantau Island

Value Derived from the Experience:
My eight weeks in Hong Kong were invaluable. I was able to gain professional
confidence working in a large corporate environment and a broader sense ofadventure exploring all Hong Kong has to offer. Before this summer, I had spent
only a week outside of the United States and was apprehensive to live and work on
my own in a foreign country. My expectations were far surpassed and I tried totake advantage of this incredible opportunity. Just some of my favorite experiences
include cliff jumping in Sai Kung Bay with other travelers from across the world,
trying new foods after work with our colleagues and wandering the night markets
and haggling with vendors. We rarely took a minute off and spent the weekends
hiking, visiting small islands and searching for unique and delicious restaurants.
We met so many new people along the way and I am disappointed as I willprobably never see most of them again. I am motivated by my time in Hong Kongto make another trip to Asia and be open to new experiences.
Inside the office, I learned a few tangible skills that I can take back both to Lehighand future career opportunities. At HPH, I spend most of my day in Excel and I
learned a great deal about the power of the software. Building efficient and easy
to use files drastically diminished my workload. I took every opportunity toresearch Excel shortcuts and tips to try and improve my models. Although I willprobably never run another shipping vessel simulation many of the tools I
developed will be easily transferred back into my future work.
9Alex Brint
Chile
College of Business and Economics
Economics

Fundación Imagen de Chile
Management Control Analyst

Company and Position Description:
Fundación Imagen de Chile was founded by the Chilean government in 2009, inorder to brand Chile as a more recognizable nation on an international scale.
Focusing on culture, business, and natural wonders, Imagen de Chile’s goal is toattract businesses, tourists, students, and anyone else searching for life in a new
country. For my internship, I worked in the Finance and Operations department,
which essentially serves as both the administrative, HR, IT, and Financedepartment. My task was to create a balanced scorecard for the department, inorder to better organize it and establish metrics to measure performance.

View of Santiago and the Andes from my boss’s
office. It had just rained, which cleared the smog
for a few hours.

This was my desk, showing
the home page of the
Balanced Scorecard, the final
project I completed for myinternship.
10

Alex BrintChile

Me after (surprisingly) successfully
boarding down a sand dune in the
Atacama Desert, during a sandstorm

Atop el Cerro Santa Lucía, anancient hill in the middle ofdowntown Santiago

Value Derived from the Experience:
My internship in Chile was one of the most invaluable educational experiences I
have ever had in my life. First off, my main goal in going to a Spanish speaking
country was to improve my Spanish language proficiency. Being in an environment
where I was forced to have business type conversations in Spanish every day
played a major factor in this, and everyone was very patient and helpful with me in
improving my fluency. I was also delighted to return the favor and help some of mycolleagues with their English, which was something that brought all of us closer
together.
With regards to the work that I did throughout the internship, the next biggest
thing I improved on was my confidence, especially within the areas of problem
solving and critical thinking. When I was asked to begin my main project of
establishing metrics for the balanced scorecard, I knew essentially nothing about
the subject; but I did my research, and through a lot of trial and error (not evencounting some of the language difficulties that went along with it) I was able todeliver a final product that I was proud of and the pleased my supervisor and herbosses, to my surprise. I do not doubt that this experience will shape my attitude
towards other projects and assignment I will encounter later in life.

11William Brown
Georgia
College of Arts and Sciences
International Relations/ Economics

The Office of the State Ministerof Georgia on European andEuro‐Atlantic Integration
Analytical Division InternCompany and Position Description:
The Office of the State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro‐Atlantic
Integration is the driving force behind Georgia’s path towards becoming morealigned with the European Union and NATO countries. The intern’s job for the
Analytical Division was to assess what major goals still needed to be met
according the Association Agreement of Georgia, and to help streamline thesubmission of policy papers. As the intern I would often edit policy papers
translated into English before they were submitted to the EU. Other times I would
work on compiling lists of Acts and Laws that are still in the implementation
phase. I also got to sit on some important conferences with the department
heads, and to hear more about how the overall integration process was going in
general.

My Place of Work: State
Chancellery of theGovernment of Georgia

My Boss and I in
the conferenceroom
12William Brown
Georgia

The Bridge of Peace and thePresidential Palace (Tbilisi)

Adjarian Khachapuri: A
traditional dishValue Derived from the Experience:
Living and working in Tbilisi was different from every experience I have ever had.
This experience challenged me in almost every way possible, and the amount ofadversity that I encountered while abroad forced me to grow as a person. I cannow say that I am a stronger person, in terms of mental strength. I learned tonavigate a city despite not being able to speak the language or read the alphabet.
Another major thing I learned while in Tbilisi was how to adapt to a new work
environment. At first it was quite challenging to get used to the styles of work, or
to even break the language barrier with my coworkers, but given some time I felt
very comfortable.
I found the overall culture for the country to be very different than in the UnitedStates, and that in and of itself was hard to get used to. I was so used to the fast‐
paced life of the Northeast that it was nice to be put into a society that was much
more relaxed. I learned that not every minute of every day has to be scheduled to
be productive, and that going where the day takes you is sometimes the best
option. This experience caused me to really think about the way I do things, andfor that I am truly thankful.

13Allen Chan
Singapore
College of Business and Economics
Business Information Systems

3M
Market Analyst

Company and Position Description:
Over the course of this 3 month long internship, I was given several projects towork on. My biggest project was to conduct research on the Internet of thingsand eventually create a Powerpoint presentation that can effectively identify
opportunities in the market for 3M representatives. At the end of thepresentation, I got the opportunity to present my work in front of everyone in mydepartment and make connections with those at the talk. Among my otherprojects, I wrote a report that clearly laid out the strengths of the startup
ecosystems of several Asian countries and identified opportunities in which 3M
can capitalize in those markets. Lastly, my “3M 15% project” involved creating aThor hammer replica which aimed to demonstrate the power of 3M’s VHB tape.

Interns at the Yishun district of 3M.

3M celebrating its
50th anniversary!

14

Allen Chan
Singapore

The beautiful island of Sentosa

Clarke Quay at night

Value Derived from the Experience:
Traveling to Singapore was an amazing opportunity because it tested my ability toassimilate to a new culture and live as an independent adult. I thought that comingfrom the melting pot of New York City would make living in Singapore a walk in thepark but I was wrong. The climate was hotter and more humid than I expected,
meeting new people was harder than it’s ever been and even the familiar foods
had some twist of difference to them. Needless to say, I experienced homesickness
for the first time in my life and I found myself holding on to the familiar rather thanembracing the difference. I eventually realized that I would regret not taking thechance to explore my new home for 3 months and gained the courage to step outof my comfort zone. The risk paid off because I got to see the beautiful lights thatshine on the Clarke Quay river at night, taste the creaminess of durian and meet
new friends at work. I discovered that I am a naturally quiet person who offers
really insightful thoughts when he speaks up. The memories and experiences frommy journey to Singapore have helped me learn more about who I am as person
and what I really want to do for my professional career.

15

Bohan Ivan Chen
Armenia
College of Business and Economics
Computer Science/Business

Eurasia Partnership Foundation
Summer InternCompany and Position Description:
Eurasia Partnership Foundation(EPF) is a part of the civil society as an independent local non‐governmental organization (NGO). It was part of the Eurasia Foundation (America funded) (EF)
until 2007 when the US stopped funding EF. EPF has offices locally registered in Armenia,
Azerbaijan and Georgia, helping solve problems in the South Caucasus area. As EPF said on our
website, “EPF’s mission is to empower people to effect change for social justice and economic
prosperity through hands‐on programs, helping them to improve their communities and theirown lives.” EPF cooperates with other NGOs in Armenia (like United Nations, Peace Corps andAmerican Councils), implementing various projects to fulfill the goal. The projects include but
are not limited to Peace‐building and Conflict Transformation, Human Rights and Democracy,
Civic Engagement in Local Governance, The Media for Informed Civic Engagement and Civil
Society Organization Development
The internship mainly consists of three parts: researching, designing communication materials,
proposing new projects. The internship provides a close look at how NGO works in foreigncountries as a strong force in society transformation and how non‐governmental peacebuilding
projects impact the normalization of relations.

Last day in the office with the EPF staff
In United Nations‐Armenia

16Bohan Ivan Chen
Armenia

Traditional Armenian Dinnerwith the host family
Armenian traditional costume

Value Derived from the Experience:
The internship gave me a close look at how NGO works in foreign countries as a strong force insociety transformation and how non‐governmental peacebuilding projects impact thenormalization of relations. Providing a great deal of freedom to create my own initiatives andvarious connections with other organizations, this internship gave me an extremely positive
internship experience in those fields.
Moreover, the internship provided me with a chance to experience a totally new culture. I haveseen the willingness of Armenians to express their emotions. People are really welcoming andinviting, especially the young teenagers I met in Yerevan (the capital city). I really appreciate theenthusiasm of Armenians. Armenia may not be one of the most economically developed
countries in the world, but the people here must be some of the happiest. According to thestatistics from World Health Organization, Armenian teenagers are one of the happiest teenagers
in the world. I can definitely believe that. I see that people here are happy with who/where theyare. In Armenia, I had given an interview to a local TV station when I travelled to Noravanq (a city
in Armenia); I got a set of photos of me wearing Armenian traditional costumes. The experiencesin Armenia were really amazing and unforgettable.
Meanwhile, working and living in a foreign country, I started reflecting myself. Who do I want to
be in the future? What will I do after graduation? What do I really need in my life? Being totally
independent in a foreign country, I had met a series of problems, yet had a chance to think solely
about my life. The knowledge I learned from my internship is indeed important and helpful, but
the experience I had about my life will also be carried with me for my entire life.

17

Juliet Chung
China
College of Arts and Sciences
Behavioral Neuroscience

Becton Dickinson
BD Bioscience InternCompany and Position Description:
Becton Dickinson (BD) is a renowned biomedical and pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Franklin Lakes,
NJ with several locations all over the world including Shanghai, China. This company manufactures and sells
medical devices, instrument systems and reagents with the main purpose of advancing global health. The quote“Helping all people live healthy lives” is BD’s corporate mission and the motivation behind its global enterprise. BD
seeks to improve global health standards and access to healthcare for all different, diverse communities. This
company actively donates cash, product and expertise to non‐profit and educational organizations in North
America and throughout the world ever since 1897. BD has supported and continues international immunization
campaigns, promotes healthcare worker safety, raises awareness of pandemic diseases, provides disaster relief
and many more other projects.
At Becton Dickinson in Shanghai, China, I worked as a BD Bioscience Intern and I focused on researching thetechnology behind cell therapy, specifically immunotherapy and flow cytometry. I did extensive research on the
immunotherapy market size in China and internationally as well as Becton Dickinson’s major competitors in thisfield. I investigated these subjects and presented my work to my supervisor in addition to the other interns in mydepartment about every two weeks. I visited the BD Center for Excellence in Shanghai to understand themechanics of flow cytometry and was able to see first‐hand all the different types of flow cytometer machinery
used in both clinical and research settings. By the end of the internship, I enhanced my skills as an independent
worker and saw improvement in my presentation skills when I presented my final work to the BD Bioscience
department.

At the BDB Center of Excellencewith the three other Lehighinterns and other supervisors

At the BDB Center of
Excellence with the latest
technological flow cytometermachinery18

Juliet Chung
China

In front of themesmeric Bund
skyline at nightAt The Great Wall with thebreath taking view of themountains and unceasing wall

Value Derived from the Experience:
When I found out that I was going abroad this past summer earlier this year, I knew I was going to have an amazing
experience both professionally and personally. However, I did not know the extent to how rewarding this internship wasgoing to be until after being able to directly experience it.
Professionally, I was introduced to a whole new world since it was my first job at an official company. I learned all thesmall things from learning how to dress business casual daily in the fresh setting and communicating with other coworkers
in all different positions to all the bigger things, which included working independently for several hours straight andcollaborating with many different types of people. As an aspiring doctor, this internship gave me the opportunity tounderstand a different part of the medical field. I learned about the technology behind flow cytometry and how it is used
and what it is used for in the clinical and research subjects. I also learned about the business side of the healthcare system
in China as well as the immunotherapy market, which is one of the fastest growing markets globally. I was able to see andunderstand the differences between the United States’ and China’s healthcare system, one of the major ones being that
China does not have primary care physicians. I realized how challenging it is to achieve the “perfect” healthcare system inwhich people have access to necessary healthcare needs while balancing a healthy economy. Through the Becton
Dickinson internship, I grew, not only as a researcher, but also, as a worker in a professional setting.
Personally, I cannot describe in words how much I grew individually and how much I discovered about myself during mytime studying abroad. Delving into a completely new culture was undoubtedly daunting in the beginning and frustrating attimes especially due to the language barrier. However, just by adventuring throughout China and embracing its novel
culture, these challenges gradually disappeared. My time spent abroad was busy and filled with both spontaneous andplanned traveling all across China. I visited several beautiful landmarks outside of Shanghai in Beijing and Hangzhou, andsubmerged myself in ancient Chinese culture in Old Town Qibao. I also made sure to appreciate and live like a local byvisiting the small hole‐in‐the‐wall restaurants, handy shops, and beautiful architectural alleyways.
Now back in the U.S., I find myself doing things I have never done before this internship, such as stopping and admiring
the landscape and commenting about the distinctive architecture around me. This internship has cured my tunnel vision,
as I am now more aware of my environment as well as the people around me. I was able to create meaningful
relationships with professional people in my internship as well as personal connections with the people I met inrestaurants, stores, and the road. As expected, this experience has not satiated my case of wanderlust but instead, it has
augmented and now I hope to extend my travels even further to many other countries in the future.
19

Jack Circus
Germany
Integrated Business andEngineering
Industrial Engineering

Dolezych GmbHInternCompany and Position Description:
At Dolezych, I performed many different tasks throughout my stay. I was in an
office with their head of marketing, head of supply chain, and head of website
management / SEO. This meant I was exposed to many different facets of thecompany every day. One of my largest assignments was to help with the revisionof their newest catalog for the American market. I worked to edit and correct all
aspects of the catalog and worked with it from an early stage to near completion.
Additionally, I helped prepare purchase orders using Excel and their MRP system
in order to allow other employees to determine pricing and evaluate theprofitability of a new customer. Another assignment I completed was the
distribution of a supplier questionnaire to all current and potential suppliers,
located mostly in China. I sent out the survey to many companies and compiled
the results in an organized format. Overall, I was able to gain great work
experience and had an inside view of how a company operates.

Desk at Dolezych Office

Dolezych Dortmund office and factory20Jack Circus
Germany

Berlin Cathedral

The Rheine in Dusseldorf

Value Derived from the Experience:
In high School, I studied German for all four years. I learned about both thelanguage and culture of Germany, and spending time experiencing this issomething I have wanted to do ever since. This was also my first real international
experience, making the trip even more special. Prior to this summer, the only time
I had left the country was on a long weekend to Toronto. Being my first time in aforeign language‐speaking country, this internship was unlike any experience I’ve
ever had. It offered my first opportunity working at a large company and provided
me with a once in a lifetime experience. I was able to visit many cities andcountries that I may never have been exposed to if I had not been on thisinternship.

21

Brenna Clark
Moldova
College of Arts andSciences
EnglishCollege of Education
Secondary Education

American Language
CenterEnglish Teaching
AssistantCompany and Position Description:
I spent my eight weeks in Chisinau, Moldova’s capital, primarily as an English teaching assistant for ALC,
though I also helped with data analysis, research, and mentoring for Future Leaders Exchange (FLEX), a
US government-funded program that sends close to 1,000 high school aged students from over twelve
Post-Soviet Republics to live with a host family in America and to spend a year enrolled in a public highschool. My FLEX mentee was an 18 year old Armenian girl named Dalores, who is now living with a hostfamily in California. I helped sharpen her English skills through conversation and brief writing lessons,and I was in charge of overseeing her final presentation on Armenian culture, so I also had theopportunity to teach her the fundamentals of public speaking in the West, as these are much different
from what we see in the East.
ALC offers English lessons to over 100 students, approximately aged 13-50, at six different levels. I
worked mainly with four groups: elementary conversation, pre-intermediate, intermediate plus, andadvanced. With the guidance of the teachers, I was eventually able to lead classes in everything fromrudimentary conversational skills to the stages of writing a scholarly research paper. ALC also serves
over 30 corporate clients from businesses of all sizes in and around Chisinau, mainly in the IT industry. I
also spent time doing research and data entry on prospective corporate clients for Olga, the coordinator of
the Center.
Everyone I worked with, including students, teachers, and administrators, gave me the warmest welcome
I could have imagined. I am forever thankful to American Language Center not only for the careerdevelopment opportunities that they gave me personally, but more so for the tremendous work that they
do for their developing community. In teaching these people English and Western socialization skills, ALC
opens up doors to more advanced careers, universities, and travel opportunities that these students often
never knew existed.

Reviewing argumentative
essays with Veronica and
Irina, two of my mostadvanced students.

Introducing basic paragraphconstruction with my pre‐intermediate group.

22Brenna Clark
Moldova

My host mom and mewith some beautiful
Moldovan sunflowers.

Smelling a bouquet at a traditional
Lavender Festival, wearing a lavendercrown woven by locals. My favorite dayof the summer.

Value Derived from the Experience:
Though it sounds cliché, my experience in Moldova was truly nothing short of life changing. I was attracted
to the internship opportunity in Moldova not only because it aligns with my academic interests andprofessional development, but also because Moldova is a mystery world to most people in the West. “Is
that a country?” “Oh, like the Maldives?” “Is it part of Russia?” were the typical reactions I got from family
and friends when I informed them of my summer plans. I knew that I would inevitably end up visiting
Western Europe someday, but that a chance to explore Europe’s developing far east would not comearound again. And off I went.
My first few weeks in Moldova were among the hardest days of my life. The language barrier often left me
feeling like a lost puppy, and it didn’t help that literally all Moldovans are bilingual, speaking Romanian andRussian, and sometimes a mix of the two. I didn’t know what was going on half the time, and commuting
from my apartment on the outskirts of the city to ALC was over a three hour ordeal at first. I was still putting
my foot in the door at work, and it took courage and determination to prove to the administration that I could
be utilized in their system, as they had never had an American English teaching intern before.
I began to realize how unthinkably spoiled we are at home, in every single way. My host family had no car,or living room, or dryer. If I got lost in the street, I didn’t have the internet availability to help, or the
Romanian/Russian skills to ask a stranger for directions. For the first time in my life, I was virtually allalone. But as the time passed, nothing seemed so foreign anymore. I got the commute down like the backof my hand, so well that if my first bus would break down (a common occurrence,) I would know whichroute to take next. I spent more time talking to the other teachers and learned so much from the way theyhandled their classroom and treated me with such respect. I developed closer relationships with thestudents, and watched the shyer ones with less English skills come out of their shells and speak up muchmore, which was incredible. But most importantly, my host mother and sister became an extension of me. I
miss them deeply, and I think about all that they did for me everyday.
I missed my home in New Jersey more than I thought I would, but everyone warmly reminded me that it
wasn’t going anywhere, and that I would come home with a greater sense of appreciation than I could havepreviously conceived. Moldova was a ride, but I do not regret taking that ride for one second. I will forever
be better off as a professional and as a person for having gone there, and I can only hope that Moldova
feels the same way about me.

23

Kris Datta
India
Integrated Business andEngineering
Civil Engineering

VIVA Group
Construction Process Analyst

Company and Position Description:
This summer’s internship was spent working for the VIVA group, a large landaggregator and real estate conglomerate in the Virar suburb of Mumbai. VIVA’s
infrastructure projects have helped make Virar one of the fastest‐growing regionsin India; the population of 2.5 million has been doubling with every new census
recording. The company’s integral role in the community is evident by its
prominence in the retail, home finance, and transportation industries as well. As
a construction process analyst, I made several site visits to commercial andresidential development projects during various stages of completion. I also
attended several meetings between VIVA directors and prospective developers,
future business partners, consulting firms, and more. I applied concepts bydesigning a layout of a mid‐rise, 1800‐unit residential development, based off ofan already completed project. I consulted the building code to ensure the design’s
constructability and adherence to regional standards.

Concrete slab and column preparation

Residential high‐rise construction
24

Kris Datta
India

David and I at an outdoor Hindu temple

Exploring the city

Value Derived from the Experience:
Insights from the internship helped me refine my professional career goals andconsider choosing large‐scale infrastructure projects that have the greatest
tangible benefit to a region. Working internationally for the first time, I also began
to consider working in a country or region where large‐scale civil engineering
projects are fast‐tracked out of sheer necessity; political red tape and budgetaryconcerns often prevent these rapid paces of construction from happening in the
U.S.
Acceptance into this internship was particularly special, as it allowed me to visit
the country in which my parents grew up and haven’t visited since leaving for the
U.S. 24 years ago. This program gave me the opportunity to visit my own extended
family which was one of the most fulfilling weeks of personal development I’ve
had in recent memory.
25

Justin Dinardo
China
College of Business and Economics
Economics

Becton Dickinson
Marketing &Sales Operations InternCompany and Position Description:
The main Shanghai office of Becton Dickinson is located in the district of Jing’an,
one of Shanghai’s largest commercial hubs. The company takes up the 9th and 10th
floors of the third tower of the Kerry Centre – a three tower complex ofcommercial offices conjoined above and below ground by seriously upscale malls.
The MSO internship involves researching Chinese healthcare policy and its recent
developments. A simple birds‐eye view of the Chinese healthcare system isenough background knowledge to propel the intern to take up more a specificresearch tasks that may be of use to the department.
In my internship, I researched antimicrobial resistance and the best practices that
could be employed by the government and the healthcare industry to tackle it. All
the research is compiled into a series of PowerPoint presentations which theintern will have the opportunity to present to more senior staff every couple ofweeks. While future interns will likely be asked to do general backgroundresearch on the Chinese healthcare system, they will probably be assigned adifferent second research assignment.

The interns were invited to a business lunchwith James Deng, CEO of BD in Shanghai.

We also visited the BDB Center of Excellence,
where BD educates buyers of their medical
26
equipment on using the equipment.

Justin Dinardo
China

Glimpse of the often‐
crowded but terrificallyefficient Shanghai
subway system.

The Great Wall in Beijing
was the personal
highlight of my trip. It’s
almost a surreal toactually see it in person.

Value Derived from the Experience:
My two month stay in Shanghai has changed me in more ways than just honing mychopstick skills. Exploring and working in the city afforded me daily opportunities
to step out of my individual comfort zone and see how I am also part of acollective. Directly observing the far‐reaching effects of my and other countries’
actions from afar, I feel that I am just beginning to understand the real implicationsof the buzz about “living in a global age.” The perspectival shift of temporarily
viewing the interconnected world from China’s standpoint left me with a morenuanced sense of politics, economics, and culture. For example, when my Becton
Dickinson supervisors asked me to research the interrelationship between the
Chinese healthcare system, the government, and various stakeholder groups, I had
to consider from various angles the challenges and unique economic possibilities
offered by a single‐ruling‐party system of governance.

27

Annika Ellenbogen
Croatia
College of Business and Economics
Economics

Business School PAR
Marketing Development
Specialist

Company and Position Description
Business School PAR is the first private business school in Rijeka, Croatia. Founded in 2007, PARcurrently offers a bachelors degree program in business management and they are looking to
expand their degree programs in upcoming years. I spent the first couple weeks at work
benchmarking Business School PAR with similar univerisites throughout Europe and Croatia. I
primarily compared their international programs and marketing/social media plans todetermine where PAR could improve. I also worked to analyze the target markets for Business
School PAR and each of their programs from an international perspective. Finally, I helped
design an informational booklet about PAR and all their programs for the business school tobring to education fairs throughout Europe. PAR actually offers a large variety of educational
programs that promote life‐long learning and learning through action. One of these programs,
Sail & Learn, we actually had the opportunity to paricipate in. During Sail & Learn we spent a
week living on sailboats with participants from across Europe. We traveled through the
Croatian islands learning about management, entrepreneurship, tourism, and survival
leadership. Overall, working at Business School PAR was an amazing experience.

Insert work photo
here (with small
caption below)

First day of work at PAR

The outside of PAR. The building
was originally the Municipal
Palace during the 16th century.

28

Annika Ellenbogen
Croatia

Trsat Castle in Rijeka, Croatia

The town of Komiza on the
Island of Vis, Croatia

Value Derived from the Experience:
Croatia is an absolutely beautiful country with amazing landscapes, people, and food. I reallyrespect how open minded and kind all of the people are. The one aspect of the Croatian lifestylethat impacted me the most during my time there is the pace of life. Farren and I are both highly
motivated students who were raised on a very, “go, go, go,” mentality. We are used to living in avery fast paced, competitive environment. During the school year I try to fit in as many activities
as I possibly can each day in order to be the most accomplished student. Typically, when I do not
spend enough time being productive I feel wasteful or guilty. Croatian culture has a much slower
pace and the people are much more flexible and easy going. Adjusting, at first, was very
confusing. I could not wrap my brain around the idea of drinking coffee for more than 10
minutes and the Croatians would never spend less than a half hour. Spending two hours eating
dinner our first night in town was painfully slow for me. That being said, the slower pace has
definitely grown on me. The Croatian people’s ability to slow down and enjoy life is something I
think we need more of in the States. In the United States, we often get so caught up in worrying
about how to be the best and how to finish all the tasks we want to accomplish, that we forget
to appreciate the things that really matter like spending time with family and other people whoare important to us. I hope that in the next couple weeks I continue to work on slowing down
and spending more time on things that matter to me. And I hope to keep these values with melong after I’ve gone back to the States so I can lead a happier and healthier lifestyle overall.

29

Leah Ferguson
Singapore
College of Arts and Sciences
Architecture

Imagin8ors
Content Team

Company and Position Description:
Imagin8ors is an educational technology start up company, with a focus on
incorporating creativity, imagination, and technology into learning. They focus on
engaging a child’s creativity in order nurture 21st century capabilities in them.
Imagin8ors is also currently developing an app for learning throughexperimentation and interaction in the classroom, at home, and on the go. Thissummer I worked as a part of their content team. A major part of my position
centered around designing and creating new hands‐on projects and activities thatchannel a child’s inner innovation and creativity. I also helped gathering resources
for the app, such as videos, projects, and concepts.

Analyzing project efficiency
at work

Prototype of a wind table30

Leah Ferguson
Singapore

Marina Bay Sands Merlion

Gardens by the Bay

Value Derived from the Experience:
My time at Imagin8ors helped push me outside of my comfort zone, and helped
me develop and improve upon my work ethic, skill set, and leadership. Thissummer I was able to experience what it is like working a full time job andbalancing work with my personal life, all while having no one to fall back on. At
work, everyday I was met with different challenges, whether it was tackling a new
assignment, troubleshooting, or simply not knowing exactly what to do. A largepart of my challenges came from the fact that what I was doing did not directly
correlate with my major. In addition to that, I was given complete control over myprojects, so whether I sank or swam was entirely up to me. I was thrown into aleadership position that I did not think I was ready for, but because of that I wasable to learn so much more. Working in Singapore this summer has allowed me tobecome more confident in what I have to offer from a professional scope, but also
it has made me more confident in who I am as a person. This trip will truly besomething that I will be able to look back on as a time in my life where a learned
more about myself than ever before, and got a glimpse of what my future could
hold if I continue to work hard.

31

Brielle Gemberling
Singapore
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Chemical Engineering

3M
Specialty Chemicals InternCompany and Position Description:
My summer was spent working with the specialty chemicals group working on a new
formulation for one of their existing products. I loved working with this group because we
spent most of our time developing new things instead of running lab tests all day. I specificallyworked with ordering and testing a variety of different chemicals that we added to ourformulation. Once the chemical I ordered came in, I would design an experiment to test
different chemical percentages in the formulation. I used a contact angle measurement device
to test the surface energy of the coating and derive conclusion based on the data I found.
Additionally, I was given the opportunity to do more business‐type research like identifying ourcompetitors’ markets, differences, and similarities. I often contacted outside laboratories tocomplete testing for us and to certify our products. This allowed us to differentiate our productin the market.
Aside from just the work I did, 3M was fantastic because it is such a large and well known
company. Many people at 3M in Singapore are easy to talk to and have so much to share that itreally enhanced my abroad experience.

Customer Technical Center Tour

Chemical Engineer Interns

32

Brielle Gemberling
Singapore

Twin Pagodas, Chinese Gardens

Delicious Japanese meal

Value Derived from the Experience:
It is hard to put everything I learned during my experience abroad into words. I was exposed topeople, cultures, language, and lifestyles I had never seen before. I learned how imperative it is
to gain global experience if you want to develop a strong career.
I was so terrified at first because I didn’t know what to expect. I had never left the U.S. so thethought of living somewhere so far away for 3 months was intimidating. I learned so much about
myself in this time‐ what I was good at, what I could handle, and what I needed help with. I had
to ask for help a lot, something I don’t do too often. I have learned how much I don’t know andhow much I still have to learn.
Singapore is the perfect place to be introduced to the Asian culture because there is little
language barrier and you can really talk to people and learn from people. I met friends at 3M
who live in Singapore and who are currently college students. This was probably the mostenriching aspect of my experience. They taught me so much about Singapore, were able toanswer all of my questions, and really made my summer enjoyable.

33

Sonja Gorman
People’s Republic of China
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Healthcare Systems
Engineering, M. Eng.

Becton Dickinson
Marketing & Sales Operation

Company and Position Description:
I spent eight weeks working at the Greater China headquarters of the medical device company
Becton, Dickinson and Co. BD is a well‐established American medical device company best
known for its production of the all‐glass hypodermic syringe starting in 1897. Today, BD’s
biggest product lines include syringes and hypodermic needles, IV catheters, insulin delivery
equipment, microbiology reagents, and diagnostic systems for clinical use.
Over the course of the internship, I worked with another intern in the headquarter officelocated in the Jiangsu district of central Shanghai. As part of the Marketing and Sales Operation
team, we were assigned to analyze policy changes and government initiatives. My task was toresearch the impact of the Chinese Communist Party’s most recent five‐year plan on BD’s
business prospects in China. We highlighted potential effects on the (1) economy, (2) researchand development, (3) social policy, and (4) healthcare reform, with an emphasis on foreign
media opinions. Our work consisted mainly of web‐based research structured aroundproducing PowerPoint presentations, which we presented to our supervisor on a weekly basis.
By the end of the internship, we had built on extensive research and analysis to create a final
boardroom presentation for the managers of Marketing and Sales Operation and Public Affairs.
After follow‐up revisions, our presentation and a comprehensive index of our work was sent tothe company vice president and general manager of BD Greater China.
LEFT:
My supervisor, HR
contact, and Lehighintern partner, Sabrina, in
the office lobby.
RIGHT:
Researching Chinese
healthcare reform policy
at my desk.
34

Sonja Gorman
People’s Republic of China

Hiking the Great Wall on aweekend trip to Beijing with mygroup of Iacocca interns.

Urban street scene in
Shanghai’s
Old Town neighborhoodnear our apartment inPeople’s Square.

Value Derived from the Experience:
Working for an international division of Becton, Dickinson and Company was an incredible
opportunity to learn more about the healthcare industry and the business strategy behind sales
operations. My role working with the marketing team opened my eyes to the many factors anddecision‐making processes that underlie business functions. It also allowed me to learn more
about the nuanced consumer market for healthcare in one of the most important countries in
the world – by some measures, China’s economy has already overtaken that of the UnitedStates. Finally, my exploration of government initiatives and the dynamics of the Chinese
Communist Party introduced me to a new political system that challenged me to think critically
about my economic and ethical beliefs. I personally plan to work as either a medical professional
or in a managerial role within the healthcare industry. Examining policy while working for amajor medical device manufacturer therefore gave me invaluable exposure to my future line ofwork and the context of the rapidly developing world we live in.
Living abroad, particularly in a place where I was part of the minority culture and unable tocommunicate effectively, was a humbling experience that taught me independence, persistence,and to have a good sense of humor. I absolutely loved Shanghai for its accepting population,
intriguing history, unbelievable architecture, and mind‐blowing pace of change. I look forward toreturning to this wonderful city later in my lifetime to see all it has accomplished.

35

Jacob Gottwald
Czech Republic
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Mechanical EngineeringŠkoda AutoTool Shop InternCompany and Position Description:
Skoda is an automobile manufacturer based just outside of Prague in the Czech Republic. The
company was founded in 1895 and became a fully owned subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group
in 2000. Skoda produced just shy of 1.9 million units in 2015. The tool shop can be split into
three departments: the pressing department, the casting department, and the welding
department. The pressing department is mainly focused on the production, perfection, andmaintenance of the large stamping dies that turn sheet metal into external car body parts. The
casting department makes dies for engine blocks, pumps, and other car parts. The welding
department handles any tool shop welding demands and also deals with the welding on the
production line. The tool shop also occasionally handles production of these tools for othercompanies within the VW group like Audi and Seat. As an intern, you will be required to help
out with any projects your supervisor gives you. These can range from research to hands onwork in the shop. You will be required to communicate well with Skoda and VW employees.
Although Czech is commonly spoken in many offices, many business meetings/calls are held inGerman. Many people in the offices speak English as well.

Large CNC’s used for in house machining

Some of the presses used to test thestamping dies36Jacob Gottwald
Czech Republic

Hiking the Bohemian Paradise
On the river Vltava in Prague
Value Derived from the Experience:
For me, the main value of the experience was derived from meeting many people from a lot ofdifferent places. By the end of the internship, I was hanging out with people from the Czech
Republic, Germany, France, Poland, Ukraine, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, and Slovakia, all in
one group. Through these friendships, I was able to learn a bit about each country and gain agreater appreciation for their culture. The experience was not only international on a social
level, but on a professional level as well. In the workplace, there are phone calls and meetings
going on in many different languages. Working in an international setting like Skoda reallyhelped me with my professional development. It was a great opportunity to practice my German
as well. This trip also taught me a bit about dealing with adversity. I got to deal with a difficult
language barrier every day, and I was placed in the wrong department initially. Having to work in
a department with no connection to my field of study for the first month really forced me tokeep an open mind. It was a blessing in disguise because I got to meet a lot of really interesting
people. I also feel that my travel skills have been considerably bettered. I would feel confident
travelling around any major European city after doing it often on this trip.

37

Andrew Grofe
Hong Kong (S.A.R.)
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Industrial and Systems Engineering

Hutchison Port Holdings
Operations Development
Team InternCompany and Position Description:
The Operations Development Team dealt mainly with logistics and newtechnology within the company. While working at HPH, I helped analyze datacollected from the 48 terminals around the world under the company’s control. I
also worked on the development of a company forum that would be used for the
implementation of the company’s Terminal Operating System. The last major
project I was able to be a part of involved the reformatting of an online databaseused by the company to meet the CMMI standards.

Insert work photo
here (with small
caption below)

Celebrating my birthday as well as anothercolleagues in the office!

Insert work photo
here (with small
caption below)

View of the harbor fromthe roof of Terminal 938

Andrew Grofe
Hong Kong (S.A.R.)

Views from the top of
Big Buddha

Victoria Peak picture thatoverlooks Hong Kong Island
and Kowloon

Value Derived from the Experience:
Throughout the internship, I was exposed to so many different viewpoints frompeople that live all over the world. This really put into perspective the differencesin people’s opinions based upon where they live. These same people are now
friends who I hope to stay in contact with over the years to come. I was able tobuild a network with these people that will hopefully benefit me later in life. I
grew so much as a person and had to mature in order to deal with living alone in acountry on the other side of the world. The people of Hong Kong were very
welcoming and helpful throughout the experience, helping us find directions andproviding us with local spots to get food and see sunsets. We were able to try
many different types of food that are very foreign to food available at home. Somewas obviously better than others, but we wanted to step out of our comfort zones
and really try to experience everything that Hong Kong was willing to offer.

39

Carter Hartmann
Kyrgyzstan
College of Arts and Sciences
International Relations/Economics

American Councils
Marketing andFundraising InternCompany and Position Description:
I worked at Kyrgyz Concept, the premier travel agency in Kyrgyzstan. We had
about 10 offices in Bishkek, with each office focusing on something different. My
office focused on education, as opposed to others focusing on inbound tourism or
marketing. Most of my work revolved around orienting 10 Kyrgyz students who
were going to the United States for a year to study at different high schools. I did
activities with them to help the students practice their English while also teachingthem about the U.S. and different parts of the American life. I also prepared themfor their visa interviews. Moreover, I helped Kyrgyz Concept do some slighttranslating. The students who went abroad in previous years would review the
program in English and I would go over those reviews and make sure it was
grammatically correct and professional. I also did some work with Human
Resources. I gave a survey to everyone in the office and then handed in a report
to my boss with my recommendations on changes to the office based off the
responses.
On the LEFT, a picture of
my students completingan activity about theAmerican host family in a
local café.
On the RIGHT, a pictureof my workplace, busy
while people try to buy
plane tickets and awoman cleans our
windows.
40

Carter Hartmann
Kyrgyzstan

Insert cultural
photo here (withsmall caption
below)

Insert culture
photo here (withsmall caption
below)

I’m drinking somefermented horse milk at ahorse farm in Issyk Ata.

My coworker’s family inOsh. We are eating after
a day of fasting during
Ramadan.

Value Derived from the Experience:
This experience was a massive period of learning for me personally. I learned many
new things that I could never have learned without being fully immersed in theculture of Kyrgyzstan. There were so many things I assumed were true but this trip
gave me a different perspective and made me question the reason behind a lot of
U.S. customs and ideas. The United States is not the center of the world and there
is so much more out there to learn and discover. I have learned to be much more
open minded and accepting of experiences or ideas that are against the norm. I
also met many people from all over the world who taught me valuable lessons
about different cultures. Professionally, this experience helped me learn what kindof jobs are really available in my field. I was also able to meet many people withsimilar interests and develop good professional connections.

41

Caraline Jeffrey
England, United Kingdom
College of Arts and Sciences
Theatre/English

London Film Academy
Production InternCompany and Position Description:
The London Film Academy is a private film school focused on hands‐on, practical training in all
aspects of film making. The instructors and staff are all seasoned film professionals, each with
their own unique backgrounds in disciplines such as directing, producing, cinematography,
post‐production, and more. Students come from all over the globe and from all walks of life totrain at one of the only institutions in London to still teach both digital and celluloid film
making. Students write, cast, design, direct, photograph, and edit their own projects, learning
how to budget, troubleshoot, and implement other crucial skills along the way. Afterward,
countless alumni go on to work on star‐studded television and film productions and/or maketheir own award‐winning short films.
As a production intern, I worked primarily in the equipment office, helping to check out, set up,
and check in filming equipment from classrooms and film shoots daily. I also organized,
repaired, and kept inventory of equipment, as well as picked up and delivered equipment andfilm to different locations and film laboratories. Because I had little experience in film, I also sat
in on film classes with the students, including screenwriting, directing, cinematography, soundmixing, and editing. My final project at the Academy was to write, direct, and edit my own two
minute film in collaboration with other LFA students.

A student checks the lighting
levels during a practice shoot

Editing my culminating
project, a super short film
42

Caraline Jeffrey
England, United Kingdom

Parliament from the London Eye

Outside of Buckingham Palace

Value Derived from the Experience:First and foremost, working at LFA expanded my knowledge of entertainment production. At
Lehigh, I study technical theatre, learning the ins and outs of mounting and running a theatre
production. Working at LFA, I was able to observe and assist on several student film shoots, andcompare and contrast the ways in which theatre production is different from film production. I
expanded my knowledge of how the film industry works, enough to make film a possibility for
my future career options. I also vastly increased my knowledge of film equipment, from cameras
to lights to sound instruments, and that knowledge can be applied across multiple entertainment
industries.
In general, the experience of living in London for eight weeks gave me an incalculable amount ofconfidence. Not only had I never been abroad before, but I had also never been in a large city formore than a day at a time. Living in the vibrant, diverse city of London taught me to be confident
in myself and my abilities to be independent. Working in a foreign field in a foreign country
showed me that I have the ability to adapt and thrive in new and different environments, and tolearn on my feet, and those experiences gave me confidence as well. The opportunities afforded
to me through the Iacocca International Internship program have truly been life changing.

43Clarisa Kelly
Barcelona, Spain
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Industrial Engineering

thethings.IO
Marketing MaverickCompany and Position Description:thethings.IO is a startup company based out of Barcelona that offers anInternet of Things platform solution for developers, enterprises and more.
Other businesses use thethings.IO’s platform to connect their various
devices to the Internet as to monitor them, collect data and performpredictive analysis. thethings.IO provides storage for all of this data, as wellas customizable dashboards to monitor the data in real time and flexible
analytical reports.
My position title at this company was Business and Marketing Maverick.
Some of my daily responsibilities included managing the company’s social
media content as well as creating various posts for their website’s blog. I
learned how to create internet ads and used tools to determine customer
interest in a product. I also created some pages for the company’s website
and performed research to fill the content of them. Through the experience
I also learned more about the Internet of Things and its industry.

My coworkers and I

44

Clarisa Kelly
Barcelona, Spain

Sitting in Parc Guell witha view of the entire citybehindThe Arc de Triomf

Value Derived from the Experience:
Traveling abroad for the first time was an experience like no other. Through myencounters with new people, new places and new things, I really discovered a lot about
myself as a person and as a professional.
In my internship I learned how to be a part of a team. Learning how to communicate withmy co-workers and form relationships with them across a cultural and lingual barrier
really strengthened my interpersonal skills. It also showed me the importance of knowing
your co-workers and creating a comfortable work environment.
Along with learning how to function as part of a team, I also learned how to work
individually. I was given many different tasks during my internship stay and had to
manage and complete them all in a timely manner. Some tasks I was more comfortablewith than others, so I also had to research and problem solve on my own at times when I
did not have much background knowledge. Being in charge of my own work taught me
about responsibility and gave me confidence in my professional abilities.
Aside from my professional growth, traveling abroad really made me grow as a person.
Being around a different culture and environment opened my mind to different ways ofthinking and doing things. Being in a place other than the US made me both grateful forsome things we have here, but also made me realize things that we as people and anation could do better. Meeting all different kinds of people gave me a new perspective
on my customs and made me appreciate the customs and languages of others. Most of
all it made me realize that with our differences aside, we are all people.

45

Kevin Kenna
United Kingdom
College and Business andEconomics
Finance

Photospire, Ltd.
Summer InternCompany and Position Description:
Photospire, Ltd. is a London-based startup company working in the field of
big data marketing. Company founders, Dave and Ger O’Meara, createdtheir own software which is able to create thousands and thousands of
personalized video advertisements at the touch of a button. As thecompany’s summer intern, I took on a multitude of different roles. For
example, I started out working on competitive analysis for Photospire alongwith some various Microsoft Excel-based projects. I later worked on testing
the company’s new software alongside the program developers. For thelatter part of my internship, I worked on designing and building a new
website for the company.

Talking to President Simon in
London.

Photospire office space in London.

46

Kevin Kenna
United Kingdom

The Championships at
WimbledonTop of Arthur’s Seat in
Edinburgh, Scotland

Value Derived from the Experience:
My internship experience in the United Kingdom changed my life in so manydifferent ways. For starters, this was my first trip outside of the UnitedStates. I was initially a bit anxious to see how I would adjust to a different
culture. Luckily, I found it easy to learn the nuances of British culture throughmy interactions with coworkers and program advisors. In general, thisexperience really helped build my self-confidence and got rid of that slightfear I had of traveling internationally. From a professional standpoint, theprogram introduced me to business culture outside of the U.S. which I
believe is invaluable given today’s global business environment. It also
helped me build up an international network of business contacts which
could benefit me throughout my career.

47

Kyle Kristiansen
China
Integrated Business andEngineering
Industrial and Systems Engineering

Soartech Electronics Inc.
Marketing Research InternCompany and Position Description:
Soartech is a manufacturing company with plants in both China and Taiwan. They
focus on RFID tag production and sales to animal tech firms in China and Europe.
However, Soartech’s management is now shifting their focus to the global
expansion of new product lines that have been in development for the past 2
years. As an intern, much of my work was focused on researching Kickstarter andcreating propositions for how the company could enter the American
marketplace to sell the first of their products: a battery phone case that can be
wirelessly recharged. I collaborated with a diverse team of co‐workers to create
the story line of a commercial that would specifically target our desired future
market. I also assisted Soartech by working with another English speaker in theoffice to translate their Chinese documents into English. Overall, I contributed asa team member by making information from the U.S. and Canada available to my
Chinese speaking co‐workers.

Desk at the Soartech Office
In the Shanghai countrysidesurveying potential sites for ourcommercial

48

Kyle Kristiansen
China

Value Derived from the Experience:
Every day is a valuable experience when you’re living in a cultural world that’s notyour own. The most important thing about living in China for me was to keep an
open mind. So much about daily life on the other side of the world isfundamentally different from what I am used to in the United States. If I was
willing to accept and experience it, then I was able to get the most out of each dayeven though it wasn’t easy. Another big part of my personal development was myendeavor to learn Mandarin. This was invaluable to my time in Shanghai since myhomestay family couldn’t speak English. The Mandarin that I was able to learn
helped my Chinese grandparents (pictured above) and I develop a deep
relationship that expanded every week. We are still in contact now, and they help
me to keep my Mandarin fresh and learn more each time we talk.
Related to my personal development is a substantial amount of professional
growth. In the work place, my ability to communicate was challenged in ways that
I have never experienced before. As I gave English presentations to my Chinese
speaking co‐workers, I had to think differently about the way in which I presented
information. Everything I said needed to be portrayed with simple, clear, anddirect language so that they could break it down with the limited English they did
know and then we could have a productive conversation about our ideas. While I
developed this technique in China, I know it will be of great use in the Americanbusiness world as well. Overall, I experienced immense personal and professional
growth throughout my time in China.
49

Lena Kudryashova
Hong Kong, China
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Mechanical Engineering

Hutchison Port Holdings
Commercial Development InternCompany and Position Description:
Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH) is the world’s leading port investor, developer, andoperator. HPH comprises of 48 ports spanning 25 countries throughout Asia, theMiddle East, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and Australasia. HPH runs aninternship program from local Hong Kong universities and other countries. The
student is placed in the Commercial Development department or the GroupOperations Technology & Development team. Working on the Commercial team,
the internship will involve reviewing and summarizing daily industry news for
distribution to HPH business units, providing and researching on specific topics
for customer briefings and management presentations, and providing
research/analysis support for market and shipping industry topics to be
distributed in the monthly newsletter.

HPH Summer Interns 2016

HPH Commercial Team 201650

Lena Kudryashova
Hong Kong, China

Hong Kong skyline

Ten Thousand Buddha's Monastery

Value Derived from the Experience:
This internship provided an amazing opportunity to experience living in anothercountry while developing professional skills. Although scary at first, this internshipputs the student in Hong Kong, an incredible international city, and allows them toexperience the rich culture and environment that it has to offer. Meanwhile, thestudent is also gaining valuable experience working in a professional industry, able
to contribute ideas and opinions while learning hard and soft skills. A goodamount of people in Hong Kong speak English, and the company is English‐based,so the language barrier is not incredibly present.

51

Matthew Lambert
Singapore
College of Businessand Economics
Finance

Tethys Pte Ltd
Summer Analyst

Organization and Position Description:
In Singapore, I interned with Tethys, a strategy consulting firm, where I had theopportunity to work closely alongside a number of technology and investmentcompanies on a consultative basis.
I spent a majority of my time working with Tryb Capital, a small private equity
firm that invests in financial technology companies across the world. Working
closely with the founders and other team members, I researched different
aspects of the market landscape, created valuation models, and presented on thechanging regulatory scope of banking and asset management. I was involved withevery level of deal flow, from scouting out potential investment opportunities at
Startupbootcamp FinTech to sitting in on conference calls with CEOs across theworld, as we discussed multi‐million dollar equity deals.
Additionally, I worked on business development projects with Tethys, where weevaluated risk exposure of large banks, and worked to improve their preexisting
trade data analytics software.

The Tryb Capital team, a private
equity firm in Singapore.

Presenting on potential
FinTech equity
investments.

52

Matthew Lambert
Singapore

Lunch with Samir and Leah.

Climbing Mount Batur to see
the sunrise in Bali, Indonesia.

Value Derived from the Experience:
Living and working in Singapore this summer was an amazing experience. This was
my first time out of the time zone, so everything was new.
Taking part in the Iacocca International Internship Program challenged me in waysthat made me grow as a person. I grew professionally, being surrounded andmentored by people of so many different business backgrounds. The flexibility of
my company allowed me to explore new passions I never would have considered
before, and expand my understanding of finance and investing to somethingpractical and impactful.
Finding myself in situations where I could only communicate in (poorly) written
Mandarin, giving presentations in front of a dozen businessmen, soaking in theculture by trying crazy new foods, and exploring South East Asia exposed me to
new situations and pushed me far out of my comfort zone, helping me grow as aperson this past summer.
Overall, this internship program provided invaluable experience on both aprofessional and a personal level. I had the opportunity to experience adventure ina way I had never before. Being exposed to so many different cultures and people
with such diverse backgrounds was the best part of the experience abroad and I’ll
be forever grateful.

53

Sabrina Lee
China
College of Business and Economics
Finance

Becton Dickinson
Strategic Planning(MSO) InternCompany and Position Description:
Becton Dickinson (BD) is a medical technology company that supplies healthcare
institutions, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, industry, and thegeneral public. BD both manufactures and sells medical supplies, diagnostic
products, and laboratory equipment to numerous consumers to help improvehealth around the world. At BD, this intern will be required to research andanalyze current government plans and initiatives through formal documents andmedia reports, including both domestic and foreign opinions. Following research,
the intern will then combine this information into one collective PowerPoint
presentation with numerous diagrams and graphs, and express expert opinions of
the effects government initiatives have on business, particularly in economic,
social policy, research and development, and healthcare industry, or the aspectsof the plans relevant to BD business. The intern is encouraged to provide his or
her own analysis of the government plans and the direction that BD should lookto move in the future. For this internship, an intern will refine research abilities,
public speaking skills, and professional PowerPoint creation as well as
experiencing the professional environment in Shanghai, China.

Photo taken at BDB COE after
seeing numerous BD products

Photo taken after an informative
trip to Xinhua Hospital

54

Sabrina Lee
China

Photo taken at the Bund
walkway at nighttime

Photo taken in the
Forbidden City in Beijing

Value Derived from the Experience:
This experience was both professionally and personally engaging in multiple ways
and I would like to start out by saying that this was an extraordinary opportunitythat I feel so fortunate to be able to experience. Professionally, I feel that I wasable to learn how a business‐focused workplace is run and the kind of attitude
needed to go through everyday work. I was able to learn more about China’s
government and state of affairs, as well as its healthcare system, all of which arethings that I had not known the slightest bit of information before this internship.
As someone who was formerly considering going into healthcare, being able toexperience both business, my new field of choice, and healthcare was a valuable
opportunity that I am grateful for.
Personally, my perspective of the world has changed. I wouldn’t say that my view
before this trip of the world was small, but now after spending two months
halfway across the world I can say that my view was definitely limited. Learning
about how China works, both in ways that are similar and vastly different, reallyopened my eyes to the different kinds of people and lives that exist outside of the
US. I also have an increased desire to learn more and travel more across the worldand experience as many different cultures as I possibly can. I’ve learned that nocountry is good or bad and no matter where I am I know that I will be able to learnsomething new and find a way to implement my experiences into my everyday
perspective. Despite my initial hesitation, China is a beautiful country with somuch to offer. I would recommend this program to every student looking foropportunity to work and travel to an unknown place and I would recommend thiscountry and city of Shanghai to every person curious about the world.
55

Farren Leung
Croatia
College of Business and Economics
Finance/Business Information Systems

Business School PAR
Training Marketing AssistantCompany and Position Description:
For my Iacocca Internship, I interned at Business School PAR, a private school in
the port city of Rijeka. PAR has a business management program and soon will
have an MBA program. The school emphasizes its international relations withseveral programs such as INCASO, which looks to introduce the Croatian culture
to international students, or SenZations, a program that takes place in a different
country each year. PAR also maintains great relations with Lehigh University by
hosting students for the Iacocca program as well as collaborating with the schoolfor the PAR International Leadership Conference.
I worked as a training marketing assistant at PAR where I performed marketing
research, analyzed marketing techniques of comparable business schools, andconstructed advertising proposals for Business School PAR and its various
programs. Each week I met with the head of the marketing department to
informally present my work, and made suggestions on how PAR can improve theirmarketing methods. At the end of the internship, the other Iacocca intern and I
consolidated our work into a presentation to present to the staff of Business
School PAR.

Inside Business School PAR

With the staff on our last day

56

Farren Leung
Croatia

Checking out the waterat Kantrida beach

Exploring one of the islandsof Croatia

Value Derived from the Experience:
Interning at Business School PAR has shown me how to behave in a professional
working environment. I learned how I have to act professionally with my coworkers
when we’re at work but I have also learned to unwind when we’re all out afterwork. Since interning at PAR, I have made great relationships with the staff andthey have taught us so much about the working environment, the culture and thepeople of Croatia. They showed us the best food in Rijeka and the best attractionsof the city. I value the staff at PAR as hardworking coworkers as well as amazing
friends to hang out with.
Living with another person in a foreign country has, no doubt, made an impact on
me. Even though Croatian people can speak English, there was still a culturalbarrier and different cultural quirks that we had to adapt to. We travelled a lot
within Croatia and outside the country so we mastered how to navigate trains,
buses and twelve‐hour bus rides.
Interning in the beautiful country of Croatia has been a life‐changing experience.
Having the freedom to explore a foreign country and seeing all the gorgeous
scenery is something I will definitely miss. Since coming back, I feel more cultured
and more mature than when I started my two‐month journey. Now, I feel confident
in travelling and have even more of an urge to travel to more places and see
everything. I am truly thankful to the people who made this trip possible and I willcherish all the memories that I made.
57

Elizabeth Lutz
Spain
College of Business and Economics
Finance

EOS Global
Employee Benefits InternCompany and Position Description:
I had the privilege to work at EOS Global, an insurance brokerage based in Italy, which also has
several offices in Spain. I worked in the Employee Benefits Division where I was supervised by
the Employee Benefits director and the only actuary in the Barcelona office. The Employee
Benefits Division offers services in HR consultancy, Actuarial studies, tax optimization,
information on international markets, and much more. There was only one other proficient
English speaker in the office so I had to speak Spanish for most of my interactions as well ascomplete all my work in Spanish. Through this, I was able to greatly improve my Spanish
speaking skills. Most of my work consisted of data entry of claims into their computer programs
which were entirely in Spanish. I was also able to complete comparative analyses of different
policies for clients, as well as compilation and translation of policy summaries for various
English speaking clients. Finally, on a day to day basis I was able to assist in translating a varietyof objects such as emails and policy proposals for potential new clients. Through thisexperience I was not only able to learn about the operations of the insurance business and gain
more knowledge of the Spanish language; but also about the workplace culture in Spain andmany soft skills for interacting in a business setting.

My desk at work fromwhich I had a view of
La Sagrada Familia

One of the few Skyscrapers
in Barcelona, and where I
worked on the 9th floor

58

Elizabeth Lutz
Spain

The ceiling inside La
Sagrada Familia

A view overlooking
Barcelona from thefamous Park Guell

Value Derived from the Experience:
Living and working in Barcelona was one of the greatest learning experiences of my life. Each day
provided many learning experiences ranging from learning how to use the Spanish subway tolearning Spanish computer programs and much more. Because I had never left the United States
before this I had very little knowledge of other cultures, but in Barcelona I was able tocompletely immerse myself in the Spanish culture and quickly adjust to their lifestyle. By the endof the trip my Spanish was greatly improved as well as my knowledge of European culture and it
was very fulfilling to experience their welcoming culture where they embrace life to the fullest.
Additionally, through my internship both my people skills and my confidence were greatly
improved as well. From the day I began my internship to my last day two months later, I grewincreasingly confident in an office setting and this gives me confidence in starting my career after
graduation. I was able to have so many invaluable experiences in Barcelona that allowed me togrow as a person and I know that for the rest of my life I will frequently think back on my timespent in Barcelona.

59

Madison Marshall
Moldova
College of Business and Economics
Marketing/Management

American Councils
Hospice Angelus

Company and Position Description:
Hospice Angelus provides care for people with terminal illnesses who cannot
afford it. As Europe’s poorest country, Moldova needs charities like HospiceAngelus to help their people who are suffering. Events are held at least once amonth to fundraise money. There’s an annual ball held every May, as well asmonthly trivia quiz night. My main responsibility was helping in the planning ofthese events, especially the trivia nights since they were all in English. This year, I
helped in planning Hospice Angelus’ first Bike Tour from Chisinau, Moldova to
Bucharest Romania. Each biker was funded by the many supporters of HospiceAngelus. Hospice Angelus is a great company that does great work to help the
people in their country.

Bike Tour Fundraiser

Trivia Night60

Madison Marshall
Moldova

Annual Lavender Fest

Weekend travels to
Bucharest

Value Derived from the Experience:
Moldova was a big culture shock since I had never traveled abroad before, but it
helped me grow immensely as a person. The language barrier was especiallydifficult in Moldova since my host family spoke Russian and the younger
generation spoke Romanian. Although it was difficult, it was a great learning
experience. Traveling alone and abroad for the first time truly opened my eyes. I’ve
grown up so much since I got to Moldova, and I’m so happy I got to experience
their extremely intriguing culture.

61

Fei McMahon
Luxembourg
College of Arts and Sciences
Biology, Spanish Minor

Luxembourg Institute of HealthTraineeCompany and Position Description:
The Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) is a public research organization that specializes inbiomedical research. At LIH I acted as a Trainee in the Department of Infection & Immunity forten weeks. I was assigned to the Immune Endocrine and Epigenetics research group under thesupervision of Principle Investigator Dr. Jonathan Turner and one of his PhD Students, Martha
Elwenspoek. I assisted with the Epipath project which focuses on researching the effects ofsevere early life adversity and its contribution to health problems, such as upper respiratory
tract infections (URTI), mental health complications, and cardiovascular disease. As epigenetic
methylation of genomic DNA is the dominant link between the genome and the environment,much of the work I performed included pryosequencing. This experiment was used to quantify
the amount methylation in donors’ CpG islands found in the sequence of their DNA that codes
for their glucocorticoid receptors. During my time at LIH I also utilized lab techniques such as
polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) for amplification and optimization, gel electrophoresis,
bisulfite conversions of unmethylated cytosine, and enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assays(ELISAs) for IL6 concentration.

Performing pyrosequencing on
donor DNA that has been amplified
using PCR

Converting unmethylated cytosine
to uracil through a bisulfite
treatment of donor DNA
62

Fei McMahon
Luxembourg

Above the Bock Casements and Gründ
Luxembourg City, Luxembourg

Outside of the Notre Dame Cathedral
Paris, France

Value Derived from the Experience:
Living in Luxembourg and assisting at the Luxembourg Institute of Health as a Trainee haschanged the way I view myself and the world. Throughout the ten weeks I spent overseas, I
learned more about myself and feel that my experience in the International Iacocca Internship
Program has helped me develop both professionally and personally. As a Trainee at LIH I met
with project contributors, attended work group meetings for the research team to which I was
assigned, and contributed to an exciting research project through laboratory work and result
analysis. By giving me these opportunities, my supervisors expected a level of responsibility andprofessionalism that has never been required of me before. I knew I was up for the challenges ofthis internship and spending time at LIH, working alongside so many intelligent people whocome from various backgrounds, both cultural and professional, has made me more confident in
my ability to work in a professional setting and in myself. On the weekends, I was able to travel
to four countries and over five cities. During my excursions I was exposed to many cultures,
languages, and people. I also explored historic sites and gained a greater appreciation for what
differentiates one person from another. Due to this, I believe that I have a new perspective of
the world and have grown as a person. I am so grateful for having been given such an amazing
opportunity.

63

Reagan Miller
Kyrgyzstan
College of Arts and Sciences
Anthropology/English

Kelechek Plus
Director of Fundraising

Company and Position Description:
Kelechek Plus is a nonprofit organization with a goal to bring children withdisabilities out of the home and outside so they can play! The mission of the
Public Foundation Kelechek Plus is to promote social inclusion through thesupport and development of the communities of vulnerable groups of people ‐namely children with disabilities, rural youth and vulnerable residing in
Kyrgyzstan. This organization aims to empower these vulnerable groups by
sharing skills, tools, knowledge and the confidence necessary to change
themselves and to help others. Kelechek Plus believes that everyone has theability and opportunity to make this world a better place. As an intern I had theopportunity to lead several crowdfunding campaigns as well as plan and execute
various fundraising events around Kyrgyzstan. Kelechek Plus gave me theopportunity to work in both a professional setting and a much more relaxedsetting with so many different children with disabilities from around the city. This
internship has improved my communication, planning, and writing skills greatly.
LEFT:
Celebratory
dinnerfollowing final
day of work.
RIGHT:
Co‐workers
gather for anannual garage
sale.
64

Reagan Miller
Kyrgyzstan

Peak at Ala Archa

Sunset at Issyk‐Kul

Value Derived from the Experience:
My time in Kyrgyzstan changed me as a student, friend, and person. The
opportunity to spend my summer working alongside talented professionals at
Kelechek Plus, a day center for children with disabilities, was one I will not soon
forget. I left this experience feeling as if I gained much more confidence in myability to speak with people, especially when faced with individuals with little to no
English speaking ability, and a better understanding of self‐motivation. Once I
began embracing and celebrating the differences I faced along the way, I found it
easy to enjoy the little things. Most, if not all, of the relationships I formed while in
Kyrgyzstan stemmed from random encounters or through mutual friends. These
relationships were the ones I found the most difficult to say goodbye to at the end
because they were the individuals that showed me so many interesting aspects ofKyrgyzstan I would not have discovered just by reading a guide or looking up
tourist destinations. It was the balance between cultural exposure and theprofessional workplace that developed me in so many different ways along thisjourney. Additionally, I felt myself really start to grow once I rid myself of my, often
times skewed, western perspective and allowed myself to really listen and learn
from others. Embracing my ignorance in terms of how the Kyrgyz people celebrate,
love, and just generally love, was what gave me the ability to learn so much more
and actually become a part of something that was so much bigger than myself.

65

Daniel Moncada
KosovoCollege of Business and Economics
Business Information Systems

3CIS
Telecommunications InternCompany and Position Description:
3CIS is an outsourced Kosovar Telecommunications company that works withvarious telecomm companies such as T‐Mobile, Comcast, and AT&T. The work
schedule revolves around US based time zones accordingly. The work life consistsof a laid back environment with apparent, but lenient deadlines. As an intern, you
can be either work with the Engineers in the Migration/Pre‐Migration side, or the
Project Managing side of the company and come up with Business oriented
solutions for the company. This includes presentations, communicating withother managers on future projects, and slideshows.

The sleek and laid‐back work
environment of 3CIS in
Prishtina, Kosovo

66Daniel Moncada
KosovoView from my host family’sapartment

Clear waters of Peja (themain bottled water sourcein Kosovo)

Value Derived from the Experience:
Interning in a country such as Kosovo has allowed me the most immersive andtransformative experience I could ask for. The country is in a state of rebuild thatemits a culture of hope and forward thinking. The small size of the country as wellas the Capital city of Pristina allows for a sense of community where everyone isfriendly towards each other as well as hospitable. In addition, their adoration forforeigners made staying in Kosovo a warming transition.
Professionally, I learned how to negotiate with individuals who had clear and I
learned how to adjust to certain social cues that were crucial to getting to where I
wanted. Coming back home to the states, I had to readjust my social experience toacclimate American culture as I was still in the Eastern European mindset. Thistaught me how to analyze different situations and how to act accordingly.

67David Morrison
India
College of Arts and Sciences
Civil Engineering/International Relations

VIVA Group
Construction Process Analyst

Company and Position Description:
Positioned just north of the city of Mumbai, Viva Group is a conglomerate
working in various industries including land aggregation, infrastructure, realestate, retail, computer games, advertising, finance, taxis, education, and othersectors of business. The company mainly works in the Virar‐Vasai region and isvery well known for being one of the driving forces behind developing the region
so that it can keep up with the area’s fast population growth over the past few
decades.
As an Intern at this company I worked closely with the departments involved in
the development of various construction projects and housing developments.
Throughout the process I was able to learn about the intricate process ofdeveloping infrastructure and residential buildings to optimize cost‐effective
housing for the city’s population. I was able to assist in planning developments
and visit numerous sites in order to better understand the process and contributewherever possible.

Site visit to Viva City
development

Photo with coworkers in
Viva office68David Morrison
India

Temple of Mahakal in
Darjeeling, West Bengal

Ferry crossing river within
Sundarbans National park

Value Derived from the Experience:
This program greatly exceeded my expectations in terms of cultural andprofessional value throughout the entire experience. The hospitality and thegenerosity of those hosting us was truly humbling and I’m grateful for everything
they do for guests in their country. The company we worked for was very
accommodating in transitioning the interns into the local community and culture.
The cultural perspectives I’ve gained through immersion in India were enlightening
and captivating. I got to make countless connections with those I crossed paths
with while also getting the opportunity to network with world class organizations
that I hope to keep in contact with in the future.
I also was able to get a deeper understanding of how business is conducted inIndia as well as on the international stage. Specifically, I was able to learn about
the development process through participating in meetings and negotiations of
those we worked with. The opportunity to travel to some of the most culturally
fascinating places on earth while developing my professional competency inindustries of my interest is more than I could have asked for in a summer
internship, and I feel indebted to the Lee Iacocca internship program and Lehighfor making it possible. Fortunately, I was able to accomplish all of my professionaland cultural goals while abroad and hope to keep in touch with those I worked
with at Viva in the future.

69

Kiana Nieves
Georgia
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Civil Engineering

TBSC Consulting
AnalystCompany and Position Description:
TBSC Consulting is a Business consulting firm located in the capital ofGeorgia, Tbilisi. Companies hire TBSC to perform feasibility studies,market research, supply and demand studies and investment schedules on
their projects. While working there, I was involved in a feasibility study for awool factory that was being renovated in Georgia and during the study, I
worked on research for the most cost efficient way to renovate the wool
factory.
While I interned there, I also worked on a feasibility study on a new hotelthat was going to be built half way between Tbilisi and Kazbegi. Morespecifically, I performed research on the hotel competition surrounding thenew potential hotel location.

Me in the TBSC Consulting offices

White water rating with
TBSC Consulting70Kiana Nieves
Georgia

Jvari Monastery: One ofGeorgia’s oldest surviving
monasteries.

Traditional Georgian
dinner/ Supra

Value Derived from the Experience:
This was my first time ever leaving the country, the first time I had everneeded a passport, and it was all a learning experience. I had a severe caseof culture shock when I got there, as Georgia is nothing like the European
Union.
The working environment was so relaxed and stress free, which is also very
different from the New York City work environment. Getting used to a veryrelaxed work environment was sort of difficult because what I was expecting
was something so different. After this experience, I know that I can adapt
more easily to situations and places that are outside of my comfort zone,
and it made me a stronger person overall.

71

Elizabeth Nussbaum
China
College of Arts and Sciences
Global Studies/International Relations

Pudong Institute of theUnited States Economy
InternCompany and Position Description:
Pudong Institute of the United States Economy (PIUSE) is a local think tank thatspecializes in American study, established in 1997, which is one of the major
research institutions for United States Economy. For my internship I was given an
assignment and had to research and write a policy paper based on thatassignment with the assistance of my supervisor. I was able to work on my writing
skills and learn how to correctly format a paper to be useful to my organizationand the government/ organization that requested the information.

Lunch with my boss at thePearl Tower

Trip to an electronics
manufacturing company

72

Elizabeth Nussbaum
China

Great Wall, Beijing

Hongzhou, small water town
near Shanghai

Value Derived from the Experience:
I feel that I have gained a lot of valuable experiences while conducting myinternship. I learned how to better communicate with my supervisor to understandassignments and achieve to my full potential in completing them. I also learned
how to better manage my time, and to work with others more efficiently.
Most importantly, though, this experience gave me insight into Chinese culture(specifically in the business sector) and into how important relationships, or“guanxi,” are to succeeding in the workforce. I hope to one day work or interact
with Chinese companies, and this experience gave me far more first‐handknowledge than I could have ever gained by simply studying in the United States.

73

Em Okrepkie
Macedonia
College of Arts and Sciences
Journalism

American Councils
Public Relations InternCompany and Position Description:
I worked for American Councils Macedonia for eight weeks this summer. American Councils
works to promote cross‐cultural dialogue through exchange programs. The non‐profit
organization holds programs in 80 countries in accordance with their motto, “AccessKnowledge. Access the World.”
One of these programs is the Kennedy‐Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program (YES), andanother is the YES Abroad program. For the YES program, high school students from theBalkans receive a scholarship to live and study in the United States for a year. Similarly, the YES
Abroad program sends American high school students to study in Macedonia. I worked with mytwo coworkers, Vesna and Zdenka, to prepare for the arrival of the new YES Abroad students aswell as the departure of the YES students. I helped to organize materials for the pre‐departureorientation that is held to prepare students for their time abroad, and I interacted with each of
the students as they came into the office before their departure.
When I was not helping with the abroad programs, I wrote articles for the American Councils
website, maintained the social media accounts and promoted the office’s programs on various
platforms.

My coworker and I working on a
project for the new YES alumni.

My coworkers and I ate pastries likethis one almost every day for lunch.
74

Em Okrepkie
Macedonia

Ohrid is a resort town known for
its lake and ancient churches.

Doner, which is meatcooked vertically on a
skewer, is popular in
Macedonia.

Value Derived from the Experience:
On my second day in Macedonia, I took the wrong bus nine stops in the wrong direction. When the remaining
passengers on the bus got off at the last stop, I followed their lead and hoped I was close to home. After a few
phone calls with my host sister and a conversation with a stranger, I realized I was not anywhere near my hostfamily’s house. Although I insisted that I could find my way back, my host sister and host father insisted that I stay
put until they arrived in their car to take me home.
I was initially surprised that they were so willing to help me when I had made a mistake and needed help, andeveryone I met in Macedonia over the pas two months continually surprised me with their hospitality and kindness.
I had the opportunity to meet amazing people while I was working as an intern in the American Councils office
helping to prepare for the pre‐departure orientation and helping to manage the social media for the office, among
other things. I had the chance to get to know my coworkers, who were always there to help me figure out the bus
schedule or explain a cultural difference. I had the chance to interact with YES alumni who are working to make apositive change in the world. I had the chance to talk with individuals about Macedonia’s history and culture.
I also had the chance to eat burek and enjoy all of the cuisine that Macedonia has to offer, and I would be lying if I
said that I didn’t eat some sort of pastry almost every day.
When I arrived at the airport in Skopje in May, I had my suitcase and no expectations. I didn’t know much about
Macedonia or Skopje, and I didn’t know what to expect. My host sisters and coworkers met me at the airport with asign that said my name, and I was grateful for their warm welcome when I had been traveling for almost a full day.
My host sisters, Angela and Jovana, brought me back to their house, where I tried Nescafe for the first time. It now
seems fitting that Nescafe was the first food item I tried in Macedonia because I drank it almost every day I was
there.
The food I ate and the friendships I made were the highlight of my stay in Macedonia, and I also enjoyed seeing thesights in places such as Ohrid and climbing to the top of Vodno. I am thankful for the diverse experiences I had while
in Macedonia interning with American Councils. I will forever be grateful to my host family for making sure that I
made it home both the day I got lost and every day after that, and I will forever be grateful to everyone I met while
in Macedonia who made my stay so incredible. I now realize the power of kindness and positivity.

75

Cynthia Pai
Hong Kong
College of Business andEconomics
Accounting/BusinessInformation Systems

Hutchison Port Holdings (HPH)
Commercial Development InternCompany and Position Description:
Hutchison Port Holdings Limited (HPH) is the largest port operator, developer, andinvestor in the world. It has a presence in 48 ports that span 25 countries. The
company is under the port division of CK Hutchison Holdings limited, and its
headquarters are in Hong Kong. As an HPH commercial development intern, we
have the responsibilities of the daily news and newsletter articles. The daily news
requires reading cargo, shipping, and port news sites and summarizing the news
for employees in the company to receive a quick overview of the market. We
wrote a total of 3 newsletter articles, also known as perspectives, for theemployees to also receive inside information about the situation in the port
industry.

Entrance to work office

View of Hong Kong Port
from a vessel
76Cynthia Pai
Hong Kong

Meeting the Big Buddha
On Lantau Island

View on Dragon’s Back, afamous hiking trail

Value Derived from the Experience:
Personally, I learned to adapt to the language barrier in places where thepopulation spoke only Cantonese. A new skill I learned is to quickly adapt to thesituation when confused or uncertain about the situation. Being exposed to theChinese culture where I saw the street markets, ate at street vendors, and spokewith other interns about living in Hong Kong, it has open my mind to further
explore other cultures. Professionally, it was a rewarding experience interactingwith co‐workers of different backgrounds and networking with people from allover the world. I’ve become comfortable communicating with people at all levelsof power, from my direct boss to the director. Furthermore, it was a great
opportunity to meet with clients and learn professional etiquette when meetingclients. Overall, Hong Kong was an incredible experience. The city was huge,
dynamic, and vibrant every day, which opened the opportunities to constantly
explore new and beautiful places.

77Eliyana Radin
Czech RepublicCollege of Business and Economics
Finance/International RelationsŠkoda Auto a.s.
International Sales
Marketing InternCompany and Position Description:Škoda is an automotive manufacturer company that is based in Mladá Boleslav founded by twobusiness entrepreneurs Laurin & Klement. The company started in 1895 before merging with
Skoda works in 1925. Volkswagen Group now owns the majority of Skoda where the company
itself employs more than 30,000 employees. Throughout the internship, I was in theInternational Sales department in the V2S region which includes United Kingdom, Ireland,
Finland, Sweden, and Norway. I work closely with my supervisor on the ongoing rebranding
projects of dealerships within these countries.
During the first month, my work focused mainly on keeping track with the delayed projects
since the initial plan was to finish the projects by the end of 2015. On top of weekly reports, I
also did data analysis on the company’s historical ratios and data. In the second month of theinternship, my work moved focus on research. I had to prepare two presentation on new online
sales channel and shopping mall retail concept. Škoda has been interested in improving theirtechnology integration both online and in their dealerships. My research also included
dealerships location strategy in order to help decrease the number of dealerships without
excluding the rural areas.

Auto Museum with a statue ofLaurin & Klement
78
Entrance of the officeEliyana Radin
Czech Republic

Visiting Česky Krumlov, Czech Republic

Barbecue dinner with other Škoda interns

Value Derived from the Experience:
The experience I gained through this internship is definitely a memorable one. I made friends
from a lot of people from different countries and it has opened my eyes to even more culturaldifferences within the society. Interns were from Poland, Germany, Italy, France, and even
Slovakia. Although it was challenging living in Mlada Boleslav due to it being a very industrial
area with a lot of language barriers, it pushed me to go out of my comfort zone and I definitely
feel accomplished! The town is situated about 50km from Prague, which allowed me to travel for
most of my weekends there. I had the opportunity to go to Budapest, Berlin, and even Dresden,
which made my whole experience even more unforgettable.
Since this is my first professional experience working in an office, it has definitely taught me
more about where my interest lies. My colleagues were nothing less than helpful and welcoming
though out my time in the office. They made it a smooth transition for me to get into my workwhen I first started. I learned not only about Škoda, but also more about Volkswagen and theirpartnering companies such as Audi and Seat. On top of that, I also learned a lot about the
automotive industry. Due to the Brexit vote happening during the middle of my internship, I got
to participate in various conversations and discussion on how it would affect the market andlearned more about the macro scope of things. Overall, the experience was amazing and it
challenged me in ways I never thought I could.

79Alexandra Rankin
PortugalCollege of Business and Economics
Finance

IMOXLMarket ResearchCompany and Position Description:
IMOXL is a start up Real Estate company, located in Algarve, the southernmost
region of Portugal. The company works with clients buying, selling, or managing
properties in the the east Algarve. As an intern my role was to conduct a survey ofthe tourists visiting the area to assess their knowledge of the tax benefits andvisa opportunities that are available to real estate investors in Portugal. From theresults I formulated a final presentation with charts and graphs to represent the
research that I had done over the two months. I used a combination of thisinformation and my own research on the topics, as well as an analysis of thecompany and their goals, to design a short term and long term marketing plan for
IMOXL. IMOXL is looking to increase their international client base and plans on
using the information from the research and the survey to do so. On a day to day
basis, other tasks included in the internship were assisting in the management of
the company’s social media accounts, reviewing translations of documents, andonline client property searches.

IMOXL office in Tavira

Company cocktail party/marketing
event; XL Day

80

Alexandra Rankin
Portugal

Top of the Clergy Tower;
Porto, Portugal

View from the monastery;
Gaia, Portugal

Value Derived from the Experience:
This was such an incredible experience both personally and professionally. I think it
was so beneficial to be able to utilize what I have learned in my first two years as abusiness student during my internship. Then to learn so much about a professional
work environment that I am able to apply to my next two years in the College ofBusiness and Economics. This was the first time that I have ever lived or traveledalone for an extended period of time and it allowed me to gain so muchconfidence in myself. It was initially intimidating to be in a place where I wasconstantly in situations where I needed to communicate with individuals who did
not speak the same language. This challenge forced me to utilize other methods ofcommunication, however, and it also inspired me to try and learn as much
Portuguese as I could in a short period of time. Taking part in the Iacocca
Internship program forced me to step outside of my comfort zone and challenge
myself. By the end of my internship I was amazed at how much more confident I
was in regards to traveling on my own, communicating with others, and making
the best of every situation regardless of the circumstances.

81

Gannon Reichert
Santiago, Chile
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Materials Science and Engineering

Ministry of Energy
Data Analyst/Translator

Company and Position Description:
I worked for El Ministerio de Energia, which is Chile’s version of the Departmentof Energy. Within the ministry, I worked in the Department of Oversight andEnergy Policy. I shared an office with two others, initially, and then three towards
the latter half of my internship. The majority of the work I did consisted of eithertranslating documents or tabulating data figures in excel for various purposes:
energy generation, capacity and marginal cost based on different regional andtime‐dependent variables.
One such project I had concerned reviewing partnership proposals with different
entities such as MIT. I not only reviewed the integrity of the proposal, buttranslated it several times back and forth as well as writing the official response
to it. This was a common occurrence and helped improve both my Spanish andtechnical knowledge in the energy sector.

The Minister of Energy and I at the 6th
Anniversary of the Ministry of Energy

My Department and I at the
6th Anniversary Dinner82

Gannon Reichert
Santiago, Chile

Joke about how Chileansconsider themselves Americans

Alex standing with Valparaiso
in the background

Value Derived from the Experience:
My foreign experience was everything I had hoped for and more! For starters, I
was lucky enough to work for the Ministry of Energy and meet the Minister ofEnergy in person at their 6th Anniversary party. Further, it was intriguing to see thedifferences between an American and Chilean work environment. In addition,
everyone I met was unbelievably kind, helpful, and patient when they understood I
was a foreigner. I also made lasting connections with many Chileans and with thegroup of other American interns I met while there. I remain in contact with them
all and am planning to visit them in the fall.
Also, my Spanish speaking ability improved substantially during my stay. There wasquite a learning curve due to the Chilean accent and different vocabulary, but after
passing it I was comfortable speaking regularly in a foreign tongue. Finally, I wasfortunate enough to travel to the majority of Chile’s incredible attractions: theAtacama Desert, Valparaiso, Pablo Neruda’s house, Viña del Mar, and a glacier, toname a few.

83

Emma Resnick
Moldova
College of Business andEngineering
Business Information
Systems/Marketing

CCF/HCC Moldova
Organizational Development InternCompany and Position Description:
CCF/HHC Moldova is a Non‐Government Organization (NGO) that’s main purpose is to help
children in need stay out of Institutions (orphanages), and remain in the care of their biologicalfamilies, where they will receive the right amount of support, care, and love to develop
properly.
As an Organizational Development Intern, my role in helping CCF/HHC Moldova support
children was more “behind the scenes” because my skills are in a more technical and logisticalfield, while my coworkers were mostly social workers and psychologists. I worked with theCommunications department to help improve the organization’s website, boost their social
media presence, and come up with ways to get more Moldovan citizens involved withfundraising, volunteering, and/or supporting CCF/HHC Moldova’s cause.

The last day of my Internship

My coworkers and me in the field84

Emma Resnick
Moldova

At the Cucuteni Art Festival
Capriana Monastery
Value Derived from the Experience:
Because of my travels in Moldova…
•
I am now willing to go out of my comfort zone and try new things, such as eating new foods,
experiencing cultural traditions that are different than my own, and trying to makeconnections with people, even if we speak different languages.
•
I can now see the United States in a foreign point of view; as a U.S. citizen, I am accustom toseveral luxuries that most people believe the be the norm, when in reality, there are
millions of people outside of the U.S. that look at America as a goal or dream that they havefor themselves and their children. What I mean by this is that because Moldova is such apoor country and many of its rural citizens barely have plumbing, electricity, running water,or other necessities needed to successfully survive, I now know that I cannot take myopportunities as an American for granted.
•
I have learned the true value of friendship. Everyone that I cam across in Moldova wasincredibly kind to me, even if there was a language barrier between us. My host family wasso warm and welcoming to me during my entire stay with them, and it was as if I was part oftheir family for those two months. I learned that as long as you keep a friendly and open
mind, everyone around you will return the favor and be just as open to you.
•
I learned to expect the unexpected. Everyday in Moldova brought a new adventure for me
to explore, ranging from going to monasteries to going to concerts and watching others singalong to Moldovan artists that I have never heard of. During my time in Moldova, I tried mybest to never pass up an opportunity to try something new, because I knew that each
opportunity would be a once in a life time experience.

85

Katherine Salazar
BermudaCollege of Arts and Sciences
Biology

Bermuda Institute of Ocean
Sciences (BIOS)
Research InternCompany and Position Description:
The Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS) is a non‐profit institution thathouses an array of research labs, including research on microbiology,
oceanography, biology, and environmental science. It is located in St. George’s,
Bermuda.
For my internship, I worked as a research intern for Dr. Gretchen Goodbody‐
Gringley’s Reef Ecology and Evolution Lab. My project was focused on theidentification of organisms present in the mesophotic zone (>60m) in Bermuda’s
waters. Mesophotic reefs are largely understudied throughout the world, andmuch literature that is out there on mesophotic reef ecology is outdated. In
recent years, mesophotic reefs have gained more attention due largely in part to
the introduction of the Deep Reef Refugia Hypothesis (DRRH). My project sought
to both identify and assess the conditions of mesophotic reefs, looking for
relationships between depth and health and density of coral reefs. This
assessment was done via video surveys taken at 60m by my mentor and her
diving partner. Videos were analyzed using a randomized dot transparency, andthe videos were scaled using the program ImageJ for the analysis of benthic
frequencies across several sites in Bermuda.

LEFT:
Scaling videos for density
assessment
RIGHT:
A still of a video survey withthe random‐dot transparency
overlay86

Katherine Salazar
BermudaThe view at Windsor Beachin Tucker’s Point, Bermuda

A view of Wright Hall fromatop of the Atlantic
Explorer, the BIOS
research vessel

Value Derived from the Experience:
My experience as an intern at BIOS has certainly influenced me. Through theconnections I have made with the staff and fellow interns, I have gained new
perspectives on ocean sciences as well as inspiration from the passion both faculty
and fellow interns have for their respective fields of research. I have gained an
appreciation for the hard work that goes into every and any kind of research.
Professionally I have gained experience working with a research team as well asworking on a project independently. I have become familiar with research methods
that are common in marine science, such as Baited Remote Underwater Video
Stations( BRUVS) and video surveying. In addition I have learned a great deal about
coral reef ecology, the importance of coral reefs, and how conditions of coral reefs
throughout the world are changing.

87Will Silverstone
Italy
College of Arts and Science
Computer Science/Business

CSAmedComputer Engineer

Company and Position Description:
CSAmed is a company that specializes in solutions for electronic management ofpurchasing and invoicing processes. The European Union regulates thismarketplace and requires many forms to be completed for each purchase. My job
for the summer was to work alongside the regular employees of the company tocreate a web application to manage these forms, among other things. Instead offilling out the forms by hand, a user would be able to fill out the forms online andhave the information sent automatically to a database. Working with others withyears more experience than me was difficult, but everyone was eager to help andit was fulfilling work that I felt had a real impact on the company. I’m glad I had
this opportunity for this internship and to be able to experience the Italianculture.

At my desk at CSAmed

My office space88Will Silverstone
Italy

My Italian apartment mates

A weekend trip to Paris

Value Derived from the Experience:
My job was located in the city of Cremona, a small town in northern Italy. Being asmall town, there were few people fluent in English which made even the smallest
tasks into interesting challenges. I think the experience definitely helped mycommunication skills, and my ability to convey my ideas simply. Cremona was also
the birthplace of the famous violin maker Antonio Stradivari so it attracts manymusic festivals and street performers. It was always lively at night and the pizza
lived up to expectations for Italy.
It’s always interesting to experience a new culture, and being there during theEuro 2016 Soccer tournament brought out even more. Coming from a country likethe US that has little interest in soccer, this was fun to see. Throughout the monthlong tournament every city I went to stopped what they were doing to watch thegames, and even during one day‐game my entire office stopped working for 2
hours to watch Italy win.
I also gained great technical experience in Java programming and it was valuable tobe able to see how things learned in the classroom can be applied to the realworld. Everyone I worked with was always eager to help and made it very easy to
fit in.

89

Divya Sirdeshpande
BermudaCollege of Arts and Science
Molecular Biology

Bermuda Institute of Ocean
Sciences (BIOS)
Research InternCompany and Position Description:
This internship takes place at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences (BIOS). BIOS is a UnitedStates oceanographic research institution, based in Bermuda, which is committed to addressing
pressing global issues in oceanography, marine conservation and ocean health. Researchers
from all over the world come to BIOS to pursue their area of research. Research at BIOS canrange from oceanography to microbial ecology. The wide variety of research at BIOS makes it avery enriching place to work. This summer I was working with two researchers on project
where I was Detecting Fish Communities: Comparing Baited Cameras (BRUVS) and
Environmental DNA (eDNA) methodologies. This project was two fold: molecular work with
eDNA and fish ecology work with BRUVS.
For a majority of the summer, with my mentor I developed a method for eDNA testing. I
extracted DNA from filters and then used PCR and gels to isolate a region of the fish genome.
This region can then be sequenced in order to identify the fish. I was able to share my work andresearch at presentations held every Friday and familiarize myself with other intern’s research.
I not only learned many lab techniques that I can apply at Lehigh, but also learned how to
overcome road bumps in the scientific process.

PCR ProductCollecting water samples
at the Bermuda Aquarium

90Divya Sirdeshpande
BermudaSnorkeling in one of
Bermuda’s many
reef systems

Kayaking into the townof St. George

Value Derived from the Experience:
Overall this has been an extremely enriching experience ‐ personally professionally, andacademically. I have made some lasting friendships at BIOS. Even though a lot of interns camefrom different places and backgrounds, everyone shared a desire to learn. BIOS offers a very
unique experience in that most of the researchers live on the station and therefore everyone
feels like family. The community at BIOS was extremely welcoming. Everyone from theresearchers to the chefs make you feel at home. There are so many different researchexperiences available at BIOS that it was always interesting to sit at dinner and hear about what
my fellow interns are working on.
I was also able to step out of my comfort zone during this internship. I went cliff jumping,snorkeling through shipwrecks, and hiking through caves. I made many new friends from many
parts of world that I certainly will continue to remain in touch. Being in a new environment, andaway from family, I learnt to fend for myself socially and professionally. The experience at BIOS
has given me an immense boost to my confidence level to handle life‐situations effectively.
Professionally, I gained proficiency in many aspects of scientific research – independent thinking,problem solving, presenting research, and team‐work. This invaluable experience will remain
with me for ever and help mold my future career plans. Before I left one of the researchers gave
me some advice. She said “In life, be like plankton and let the ocean carry you.” This thoughtful
message will one of my guiding principle.

91

Trevon Sloan
Singapore
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Chemical Engineering

3M
Materials Science
InternCompany and Position Description:
3M is a multinational company that produces over 55,000 products, including
adhesives, abrasives, dental and medical products, electronic circuits, and carcare products. This summer, I worked as a materials science intern with theflexible circuits team, where I helped run reliability tests and make reports toshow the results of those tests. I also had a personal project, which dealt withthermoelectric circuits. I researched the concepts and background scientificknowledge that makes it work, and I was tasked with fixing a problem that theteam was experiencing during the process. I was also tasked with thinking of a
prototype for the flexible circuits that would be useful in everyday life.

A picture of me in my lab coat.

An example of one of theflexible circuits I worked on.

92

Trevon Sloan
Singapore

Crab stand in
Little India

Chinese Temple in
Chinatown

Value Derived from the Experience:
This experience has helped me develop both professionally and personally.
Personally, being out of my comfort zone has helped me grow and appreciate thelittle things in life, and has helped me to appreciate the differences in othercultures. Professionally, I have gained valuable experience in the workplace, from
how to conduct myself in meetings to how the everyday flow of a company works.
I have also gained valuable knowledge about thermoelectric circuits, and how it
connects to providing sources of energy across many applications in life. I also havea strong interest in renewable sources of energy, so being able to connect that towhat I’ve been working on for the past 3 months is also very compelling.

93Bryan Stirling
Singapore
College of Arts and Sciences
Physics

3M
Research and Development
InternCompany and Position Description:
The 3M Company is an American multinational corporation headquartered in
Maplewood, Minnesota. Founded in 1902 as the Minnesota Mining andManufacturing Company, 3M produces over 55,000 different products. While themost recognizable include Scotch tape, Post‐It notes, and road sign laminates, 3M
produces a diverse range of products ubiquitous in both industry and household.
My position at 3M involved research on diamond wire, an industrial item
commonly used in the electronics industry. I conducted tests upon the wire to
optimize the lifespan of the wire.

Lehigh Interns at 3M

94

Bryan Stirling
Singapore

View of major Singapore
landmarks
Fellow Lehighintern Trevon and
I in lab setting

Value Derived from the Experience:
My summer internship at 3M was an excellent insight into the work environment. I
gained hands on experience, working alongside 3M employees conducting
research. As a physics major, time spent in the classroom is theoretical andabstract. This internship created an opportunity for me to experience all thefactors a classroom cannot simulate, all the while improving my research skills.
The summer experience in Singapore was proved to be a valuable test. Spending
12 weeks in a foreign country proved that I can handle myself as an adult andadapt to changing environments, which are not within comfort zone. In addition,
traveling and living abroad teaches many practical skills, such as economy,observation, and communication. My summer in Singapore was a defining
moment of my college years, and taught me many lessons that will serve me longafter college ends.

95

Barbara Tsaousis
Luxembourg
College of Arts and Sciences
Molecular Biology

Luxembourg Institute of HealthTrainee/Research InternCompany and Position Description:
The Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) is a public research organization at the forefront ofhealth research, with locations throughout Luxembourg and collaborators extending far beyond
the country’s borders. LIH prides itself in maintaining a truly diverse and interdisciplinary work
environment. Although the company’s official language is English, employees come from all over
the world and currently represent 36 nationalities.
This summer, I was a member of the Immune Systems Biology (ISB) research group within LIH’s
Department of Infection and Immunity. Research engineers, scientists, physicians, technicians,
and PhD students currently comprise the ISB group, whose members are conducting several
different research projects that represent a wide variety of topics related to the dynamic andintricate immune system. During my time at LIH, I worked on validating potential binding partnersof immunoregulatory genes involved in the development of Parkinson’s Disease using two maintechniques: gene overexpression and co‐immunoprecipitation. Along with learning and practicing
new techniques, I was able to work towards greater understanding of molecular mechanisms
underlying this complex neurodegenerative disorder and aid in ongoing efforts to develop more
effective, personalized treatments and, ultimately, a cure.

Preparing samples for a Co‐IP experimentin the Biochemical Lab at LIH

In front of the House of BioHealth, home of
LIH’s Department of Infection and Immunity

96

Barbara Tsaousis
Luxembourg

Grund
Luxembourg City,
Luxembourg

Le Petite France
Strasbourg, France

Value Derived from the Experience:
My internship at LIH was truly a once‐in‐a‐lifetime opportunity and I could not be more grateful. I don’t know of any
similar program at any other college or university, that provides selected students with such exceptional internships
abroad and even funds them. This experience was extraordinary in the sense that it directly provided me with theopportunity to develop my knowledge of laboratory techniques while working alongside very accomplished scientists.
However, the practical skills I learned in the lab are just the beginning of a very long list of benefits that willundoubtedly help shape my future career. Among the highlights of my time at LIH were various unique opportunities
I had due to both my status as an employee and the welcoming nature of LIH administration and staff. The otherintern and I were the youngest people at LIH, but we never felt excluded by our older, more educated, and moreexperienced counterparts. In fact, on several occasions, we were invited to participate in company‐ or department‐
wide activities and events, during which we got to know other employees outside of the intense work environment.
Additionally, I was able to participate in guest seminars led by world‐renowned, visiting scientists and physicians fromother countries throughout Europe. I also attended lectures given by Masters students from Belgium who hope to be
selected for PhD positions at LIH. I was even able to donate blood for one of my own research group’s projects, and in
one of our weekly group meetings, I presented my recent data to fellow ISB members as well as the Director!
For the majority of my internship, I was given the freedom to function independently in the lab, with my mentor andPrincipal Investigator always available to answer any questions I had. At first, I considered this a reward in and of
itself, but it ultimately allowed me to gain tremendous confidence in my laboratory abilities. Scientific research is noteasy by any means, but it becomes even more challenging when you are outside your comfort zone, in an unfamiliar
laboratory (and country!), and have additional worries about whether you are doing everything exactly as would amore experienced scientist there. This kind of pressure was stressful at times, but it turned out to be constructive
because it pushed me to be attentive to detail, ask more questions to learn as much as possible, and be moreproductive.
I can’t thank the Iacocca International Internship Program enough for the best summer of my life in terms ofknowledge gained, productivity, skills learned, network expansion and new connections, cultural experiences andexcursions, and fun. I will always cherish my time in Luxembourg and at LIH, as well as the people behind the scenes
who supported my internship and made it possible.

97

Ben Utterback
United Arab Emirates
Integrated Business and Engineering
Industrial and Systems Engineering

DeSimone Consulting Engineers
Structural Engineering InternCompany and Position Description
DeSimone Consulting Engineers is an American structural engineering firm based in New York
City that specializes in the development of high‐quality buildings including hotels, officebuildings, and mosques. DeSimone offers both structural analysis and design services toconstruction and architecture companies all over the world. Their diverse team of engineers
allows them to serve their clients’ needs as well as possible. DeSimone has several offices in
the United States as well as in Colombia and the United Arab Emirates. As an intern in
DeSimone’s office in Abu Dhabi, I performed a wide variety of tasks. I researched the Middle
Eastern construction market and reported new projects and news in the region to the rest of
the office. I also assisted in the computerized structural design of buildings using AutoCAD
Architecture and Revit. Additionally, I designed a quarterly newsletter highlighting ongoingprojects for the company’s Abu Dhabi office and prepared several business proposals for new
projects in the region to send to clients.

Emirates Pearl Hotel in Abu
Dhabi, designed by DeSimone

View of the Abu Dhabi
Skyline from acrossthe Gulf98

Ben Utterback
United Arab Emirates

Riding a camel in the desert
outside of Dubai

Burj Khalifa, the tallest
building in the world

Value Derived from the Experience
My experience as an intern in the UAE was incredible and truly a once‐in‐a‐lifetime opportunity.
Prior to this internship, I had never traveled abroad, so this experience was particularly special
and eye‐opening for me. From riding a camel in the Arabian desert to visiting the world’s tallest
building, the Burj Khalifa, I had the chance to partake in exciting activities that completely
immersed myself in the culture of the UAE. Having the opportunity to travel to two of the mostbeautiful and diverse cities in the world in Abu Dhabi and Dubai was wonderful and has provided
memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life. Both in and out of the internship, I wasfortunate enough to meet and get to know people from all over the world and be exposed to avariety of different cultures and backgrounds. I definitely grew as a person from this experience,
becoming a more confident, independent, adventurous, and ambitious individual.
Professionally, I had the opportunity to contribute to DeSimone in a variety of ways, fromresearching the construction market in the region to assisting in the computerized structuraldesign of buildings and preparing business proposals for new and developing projects. Although
my major is Industrial & Systems Engineering, I learned a great deal about Structural Engineeringand feel that I’m more well‐rounded professionally than I was before. I gained real‐world
experience and believe that I am substantially more qualified and confident than I was prior tothis internship. The international business and cultural experience will be invaluable as I begin acareer in the near future after graduating from Lehigh. This was one of the greatest experiencesof my life and I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity given through the Iacocca International
Internship Program.

99

Harrison BirabaharanKingdom of Cambodia
College of Business and Economics
Accounting/Finance

Caring for Cambodia
Summer InternCompany and Position Description
Caring for Cambodia (CFC), based in Siem Reap, Cambodia, is a non‐governmental organization (NGO) with the meritable task to secure a better,brighter future for the children of Cambodia through education. With such adaunting yet heartening mission, I was fortunately called to partake in thisrewarding enterprise to help the children of Cambodia reach new immeasurable
heights of success and jubilation.
My main focus this summer was spent rebranding, and reopening the Bridge Art
Gallery. With the hopes of one day being a fruitful source of income for CFC, theBridge Art Gallery features and sells artwork from local artists. I ran the financing
of renovations, and helped create and market the new concept of the gallery. In
addition to the gallery, I also helped run various fundraisers for CFC from fashionshows with Jodphure, art exhibitions with the Grand Raffles Hotel, and social
media campaigns for GoPro for a Cause. And by far the most rewarding job I had
this summer, was every weekday starting at 2:00pm teaching art to some of themost talented, brilliant, and humorous students out there.

An Art Piece featured in
The Bridge Art Gallery

Model strutting runway, at Jodhpure...
Royal Indian Dining as a CFC Fundraiser

100Harrison BirabaharanKingdom of Cambodia

Exploring Angkor Wat

The Dopest Art Squad
Out There

Value Derived from the Experience:
The two months spent in Siem Reap, Cambodia have been some of the mostrewarding times of my life. Professionally speaking I have gained immeasurable
insight on how to run and work for a business on an international platform,
communicating with fellow faculty based in Singapore, Argentina, United States,and various parts of Cambodia. I expanded on my leadership skills as the load of
responsibility placed upon me by Caring for Cambodia demanded that I be
attentive to time and others, as my actions not only had an effect on myperformance but of other co‐workers as well. The freedom and trust Caring for
Cambodia gave me to run the Bridge Art Gallery allowed me to take self‐initiative
and to use creative freedom to start and execute my own expenditures.
Although my professional development was vast this summer, I would
say that my personal development is what really took speed this summer. My
internship in Cambodia was like a wave of refreshment and renewal. I have a new‐found motivation as I tackle another semester, to do well in school and ultimately
succeed in my profession. Although I may sometimes still question whether or not
I am in the right major, I do know that I want to do what I did this summer for the
rest of my life; I want to make a positive impact on the world no matter how small
or big that may be. Whether it be bringing a smile to a student or taking the stress
off of another, the major I am in will allow for me to have the money to really help
those in need.
101Chelsea Cooper
Cambodia
College of Education
Comparative andInternational Education

Caring for Cambodia
English AssistantCompany and Position Description:
Caring for Cambodia (CFC) is a non‐governmental organization that supports various publicschools in Siem Reap, Cambodia. It offers additional resources, teacher training, and classes like
English, computer, and career preparation. CFC works with 21 schools to serve 790 students,
including eight home‐based preschools, a number of primary and secondary (middle) schools,
and two high schools.
My internship involved supporting English as a Second Language (ESL) classes at a middle
school and a high school. I collaborated with four teachers to identify common problems intheir classes, brainstorm potential solutions, and plan and implement lessons. Each week, I
observed or co‐taught at least one lesson with each teacher, as well as meeting with individual
teachers. I also presented four sessions at a conference for the region’s ESL teachers and led
three smaller workshops tailored to the specific requests of these four teachers. I developed abinder of lesson plans, teaching tips, and resources, such as posters and flash cards, tailored totheir textbooks and courses.
Three days a week, I helped lead English conversation classes for CFC staff, for which I
researched and adapted discussion questions. Finally, I worked with two Cambodians totranslate video footage of interviews from Khmer to English. The interviews will be used inpromotional videos showing how CFC’s home‐based preschools educate local parents,
empowering them to nurture and protect their children.

I demonstrated various games withstudents as part of a workshop on
balancing Khmer and English in ESL
classes.

I worked with Saren (bottom center),an ESL teacher in one of CFC’s
primary schools, to lead English
conversations with these CFC staff.
They were brave at using the little
English they knew, and it was so fun
to hear them gain confidence in
expressing themselves.

102

Chelsea Cooper
Cambodia

Most Cambodian houses are built on
stilts to withstand rainy season. But
when Siem Reap flooded two years
ago, these stairs were all that was leftof this house on the riverbank nearmy school.

Students in elementary andmiddle school take off their
shoes outside the classroom.
Everyone does the same when
they go into a home.

Value Derived from the Experience:
When I was told that my internship would let me pursue my long‐standing dream of training Cambodian teachers, I
was delighted…. but also apprehensive. How much could I do in eight short weeks? As much as possible, I
concluded. So I jumped into observing teachers, teaching alongside them, chatting with them, and assemblingmaterials for them. I tried to balance proactivity and flexibility, and hoped for the best.
I had exhilarating moments of success: lessons that clicked with a class, a teacher saying, “Wow, can you tell me
more about that?,” teachers trying my ideas in their own lessons and liking them. And I had moments that brought
my ego crashing down: apathy greeting handouts I’d slaved to perfect, cultural gaps that made my ideas irrelevant,rapport that seemed to vanish in an instant. I was surprised how nervous I became when my supervisor observed.
The latter moments, while uncomfortable, were actually more helpful than the former. First of all, they were a goodreality check. Like being a new teacher, being a new mentor teacher won’t be easy. Secondly, my self‐consciousness
reminded me of what I’m putting teachers through as I observe and mentor them. (Even more so as they try toteach a foreign language in front of a native speaker!) I need to be patient and compassionate as they’re far outside
their comfort zone. Thirdly, they uncovered my false assumptions about Cambodian teachers, students, andschools, helping me ask better questions and grasp the answers.
Finally, they remind me of what I learned all year at Lehigh: Contextualization is vital. I don’t like it when theteachers sometimes blame students for not grasping English lessons that don’t address their needs and interests.
But I’ve made the same error (actually worse) when I’ve made minimal tweaks to US‐based teaching tips that are apoor fit for these teachers, and then inwardly faulted them for not recognizing the superiority of American
education to their methods. That’s not showing them a better alternative to shaming; that’s just shifting the blameup a level. There’s a huge gulf between their educational experiences and mine, and it’s not fair of me to ask themto do the work to bridge it. If I want to partner with them, I need to wrangle with the question of how they canteach well in their context.
My internship reminded me that I need to talk less and listen more. I need to stop worrying about my reputation,and start celebrating the strengths of those around me, helping them grow and flourish.
I have a long way to go. But interning this summer has shown me my need to keep learning humility and given me avision of the character that, by God’s grace, I could someday gain.

103

Corina Fitzgerald
Cambodia
College of Arts and Sciences
Asian Studies/Chinese

Caring for Cambodia
ESL InternCompany and Position Description:
This summer I worked with Caring for Cambodia, an NGO with a goal to improve education for
Cambodian Children. Caring for Cambodia helps not only fund the creation of new schoolbuildings and teacher trainings, but also works closely with communities to ensure family andcommunity members understand the importance of education. CFC has a full staff of
employees working on the ground at all the schools they sponsor, allowing for continual
support and supervision. One day, CFC hopes that their work with be self‐sufficient, allowing
CFC to be run by Cambodians for Cambodians.
This summer, I worked with CFC as an English as a Second Language (ESL) Intern. My main goal
was to complete a set of curriculum for a third grade English class, including a detailed
Teacher’s Guide to the course. Each day, I helped out in two second grade classrooms (theEnglish pilot program), allowing me to better understand how the students learned and thepace of the class. I would use the time between the two classes to work on the third grade
curriculum. One of the main goals of the ESL Pilot Program curriculum is to incorporate
knowledge students are learning in their other courses. By looking at the key objectives forsecond and third grade math and science curriculum, I was able to incorporate some of thematerials into their English class lesson plans.

Sunrise over Angkor Wat

Waterfall at Kbal Spean
104

Corina Fitzgerald
Cambodia

One of the second grade
English classes I worked with

My boss, Sinat, and I holding
the third grade teacher’s guide
I created during my internship

Value Derived from the Experience:
My time interning with CFC did not just open my eyes to the world around me, but also allowed
me to explore and gain practical experience in a field of study I would not have otherwise had
exposure to. Being a double major in Asian Studies and Chinese, stepping into the world of
education was new to me. While prior to this summer I had spent some time teaching ESL, I had
never worked so hands on in a classroom or been given so much freedom and responsibility increating something new. Writing the Teacher’s Guide for the Second Pilot Program (third grade
English) was at first a daunting task, but being surrounded by so many experienced colleagues
and supervisors made the project manageable.
I can truly say that this experience allowed me to gain confidence that I wouldn’t have found in adifferent work place. I was completely responsible for myself and the pace of my project, whichallowed me to learn the importance of time management and self‐motivation. I am extremely
thankful for my fellow Lehigh interns who helped me stay excited about my project as well as
assist in monitoring my thoughts, opinions and ideas.
Only having one more year left at Lehigh, this internship allowed me to spend time thinking
about my future goals and career options. Whether it’s a trip back to Cambodia or applying tomasters programs for International Education, my summer internship with CFC will definitely
play a role in my post graduation plans

105

Kelly Grace
Cambodia
College of Education
Comparative andInternational Education

Caring for Cambodia
Gender Equity InternCompany and Position Description:
Caring for Cambodia(CFC) is an NGO that provides educational programming togovernment schools in and around Siem Reap. The organization was establishedin 2004 and currently serves over 6,000 children. They provide a variety of
programs including the Food for Thought program, Teacher Training, Career andUniversity Preparation, Gender Equity and others. CFC serves as a model forgovernment programing. The Gender Equity program is currently only offered in
grades 7‐12 at Aranh and Bakong High School. CFC is interested in providing
gender equity programming in the primary school. While all teachers and staff
work within the model of providing gender responsive pedagogy, the high school
program allows students to work critically with gender and gender inequities totake a more active role in making CFC schools gender responsive. This has been
beneficial at the high school level and would help primary level students also.

Working with students

High School Gender
Equity Program106

Kelly Grace
CambodiaAt the temples

At the market in Phnom Penh

Value Derived from the Experience:
Working in the Gender Equity program for two months helped me understandmany of the challenges faced in developing and implementing programs in CFC.
While it is a large and well‐organized organization, there are local factors that I am
not familiar with, as I am not Cambodian. I gained invaluable experience inworking with the gender equity team as well as the primary and early childhood
education team. I created materials that I had to ensure were culturally relevant,and I learned that gender equity materials and information stem from Westernsources. This makes accessing information in Khmer impossible. I was very awareof the fact that I did not speak Khmer and that I was working as an outsider. All of
this had an important effect, in that creating materials and developing ideas for
the Gender Equity program were truly a collaborative experience.

107

Logan Banning
China
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Mechanical Engineering

University of Science andTechnology of China (USTC)
Research InternCompany and Position Description:
The University of Science and Technology of China is a top tier research university
located in Hefei, China. After establishing the first graduate school in China, USTC
now has over 8,000 students enrolled in their graduate program. USTC isregarded as one of the top universities in China and has an excellent reputationworldwide.
During my internship, I worked in the Department of Mechanics under theguidance and supervision of a PhD student. My research was focused on hydraulicfracturing, learning how to virtually create hydraulic fractures using a computer
aided engineering program, and performing various test simulations undercertain conditions. I also investigated various methods of creating an accurate
and realistic natural fracture, and examined the relationships the fracture had on
hydraulic fracture propagation within a reservoir.

In the Department of
Mechanics, testing a hydraulicfracture simulation

With my mentor professor,
reviewing my final deliverables
108

Logan Banning
China

At The Great Wall

Our Lehigh group, at
Tiananmen Square, Beijing

Value Derived from the Experience:
My research internship at USTC this summer was a life‐changing experience, both
personally and professionally. Although I had done some brief traveling in the past
for vacations, this was my first time to Asia, and it was like nothing ever before.
Living in the city of Hefei for six weeks gave me the opportunity to really immerse
myself in the culture. After a busy work week at USTC, we stayed active every
weekend traveling to various destinations of China, which really gave me adifferent perspective of the way of life in this country so far from home. I met
many friends throughout my travels, some I hope to keep in touch with in the
future, and became very close with the fellow Lehigh students in my group.
Professionally, this internship was a huge learning experience for me. The language
barrier from Chinese to English was tough, and it became even more difficult in a
professional setting. The first few days were quiet, but the communication
between myself and my PhD student mentor improved drastically over the six
weeks we worked together. The research for my project gave me the opportunity
to learn and practice a relevant computer program, Abaqus/CAE, which I hope to
use in the future. By working around many USTC graduate students, I experienced
first hand what it’s like to conduct research for a graduate program in engineering,and the amount of time, effort, and dedication it takes to pursue such a degree. I
never thought I would travel to China prior to applying to this program, but it truly
was a once in a lifetime experience, and I hope to return in the future if I ever get
another opportunity to do so.
109

Chelsea Hipwell
China
College of Arts and Sciences
Molecular Biology

University of Science andTechnology of China (USTC)
Research InternCompany and Position Description:
The University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) was founded in 1958, and since its
founding has become one of the most well‐respected universities in China. Located in the cityof Hefei, USTC is well known for leading the way in technological and scientific advances, andprides itself on its rigorous academic programs. In our time there, we visited the National
Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory as well as other prominent research labs in multiple
departments.
As a research intern in an immunology lab in the life sciences department, I shadowed a PhD
candidate to learn how to run her experiments, as well as to understand the logic behind her
procedures. The focus of my lab was mechanisms of immunology, specifically involving NKT
cells. In the six weeks I spent there, I performed a few experiments on my own. I also readscientific literature and became more familiar with the field of immunology, as well as common
lab techniques, such as PCR and flow cytometry. My lab consisted of about fifteen graduate
students, almost all PhD candidates, who helped me to understand more about the field andguide me through my daily projects.
LEFT:
Preparing mouse spleencells for experiment

RIGHT:
Reading research
papers110

Chelsea Hipwell
China

View from the top of
Mausoleum of Dr. Sun
Yat‐Sen

Hiking on the Great Wallof China!

Value Derived from the Experience:
The exposure I gained from this experience has helped me grow in all areas of my life. Being in alab setting and interacting with graduate students taught me more about possible paths inhigher education, and I also grew to appreciate the value of studying abroad.
Getting to travel to a new city every weekend was incredible! I learned so much about Chinese
history, and my interest in the culture and language is something I will take with me everywhere.
I’ve become a much more curious person, and more willing to try new things. Living in Hefei
helped me to realize that I like cities, even though I used to say I wasn’t a “city person”. I loved
the access to events and entertainment and the large numbers of people to interact with – every
day was an adventure, and I learned to be more spontaneous in new situations.
Living in China, I began to think more about the possibility of living or studying abroad for asignificant amount of time in the future. For every new thing I learned, I became aware of somuch more that I didn’t know, through experiences as well as people’s stories. I want to go to
new places and continue learning and connecting with people around the world.
Living in China made me see possibilities for myself and my future that I never would haveimagined otherwise, and I know these are lessons that I’ll continue to learn and relearn weeks
and even years into the future.

111

Lauren Miller
China
College of Arts and Sciences
Astrophysics

University of Science andTechnology of China (USTC)
Research InternCompany and Position Description:
For my research internship, I was assigned to a position at the University of Science andTechnology of China, located in Hefei. USTC is a member of China’s Ivy League, the C9,and one of the top institutions in the country for research in the physical sciences. At
USTC, I was introduced to the process of reducing data and the creation/analyzation oflight curves of images taken by the Antarctic Bright Star Survey Telescope (BSST). My
time was mainly spent at the CAS Key Laboratory for Researches in Galaxies andCosmology, where I worked with both graduate and undergraduate students.
Additionally, a portion of my time was spent editing a scientific manuscript on the“Photoionization-Driven Variability of Absorption Lines in Balmer BAL Quasar
LBQS1206+1052”, which has since been sent for publication. I was successfully able toproduce a light curve for the transit of exoplanet HAT-P-12b. As a result, it is thedepartment’s hope that a collaboration can occur between Lehigh University and USTCin the future . During my time at USTC, I gained a new perspective on research within
the astrophysical sciences , including its dependence on knowledge of programming,and the importance of partnerships within the field .

Building that housed the CAS Key
Laboratory for Researches in the
Galaxies and Cosmology

At my desk in my office inthe Department of Physics
and Astronomy
112

Lauren Miller
China

Our group in front of the
Forbidden Palace in Beijing

Friendship Bridge in Hongcun
Village, located near the Yellow
Mountain Range

Value Derived from the Experience:
I never expected that my first internship would be abroad, over 7,300 miles from home. Initially, I was
hesitant. However, this was an opportunity that I knew would never present itself again. I will never regret
my decision to take a leap into unfamiliarity.
Professionally, my experience in China allowed me to grow greatly. This was my first exposure to researchin my field. To be placed in an environment that was entirely new, where the instructions encountered alanguage barrier, challenged my problem solving abilities and forced me to become a more independent
thinker. Additionally, within my lab, I learned a multitude of new skills, including manipulating code to
produce astrophysical data. This new knowledge will benefit me in my undergraduate career and beyond.
There were moments during my trip where I couldn’t believe that I was so far from my small hometown.
This feeling was not from an inability to accept the differences in my surroundings, or from homesickness.
Instead, it arose from a feeling of comfort. My initial culture shock wore away very fast. I assimilated quickly
into daily Chinese life. I felt confident enough to walk to the physics building by myself, while saying“Nihao” to morning passerby’s; I took mid afternoon naps, after a large lunch of a menagerie of dishes,
indulging myself in a world of delicious cuisine; I picked fresh fruit each morning from the small market on
campus; and I played ping pong with my peers. Our weekend cultural trips to Nanjing, Beijing, Huangshan,
and Shanghai further quenched my desire to explore my second home.
Most of all, the people- from the volunteers who were acting as ambassadors for USTC, to theadministration, to the cafeteria workers, to even those walking on the street- were all extremely kind,courteous, and welcoming, even though we looked far out of place and struggled to speak their language.
We enjoyed the culture with our Chinese peers by our side. They showed us around campus and taught
us a few words to survive. They were interested in our way of living just as much as we are interested inlearning about theirs. It was amazing to see how quickly a group of strangers became our friends, and I am
still in touch with many of them today.
This internship gave me the opportunity to learn and to expand my global perspective in China- a country
that I never thought that I would visit during my college years. I am looking forward to visiting China again
in the future!

113

Myrna Yehia
China
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Bioengineering

University of Science andTechnology of China (USTC)
Research InternCompany and Position Description:
Over the summer of 2016, I had the opportunity to complete a six week internship at the
University of Science and Technology of China. The school is located in Hefei, which is thecapital of Anhui province. It is one of the C9 colleges, or China’s Ivy league schools. I worked ina psychology lab in the School of Life Sciences under the supervision of Professor Zhang. The
lab mainly studied the effects of drugs, as well as various internet games, on brain function. My
research experience at the university consisted of three parts, all of which revolved aroundresearching the effects of smoking addictions, as well as their treatments. The first part of myproject included creating a matlab code that is divided into three parts. The code involved
collecting EEG data from the subjects first, analyzing it by creating an FFT and a bar graph, andfinally, a tCS device that when connected to the computer would initiate a stimulus based on
the threshold that was set in the code. Once that was completed, the cycle would start again
and a comparison of the data before and after the stimulus would be done. The main part of
my second project was collecting the data from the subjects and analyzing it. The subjects
consisted of smoking addicts and nonsmokers that would sit and watch videos with andwithout smoking cues. They then went through neurofeedback treatment and data wascollected again in order to examine the differences. During my stay I also helped proofread
three manuscripts, including a comparison between the diagnostic criteria of drug andbehavioral addictions, as well as two papers on the effect of the internet gaming disorder onbrain networks.

At my desk in Professor
Zhang’s Psychology lab

Our group at Tiananmen Square114

Myrna Yehia
China

The group of interns and ourvolunteer at The Great Wallof China

On the stairs leading to
the mausoleum of
Dr. Sun Yat‐Sen

Value Derived from the Experience:
Having successfully completed my summer internship and taken advantage of this opportunity, I
have undoubtedly broadened my perspective in my field and on the world. This internshipexperience has taught me how to adjust and adapt in a completely new country with a different
language and culture. Learning to adapt is an important skill that would be valuable not only for
traveling abroad, but it also allows you to become more flexible when it comes to adjusting to
new work places and job situations. It’s also a valuable skill to be able to communicate withpeople of a different background and not necessarily those who know the English language well;especially when considering that not everyone who you might work with in the future would
speak English as their first language.
Culturally, this international experience has been a great eye‐opener to how different the world
can really be. More importantly the fact that people may know very limited aspects aboutcertain countries, in this case China, that upon arrival everything they knew before is challenged
and ratified. For example, the fact that China is extremely diverse and contains many different
ethnic groups, including ones that take from middle eastern culture. Not only has this opened
my eyes to China, it has also taught me to keep an open mind about everything else whether it’strying new things or visiting different places.
As far as my academic research, I was able to work in an aspect of the field that I never had
exposure to before. Although it is still in my field of work, it was a branch that I probably would
not have been able to explore had I not taken part in this internship. Through the program, I wasable to build upon my research capabilities, in terms of working and figuring things out
independently, or learning about new research areas and methods. I have also been able todevelop my professional skills whether by meeting new people and networking, or simply getting
more practice presenting my work. I am grateful to have been given this opportunity. It has beena once in a lifetime experience that provided me with more than I expected to gain.
115

James Bausano
Costa Rica
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Chemical Engineering

Monteverde Conservation
LeagueStudent InternCompany and Position Description:
The Monteverde Conservation League (MCL) is a nonprofit organization that oversees thelargest private forest reserve in Costa Rica. It’s called the Children’s Eternal Rainforest,
shortened as the BEN from the rainforest’s Spanish name. In particular, I was working at themost accessible station of the forest, Bajo del Tigre. In this particular area, over 200,000
tourists visit annually. Nearby reserves attract upwards of 80,000 visitors per year, while themuch larger BEN averages around 7,000 visitors. Due to this disparity, which equates tountapped earning potential for the BEN, I was working for the MCL to mainly improve visitor
experience. This task involved enhancing social media for the BEN by creating new blog posts
and pictures, writing up trail signs to replace the old and nonexistent, physically maintaining
trails and their components, and also exploring the various sections of the reserve to takephotos and decide signage locations. I also participated in community outreach education on atleast three occasions. The Bajo del Tigre reserve office was a very close‐knit community, with
about ten employees that knew each other on a personal level.

Insert work photo
here (with small
caption below)

TOP: My coworkers and I at
the Bajo del Tigre reception
office. This is where I
prepared most of the blog
posts and social media
content to promote the BEN.

LEFT: In this picturefrom a community
outreach day, I am
teaching children how
to make recycled
paper from shredded
newspaper pulp.

116

James Bausano
Costa Rica

I made many local friends in
Costa Rica. These guys
worked at a nearby café. We
often spent free time hanging
out at their houses.

This is part of my hostfamily (about half of themembers) at a going‐away
dinner they held for me on
my last night in Costa Rica.

Value Derived from the Experience:
This experience has helped me develop personally in ways I never would have imagined. For one,my Spanish proficiency advanced to the point where I was able to think in the language, andeven began dreaming in it, too. I learned more week‐by‐week about the Spanish language in
Costa Rica than I learn in a semester of Spanish at school. This particular personal development
also translates as a professional skill that I will use for the rest of my life where Spanish is
spoken. In addition, I also developed personal skills regarding life lessons. For one, I learned toenjoy the slower way of life in Costa Rica. In turn, this lead to the development of my own
patience in certain situations. It’s difficult to explain, but learning to slow down helped me enjoy
the experience more altogether, in particular by taking away a great amount of stress from mylife. Lastly, one of the most important personal lessons I learned in Costa Rica was that money is
far from everything. Prior to arriving, I feel money was one of the main factors involved in my life
choices. Now, money is still of great importance to me, but I see very clearly that you can be
happy without it, and that money is not necessarily conducive to happiness. Spending thesummer in Costa Rica exposed me to a wide variety of new ideas and experiences.

117

Jocelin Gregorio Alarcon
Costa Rica
College of Arts and Sciences
Earth & Environmental Science

University of Georgia
Sustainable Development
InternCompany and Position Description:
The University of Georgia’s Costa Rican campus, located down the mountain from theMonteverde cloud forest reserve is at the forefront of Costa Rican conservation
research. Researchers of different disciplines congregate at UGA (as it is often referred
by locals) to engage in groundbreaking environmental research. During my time at
UGA, my Lehigh peer and I worked on various projects ranging from measuring canopy
closure to determine tropical forest carbon sequestering, to measuring methane
production potential for biodigesters as a renewable energy source. In addition, we
assisted other naturalists in gathering data on campus bird window strike collisions andalso contributed to butterfly conservation with lead Costa Rican butterfly expert Jose
Montero in capturing and mounting butterflies for future research.

Bird Strike Project‐ Gathering data on
death of an Emerald Toucanet with
UGA’s Head Naturalist Martha Cruz.
Butterfly Project‐ Mounting
butterflies for preservation.

118

Jocelin Gregorio Alarcon
Costa Rica

Rainy hike at theMonteverde Cloud
Biosphere Reserve.

Visit to Volcano
Irazu in Cartago,
Costa Rica.

Value Derived from the Experience:
My experience as a Sustainable Development Intern at University of Georgia in Costa
Rica helped me better understand Latin American environmental conservation efforts.
The skills I learned in this internship compliment my current studies in Sustainable
Development, Latin American Studies, and Earth and Environmental Science. In
addition, this internship was a great network opportunity for me to meet otherenvironmental enthusiasts and provide me with contacts to conduct future research in
Latin America.
In addition, to researching at University of Georgia, I had the opportunity to travel todifferent parts of Costa Rica on the weekends and partake in different cultural andecological activities such as visiting the Jade Museum in San Jose, Costa Rica andobserving volcano craters at the Irazu volcano national park.
Overall, this research opportunity allowed me to learn things that I otherwise would nothave been able to learn in the classroom or lab. I was able to cater to my interests andlearn more about topics that I know will be most beneficial in my future career as an
Environmental Scientist specializing in Latin America. I recommend this internship to
students interested in applying their interdisciplinary skills to environmental conservation
research in environmental studies or science.

119Kianna Lauck
Costa Rica
IDEAS

Osa Conservation
Tree InternCompany and Position Description:
The Osa Conservation is a non-profit organization on the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica.
Of the many components of conservation efforts conducted here, I worked primarily
with the Forestry program. As an intern, I helped with the maintenance and tracking of avariety of native tree species that have been planted in around the area in a effort topromote the establishment of secondary forest. To do this, I helped record and track thegrowth and mortality rates. This was accomplished by hiking out to the plots designatedby GPS coordinates, finding and identifying the different trees by plaque number andspecies, and recording the new heights, health, and any additional notes related toregeneration, reseeding, mortality, etc. All this information was then sent to the Forest
Engineer we worked with, Mauricio Alfaro Rodriguez, where it is being integrated into
the continuous database. Here it will further enhance the forest data, trends, and beable to develop recommendations for future techniques and practices to mosteffectively aid in the regrowth of Costa Rica’s natural forests.

My internship partner, Sarah
Stern, working with our in theplots to locate, measure, andrecord information

The tree nursery where seeds
are grown and mature before
being planted into the earth

120

Kianna Lauck
Costa Rica

A beach at the ManuelAntonio National park ‐‐ecotourism is very big in
Costa Rica

One of the markets withfresh, local, Costa Rican
fruit

Value Derived from the Experience:
Being a part of the reforestation efforts of the Osa Conservation offered countless
opportunities for growth -- both personally and professionally. I was completely immersedin the program, working rain or shine, with people who have completely devoted theirlives to the growth and regeneration of the forest. It was amazing to see this unwavering
passion, to work alongside someone who is so connected with the life all around. It wasalso an amazing opportunity personally to get my hands dirty, and work hands on withthe trees that so small now will grow to huge canopies overhead years from now. It isamazing to be a part of creating the home of 2.5% of the world’s biodiversity. The
language barrier I encountered also presented the opportunity to continuously test my
comfort zone, and showed me the amazing potential we as humans have tocommunicate beyond the limitations of language and spoken words. I was exposed to
new foods, cultures, and academic ambitions, and saw firsthand the bigger picture andapplication of what my peers and I learn in the classroom. It was a spectacularexperience, rich with opportunity to struggle and learn and step out of my comfort zone
and integrate what I know and have learned at Lehigh with the physical world of the Osa
Peninsula of Costa Rica.

121

Christy Li
Costa Rica
College of Arts and Sciences
Earth and Environmental
Sciences

UGA Costa Rica
Lehigh InternCompany and Position Description:
UGA Costa Rica is located in San Luis, Costa Rica, within the Monteverde Cloud
Forest. It is one of the international campuses owned by the University of Georgia. It
primarily provides support for study abroad programs, researchers and tourists, with a
mission of understanding the relationship between the human and the environmental
system. I have worked on four different projects with another Lehigh intern during mytime at UGA Costa Rica, Including:●●●●

Measured canopy closure on campus trials and permanent reforested plot using
densiometer.
Conducted bird observations and searched for bird casualties from window
strikes for bird strike project in collaboration with Monteverde Naturalist, Martha
Garro Cruz.
Worked with Costa Rican butterfly expert, Jose Montero, in capturing andmounting butterflies for butterfly conservation.
Assisted in conducting biodigester experiment by measuring biogas andmethane productions.

Collecting dead Clay‐colored thrush into bag

Taking biogas measurement
122Christy Li
Costa Rica

Beach day at Manuel Antonio

Coffee tour

Value Derived from the Experience:
This opportunity explored the other parts in Environmental Science that are not majorly
focused on in the Earth and Environmental Sciences department and major. As a result, I
have expanded my views to other aspects of conservation and sustainability of theenvironment. The experience has also given me a chance to better understand the Costa
Rican culture and lifestyle by staying with a host family. By doing so, I have truly
immersed myself into the local practices and culture.

123

Kira Gobes
Czech Republic
IDEAS
Computer Science Engineering and
DesignInclusio o.p.s.
Intern for Social Inclusion

Company and Position Description:
Inclusio works towards the social inclusion of the Roma people in the Czech Republicthrough a variety of education equity initiatives. I first strived to gain understanding forthe education equity issues in the context of the Czech Republic, and how the Romaare affected by them. As an intern for Inclusio, and with the rest of my team as a part ofthis program, we decided to focus on working towards changing the attitudes of thosearound us- both in the US and internationally. We are releasing our game, PlotTwist, on
the iPhone App Store. PlotTwist gamifies these issues we have encountered in a subtle
way to start to get people thinking about how diversity and social inclusion affect us all.
As an IDEAS major in Computer Science Engineering and Design, I have been working
on developing the app.

Our team at the US Embassy in Prague

Working on the game

124

Kira Gobes
Czech Republic

In front of the John
Lennon WallOn the Charles Bridge atsunriseValue Derived from the Experience:
My Iacocca Internship was the most engaging, incredible opportunity I have everexperienced. Aside from the amazing opportunity to travel abroad, I learned more about
myself, teamwork, ethnic and racial issues, about Computer Science, and so much morethan I could have ever imagined. This experience allowed me to dive into racial andethnic issues in a context that I knew nothing about previously. Seeing the complexity ofthese topics first-hand was eye-opening, and gave me greater insight into both Czech
and US settings. I got the chance to explore meaningful, real solutions, and makeconnections internationally. I have interests in so many diverse fields, and had been
struggling to find where they all intersected. Through my internship and work, I’ve beenable to discover paths that allow me to combine my love of technology with my desire forsocial change.

125

Prarthna Johri
The Czech RepublicCollege of Business and Economics
Marketing and Supply Chain
Management

ROMEA
Summer InternCompany and Position Description:
This internship involves a two-week internship with a nongovernmental organization that
supports the Roma people. ROMEA is an online media company that produces articles
of Roma interests, as well as a magazine called Roma Soul, a website that connects
Roma with available job opportunities, a TV station and radio station and works with theRoma Education Fund to provide stipends to Roma students.
During this time, students will have the opportunity to write articles for ROMEA. The
topics are open ended, with previous interns writing about Roma perception in Science
Fiction or what it’s like to be a tourist in the Czech Republic. The student will also help
out with daily tasks around the office.
Other NGOs where past students have interned include Inclusio, Open Society, andSlovo.
Following the two-week internship, the student will rejoin their team to create acalculated action to work towards educational equity. The knowledge and resources
they amassed in the work portion of the experience should help with the more open
ended part of the experience.

Helping ROMEA get
their new officein order!

The beginning of a calculated
action – in our case, a mobile
game application!
126

Prarthna Johri
The Czech Republic

At the American Center,
US Embassy in Prague

Value Derived from the Experience:
This project has expanded my horizons in so many ways. Beginning with the experience in a new
country, I was very lost without any knowledge of the language. Even the most basic of things,
such as getting to the hostel, was initially difficult. However, six weeks in, I could tell you exactly
what many words of the Metro and Tram meant, and how to get anywhere. This is an invaluable
skill.
Furthermore, from day one, I was told that I’d be working for a news company, despite being abusiness student with little experience in Journalism. Throughout the internship however, I
became passionate about the articles I was writing and the process of “research and write andedit” that went into it. I was exposed to Photoshop and website design, skills which I had neverused before but now can use fairly fluently.
Most of all, the research I did for this internship has changed my perspective in many ways. It‘seasy to think that the U.S. has figured out their segregation issues and continue on with our days
– however, many schools remain segregated and were never fully desegregated. It is even easierto cite programs such as Every Child Succeeds or its parent, the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act, but after studying both documents and the many versions in between the two, it
is clear that there are issues in regards to dispersal of funding, reliability of check‐ins, and more.
In the Czech Republic, it is far worse. The Roma only recently began their fight for equality. Theirequivalent of Brown v. Board of Education took place in the mid 2000’s – the measure todesegregate schools is still in process.
All this information has made me want to pursue a profession in the non‐governmental sector,
so that I can continue attempting to change the system that perpetuates inequality andoppression.

127

Minh Binh Nguyen
Czech RepublicCollege of Business and Economics
Finance/Business Information
Systems

Inclusio o.p.s.
Open Society Research InternCompany and Position Description:
Our entire internship was focused on the development of a calculated action that
promotes awareness on educational equity for the Roma, who are severely
discriminated against throughout Czech Republic. During the first two weeks, I worked
as a research intern for Open Society, a NGO located right in the center of Prague that
focuses on promoting an equitable society through the use of public data sharing.
Specifically, I spent five hours per work day doing intensive research on social rental
agencies and revising a proposal for funding to the U.S embassy on the topic of police
corruption due to indebtedness. Alongside, I worked with my team to find out what havebeen the causes that prevent the Roma people from mingling into society, tried to find a
calculated action that would hopefully bring out the best result (which eventually turned
into an educational mobile game) and spent our last two weeks putting our idea into
motion by working on separate parts of the developing process i.e. market research,content development, game character sketch, et cetera.

Our meeting with Jarmilla, thespokesperson of Ministry of Youth
Education and Sports

Moving towards the last stage:
Game development128

Minh Binh Nguyen
Czech Republic

Visiting John Lennon Wall –a symbol of peace in Prague

A glimpse of Malostranske Namesti– part of the liveliest part in the city

Value Derived from the Experience:
To me, the Iacocca Internship in Prague that I was lucky to be a part of is a life‐changing
experience. It opens my mind and my heart to a realm of life that I never thought I would sparemuch thought about, a realm that needs more attention as it is so widespread that it plagues thegrowth of our society. As a business student, I am mainly exposed to things that revolve aroundthe world’s economy, financial institutions, the physical and materialistic good of our people andso on; social discrimination happens, but I had never had the chance to take an in‐depth look
into the matter, always convincing myself that this problem is so deep‐rooted in the history ofhuman kind that there would be no effective cures. This internship, however, forced me to thinkfurther and think outside of the box, stepping out of my comfort zone to deal with thediscrimination problem as a catalyst for change. I realized that I can’t make a change if I don’tchoose to experience any changes myself, and I did thanks to all my experiences in Prague.
Professionally saying, I have also learned a lot of things, ranging from research skill, ability to use
Photoshop to work ethics. In addition, I was fortunate to have an all‐star team who always
supported me professionally and emotionally when I got confused or overwhelmed at any stageof my internship; we lived, ate, slept, hung out and shared things with each other. All in all, I had
a great time in Prague and would not trade this meaningful time for any other summer.

129

Emma Stevenson
Czech RepublicCollege of Arts and Sciences
International Relations/Economics

Inclusio o.p.s.
Intern for Social Inclusion

Organization and Position Description:
Inclusio o.p.s. is a non‐profit organization based in Prague that focuses on
inclusion for minorities in the Czech Republic. There is a special focus on
education for young Roma students. The Roma have long been discriminatedagainst and excluded from society all over Europe. Inclusio is passionate about
promoting equitable and inclusive learning for all. It runs an after‐school program
called Imagion that operates in a low‐income basic school in Prague. Students
from all racial and ethnic backgrounds learn in an innovated and creative way,
creating an inclusive and diverse learning environment. The work I did for Inclusio
included searching for funding sources, setting up a crowd‐funding campaign for
Imagion, and writing content for the English website, which was also translated
into Czech. My team and I also created a collaborative project which turned into agame application for the iPhone to promote inclusion and diversity. At the end of
the 6 weeks, we presented our research to the American Embassy in Prague.

At the U.S. Embassy

Visiting Imagion
130Emma Stevenson
Czech Republic

At the John Lennon WallTerezín Concentration Camp“Work sets you free”

Value Derived from the Experience:
This experience helped me become more culturally aware of minorities in othercountries. I didn’t even know who the Roma were before going to Europe. Now, I
can see the misconceptions of Roma all over media, music, and movies in the
United States. It is no wonder why people here aren’t aware of who the Roma are
and how they have been mistreated for generations. Every country has minority
conflicts, and it was interesting to learn about the problems that exist in Europe. It
was extremely fascinating to be in a former communist country and learn about
the history up close. I saw how communism still has a lasting impact on society in
the Czech Republic. I also came back with a newfound passion for educational
equity. Of course, it was something I have thought about, but I now am far moreaware of how education can both create and break down barriers. I want to do all I
can to make sure people get an equitable chance to obtain the education they
deserve.

131

Katie Barr
Tübingen, Germany
College of Arts and Sciences
Global Studies/German

University of Tübingen
Refugee Course Planning AssistantOrganization and Position Description:
As a Refugee Course Planning Assistant, work occurred mainly in an office settingat the University of Tübingen, under the direction of Dr. Christine Rubas of theExpert Comittee of Refugee Coordination. Dr. Rubas is overseeing the creation of
new courses for refugees at the University which are meant to increase refugees‘
language proficiency and cultural competence before enrolling at the University.
Work as the Course Planning Assistant included, but was not limited to: reviewing
applications, scheduling and helping conduct interviews, reaching out to refugees
with information regarding the courses, creating social media platforms, andorganizing course materials. Occasional assignments were completed outside of
the office, such as updating social media and searching for refugee housing.
Other work, such as meeting with refugees to improve English language skills andthe implementation of an English‐speaking pen pal program, was completed
voluntarily outside of the internship.

Searching for housing for refugees
participating in the University’s courses

Barbecue with supervisor Christine
Rubas and family

132

Katie Barr
Tübingen, Germany

Hiking in the nearby town of
Bad Urach

Riding a Stockerkahn on the
Neckar River in Tübingen

Value Derived from the Experience:
My internship experience in Tübingen, Germany helped me to grow in ways I never
expected. Professionally, the exposure to jobs related to both of my majors(German and Global Studies) provided perspective on future career options. It
also allowed me to work both in an office setting and directly with refugees toassess their needs.
Personally, living in Tübingen connected me with incredible people and many newcultures. Many Germans welcomed us into their homes and shared theirtraditions. Our supervisor made Tübingen feel especially like home by constantly
inviting us to lunches, ice cream, and movies and telling us that we could think ofher as our “host mom.” Another woman who studies in Tübingen but lives in Rio
became like family after she invited us to her home for traditional Brazilian food.
In addition, I spent some of my free time helping a Syrian refugee with his English.
This was a truly eye‐opening experience, as I learned about his home country, theincredible obstacles he had overcome, and how the adversity he faced motivatedhim in his studies in Germany. I am so thankful for the kindness of the people in
Tübingen. A German friend of ours told us something we all found to be entirely
true: “Germans are like coconuts. They’re hard on the outside, but once you crack
them, they’re so sweet.”133Juan Palacio Moreno
Germany
College of Arts and Sciences
Political Science

University of Tübingen
Refugee Course Planning AssistantCompany and Position Description:
The Expert Commission of Refugee Coordination, under the leadership of Professor Christine
Rubas and Vice Rector Karin Amos, was responsible for coordinating all refugee‐related
activities at the University of Tübingen. During my time interning for the Expert Commission, I
was responsible for the administration of Tübingen University’s inaugural Refugee Course I and
II. These responsibilities included but were not limited to: drafting emails to refugees anduniversity officials in German and English, scheduling interviews with refugees and the Expert
Commission, corresponding directly with refugees via phone and face‐to‐face interactions,providing valuable feedback during interviews with candidates for the course, and creating asocial media platform where accepted refugee students could interact with one another alongwith their peer mentors. Although not listed in our responsibilities, we reached out to incoming
refugee students to offer assistance in finding housing for the school year in Tübingen, andestablished a partnership with the Refugee Club at Lehigh where students at the University of
Tubingen could practice English via a pen pal at Lehigh.

Designing posters to
help refugees findhousing.

Binders containing the information offifty refugee students enrolled in the
refugee course. There were over 100
highly qualified applicants.

134

Juan Palacio Moreno
Germany“Punting” down the
Neckar River in Tübingen

On top of the clock towerin MunichValue Derived from the Experience:
My experience in Germany proved extremely formative both personally and professionally. Living
in a country where I did not speak the language proved disorientating, but I adapted to theenvironment and helped my fellow coworkers adjust. The independence of being away fromhome also proved seminal, especially in regards to budgeting my funds throughout the sevenweeks. The internship itself required a great deal of self motivation and professional creativity.
When we arrived in Germany our initial task was to educate ourselves about the refugee
situation in Tübingen. This required us to reach out to university officials and government
leaders, which sharpened our networking skills and improved our interviewing techniques. Afterthe information‐gathering process, we reached out to local agencies to offer our services, andcollaborated with these agencies to develop a strategic plan that incorporated our strengths tothe agency’s needs. Another intern and I ended up working for Tübingen University’s Expert
Commission, and specialized in coordinating the University’s refugee course. Through theCommission we were able to meet individuals whose harrowing life journeys compelled us tocommit ourselves to the development of the refugee course. Personally, my interaction withthese awe‐inspiring individuals reinforced my professional call to some type of public advocacy
work in the field of law or government. Despite the initial ragtag nature of the internship, it
ultimately proved profoundly formative and galvanizing.

135

Samantha Randall
Germany
College of Arts and Science
University of Tübingen
English/Political Science
Refugee Course Planning AssistantOrganization and Position Description:
The Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen is a large university located in thehistoric town Tübingen in the Swabian region of Baden‐Württemberg in southern
Germany. My internship was run through the Tübingen‐Lehigh International
Partnership, TuLIP. Along with the three other Iacocca students, I worked withmembers of the University, both staff and faculty, as well as some Tübingencommunity members to learn more about the refugee situation in that area ofGermany specifically. I met with many different people involved in refugee
capacity building activities and helped to bring together their work and figure out
what is still needed in Tübingen to make the town as refugee friendly as possible.
I helped mainly with the University’s new refugee course in helping interview
hopefuls, create documents, and other odd jobs that required assistance.

Working with the
University, we helped tolearn how to makerefugees feel welcomein the town and college.

136

Samantha Randall
Germany

Value Derived from the Experience
I can say without any doubts that I am truly thankful I was given the opportunity totake part in an Iacocca Internship in the quaint city of Tübingen, Germany. By
participating in this internship, I had the opportunity to really push out of mycomfort zone and gain some valuable life skills. Going into this internship, I wasvery limited in my travel experience and I feel that it gave me the footing I need tounderstand how to travel successfully in the future. I was given the chance to diveheadfirst into completely unfamiliar surroundings and I feel I learned many
important lessons on how to adapt to a culture different from my own.
Professionally, I feel that working with the other interns in my group and being
exposed to so many different work styles was quite beneficial for my professional
future. What I see as my main takeaway from my Iacocca experience, was what I
was able to learn about myself. The Iacocca program is unique in that it reallysends students into the world and pushes them to discover themselves. I learned
how to ask for help when I need it, have fun in the most unfamiliar of places, andto just plain enjoy the opportunities I am lucky enough to be given and theexperience I gain from them! I will most definitely be using what I learned from my
Iacocca Internship in my future life, both personally and professionally!
137

Juliana Young
Germany
College of Arts and Sciences
Molecular Biology/German

University of Tübingen
Intern for Refugee
Capacity Building

Company and Position Description:
Although we were not assigned to a specific organization, my project depended
on the close involvement of various departments in Tübingen University, such as
the Dept. of Islamic Studies. We first assessed the refugee situation in Tübingen
and the university and local efforts being put forth to help. Originally, we
discussed forming a new club or university organization to help the refugee
situation in the city, but, after discovering the numerous programs already indevelopment there, we put our efforts into helping the people involved in theseprojects. During this time my colleagues and I began to seek out our own specificproject in which we could assist, and I began volunteering with the AmBiD which
was a new University tandem language program that would teach medical
students Arabic and their refugee partners German. One of my main duties there
was to translate their German brochure into English so that English‐speaking
refugees could learn about the program. Overall, I researched this specificGerman city’s approach to the refugee situation and helped build‐up theuniversity’s existing programs.

Work lunch meeting incity center

Working at Café Ludwigs
in lieu of an office138

Juliana Young
Germany

Brandenburg Gate
Marienburg Castle

Value Derived from the Experience:
As a German major this experience was invaluable for my academic growth, since I
frequently utilized my German skills in everyday life, as well as professionally, since
I sat in on many meetings and wrote many emails in German. I also was fortunate
enough to go to several German cities during my free time such as Berlin, a citythat I took an entire German course on in the fall of 2015.
This internship was also important for my personal growth. It was the first timethat I did not have consistent access to prepared meals or my cell phone. As aresult, I became a very good cook, frequenting the local bakeries and famers
markets that are not as abundant in America, and I experienced the freeing effects
of not having a cell phone.
However, the most important thing I took away from my internship were thepeople I met. I was inspired by my perceived resilience of the refugees I got toknow personally. I had political debates with Germans, and I had passionate
discussions with a family from Scotland about the impact and their feelings on
Brexit.
This internship allowed me to get away from the bubble I have at my home andschool in the Lehigh Valley, and I discover a new way of living and thinking. I grew
professionally and academically, and I was in Europe during a historical time. I amvery grateful and hope to continue refugee work and my study of German
throughout my Lehigh and future careers.
139

Xavier Cousens
Ghana
College of Arts and Sciences
Anthropology

University of Ghana, Legon
Research InternCompany and Position Description:
Our program and our research were centered on the “Sites of Memory.” The“Sites” in our case, being 3 slave castles/forts that were used during theTransatlantic Slave Trade. Much of our time was spent using the facilities at the
University of Ghana and W.E.B Du Bois center in order to get valuable and easily
accessible information. We also had the fortunate opportunity to sit in on
lectures by professors at the University of Ghana and Ashesi University.
The most important part of our research however, was actually visiting the “Sites
of Memory.” We were able to see and physically be in these historic and tragic
areas that we had been learning about. We created a group project centered on
our experience at the sites, and we also completed individual projects catered
more to our specific areas of interest.

Insert work photo
here (with small
caption below)

Alexis and Tamara talking toProfessor Essien about an upcoming
lectureInsert work photo
here (with small
caption below)

Closely listening to Professor Nana
Akua Anyidoho discuss genderdevelopment in Ghana
140

Xavier Cousens
Ghana

Students enjoying the beach in
Pram Pram

Hanging out with some local
filmmakers shooting a joint
Ghanaian and Nigerian movie

Value Derived from the Experience:
It is hard to describe the lasting effects of my time researching in Ghana due to theshort time between the end of it and now. However, I can say with assurance that I
have grown professionally. As a person studying anthropology and as someone
who wants to use and apply ethnographic research in a practical sense, thisexperience was very important. It opened my eyes to not only subjects/topics thatare underrepresented in the current education system, but also the difficulties
that come with conducting research in an entirely new environment.
Personally, I believe I have grown immensely. Being in a country with a vastlydifferent lifestyle than I’m used to with people that I don’t know for 6 weeks hastaught me how to adapt. While there may be some foods I don’t like or situations
where I don’t know how to act, I have learned how to make the best of mysituation and find comfort in the unfamiliar.

141

Alexis Haggert
GhanaCollege of Business andEconomics
Accounting

University of Ghana, Legon
Research InternCompany and Position Description:
There were two components to my research in Ghana. The first was a groupproject about the Sites of Memory. The Sites of Memory are slave castles andforts found along the coast of Ghana. The three we visited were Fort St. Anthonyin Axim, St. George’s Castle in Elmina, and Cape Coast Castle. For our groupproject, we provided our individual thoughts on visiting the sites, and comparedand contrasted various aspects of each castle/fort. We presented our findings to
our program leader, Dr. Kwame Essien, a University of Ghana, Legon professor, Dr.
Samuel Aniegye Ntewusu, and our peers.
Our individual research topics had to be related in some way to either the Sites ofMemory or Pan‐Africanism. My topic was about how gender roles impacted theexperiences of men and women in slavery. Much of my research came from thevisits to the slave castles and fort. The rest of my research was done at theInstitute of African Studies Library at the University of Ghana, Legon and the
W.E.B. Du Bois Center.

Cape Coast Castle

Institute of African Studies
at the University of
Ghana, Legon

142

Alexis Haggert
Ghana

Enjoying the view from themountains above Accra

Boats lined up on the shore at Prampram

Value Derived from the Experience:
During my internship, I grew so much as a person professionally, academically, andpersonally. Professionally, my experience in Ghana allowed me to network withpeers and professors that I never would have met outside of this program. Every
person came from a different background and had different reasons for coming to
Ghana. Because of this diversity, we were able to have incredibly insightful
conversations that I took a lot out of.
Academically, my research allowed me to explore my interests in history andanthropology. Because of my major, I don’t often get the opportunity to takeclasses in those fields at Lehigh. Plus, there is no better place to do research about
the transatlantic slave trade than Ghana. Being able to visit the slave castles andsee the history in person made the research really impactful for me.
On a personal level, my experience was greatly enriched by the culture of Ghana
and the people I met there. Ghanaian culture is so unlike the culture of the UnitedStates. Many parts of the culture initially challenged me, but those obstacles
pushed me to develop new skills and perspectives on life. Every day in Ghana
provided me with an opportunity to learn something new whether the lessoncame from a peer, a professor, a local Ghanaian, or even myself. It was reallyfulfilling to see how far I had come after only six weeks in Ghana. At the beginning,
I was so unsure about everything. By the end of the trip, I knew Accra very welland felt almost like a local. Ghana is truly an amazing place and I’m so thankful I
got to spend my summer there.
143

Tamara Jones
Ghana
College of Arts and Sciences
Psychology/Sociology/
Africana Studies

University of Ghana, Legon
Research InternCompany and Position Description:
Sites of Memory is basically self-explanatory. We are exploring the sites in
Ghana that are important to the history of both Africans and African
descendants in the diaspora such as those in the Americas and the
Caribbean. So we visit places such as St. George’s Castle in Elmina andCape Coast Castle in Cape Coast. We also explored the importance of
Pan-Africanism to Ghana’s history, so we also visited places such as the
W.E.B. Du Bois Center and the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum andmuseum. Much of our research was conducted at the castles and forts andthe Du Bois Center as well the Univeristy of Ghana, Legon.

LEFT:
The Kwame
Nkrumah
Mausoleum
RIGHT:
the Kwame
Nkrumah Institute ofAfrican Studies

144

Tamara Jones
Ghana

Making of the Kente cloth

A part of the Makola Market

Value Derived from the Experience:
As an African-American who can only trace their ancestral African roots
back to cotton plantations in Arkansas and Mississippi, it was a very
emotional and spiritual experience that I would never trade for anything. I
had gone into Ghana, not only to do research, but in some hopes of finding
some remnants of my African roots, with this idea in my head that maybe I’dfeel truly at home. And I did. Ghana welcomed me with open arms,
acknowledging that I am American but also affirming that I am still African in
heritage. It was amazing to revel in my blackness without retribution, to wear
my afro without worrying about sticking out so much that someone wants topet me like a dog. All of the anxieties that I felt on a daily basis in the U.S.
just melted away in Ghana, as I wasn’t weary of the fact that I am black. In
the same token, it affirmed my identity as a black African American. I neverfelt more American in my life than when I was in Ghana, and in experiencing
what it felt like to be able to love everything about myself I became evenmore proud of my African-American heritage. I came back to America moresure of who and what I am as a person and more in love with my history, allof my history, than I have ever been.
145

Jennie Barrella
IrelandP.C Rossin College of Engineering
And Applied Science
Mechanical Engineering

National University of Ireland,
GalwayResearch InternCompany and Position Description:
While in Ireland I assisted with research in the biomedical engineering
department at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Galway is a central hub
for bioengineering, which permits the school to work closely with the many
companies in the area. The University assists in every part of the engineering
process, from initial design input to prototype testing.
I worked with finite element analysis software called Abaqus to design a medical
device called a Grommet, a small device that can be inserted into the ear torelieve pressure. The grommet was still in the beginning of it’s development
phase, and I worked on modeling the initial design . I was also able to work withanother company at the end of the development process using a software called
imageJ. With imageJ I was able to check the distribution of particles in a new
medical screw, to see if the new prototype was up to medical standards.

Dissecting hearts in thelab at NUIG

Mechanical engineering
workshop in the engineeringbuilding of NUIG
146

Jennie Barrella
Ireland

Exploring the outskirts ofKylemore Abbey

Downtown Galway

Value Derived from the Experience:
Living abroad was a large adjustment from my experiences at Lehigh, andallowed me to experience what life will be like post graduation. The work I did
was different from a job I would likely stay at in the future, however it exposed
me to the different types of jobs available in my field. As a mechanicalengineer, there are many different types of areas to pursue. The research I
performed was mostly in the design area, which allowed me to see thebeginning of the research and development process.
This internship was a valuable experience, both personally and professionally.
It allowed me to form connections with different biomechanical professionals
at the university, and gave me access to new types of software that will be
helpful in future classes at Lehigh as well as in any job I pursue post
graduation.

147

Daniella Fodera
Ireland
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Bioengineering

National University of Ireland,
GalwayResearch InternCompany and Position Description:
This past summer, I was given the unique opportunity to intern at the National
University of Ireland, Galway for a period of ten weeks. Under the supervision ofProfessor Laoise McNamara, I was able to gain hands‐on experience withlaboratory practices related to bioengineering, specifically mechanobiology.
Having worked directly with a post‐doc on research related to osteoporosis, I
learned important techniques related to mammalian cell culture of MC3T3 cells,
osteoblast precursors derived from mice. From these samples, I was able toanalyze my results by performing vinculin staining, RNA extraction, cDNA
synthesis and several assays including DNA quantification, calcium quantification,
ALP, and NO. In addition to this project, I had the opportunity to dissect a lamb’s
heart and rat, perform mechanical tensile testing, run flow experiments with aparallel plate bioreactor, and use Mimics software to extract a 3D image of anaortic root from patient CT scans.

LEFT:
Micropipetting samples for
ALP assay

RIGHT:
Dissecting a lamb’s heart formechanical testing148

Daniella Fodera
Ireland

Explored thedeserted Menlo
Castle located on theRiver Corrib

View of the Giant’s
Causeway inNorthern Ireland

Value Derived from the Experience:
In terms of personal and professional development, this internship was incredibly
beneficial. I was given the wonderful opportunity to work with smart andmotivated researchers in my field of interest. Not only did I gain a variety oflaboratory‐based techniques through independent hands‐on research, but I also
made key professional connections which will aid me in all my future endeavors.
This experience has given me keen insight into inner workings of academic
research and has validated my desire to pursue a PhD in bioengineering.
By spending an entire summer immersed in the Irish culture whilst in Galway, I
have developed the maturity and independence which has allowed me to grow asa person. All in all, this unforgettable experience has had an enormous impact on
my life and has ignited my desire to travel the world.

149

Ellie Houck
Ireland
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Bioengineering

National University of Ireland,
GalwayResearch InternCompany and Position Description:
This past summer, I was grateful to have had the opportunity to work as a research intern in the
Bioengineering Program at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Myself and three other
Lehigh students worked with masters and PhD students on their innovative research projects. I
worked in the Mechanobiology laboratory of Dr. Patrick McGarry. Specifically, I was assigned towork alongside a masters student completing a thesis on the fracture properties of corticalbone and prediction of femoral fracture risk during hip replacement surgery. Through thishands‐on, learning based experience I took away a variety of skills. I learned how to prepare
biological tissue samples for mechanical testing, and was trained on a variety of machinery. I
performed three‐ and four‐ point bending tests to determine the mechanical properties andfracture mechanics of bovine cortical bone. Additionally, I mimicked hip replacement surgery
through inserting a machined hip implant into bovine femur samples using compression testingmachinery. Finally, I put together a research report which showcased the research I performed
and the results obtained in a professional manner.

Preparing bovine femoral
samples for mechanical testing.

Insertion of machined hip implant into
bovine femur using Instron 4467
compression testing machinery.
150Ellie Houck
Ireland

The Long Walk located at the end ofshop street in Galway.

Cliffs of Moher located in
County Clare, Ireland.

Value Derived from the Experience:
I am very thankful for the experience I was given through the Iacocca International
Internship Program. I have never traveled outside of the United States before andthis program gave me the opportunity to spend ten weeks living in the beautiful
city of Galway, Ireland while getting professional experience in my chosen field ofstudy, bioengineering. Not only did I learn a number of technical skills and gain
professional experience, I also learned a lot about myself living on my own inanother country for the first time. Being immersed into a new culture, I had tolearn how to adapt and thrive in a completely new environment. I accepted thechallenge and grew much more independent through this experience.
From a professional standpoint, the hands‐on experience I was given through thisinternship allowed me to gain a great deal of knowledge and skills that will be very
useful to me in my future career. This research experience has allowed me to gain
confidence in the lab, as I am now more confortable performing protocols on myown and communicating my results in a professional manner. My time in Ireland
has served as a crucial building block in my personal and professional growth and I
look forward to utilizing the skills I have taken away from this experience to help
me succeed in the future.
151

Angel Rollo
Ireland
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Bioengineering

National University of Ireland,
GalwayResearch InternCompany and Position Description:
I was working in the Bioscience building at the National University of Ireland,
Galway. I was assigned to a project under principal investigator, Dr. Manus Biggs.
The goal of my experiment was to create hollow PEDOT (a conducting polymer)
nanospheres in order to deposit these spheres onto a Platinum coated film. To
create the spheres, I used equipment such as a sonication bath and centrifuge
and followed a procedure created by the PhD student that I was working with. To
analyze these spheres, I was able to use and learn about technologies such as
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), andscanning electron microscope (SEM). I coated films with Platinum using a splutter
coater and used a Potentiostat to deposit the spheres onto the films. The next
step of the project was to do an elution study or to measure the amount of drug
released from these hollow spheres. By using a multiwell spectrometer, I was able
to measure the amount of drug released over 7 days. Upon my request, I wasable to dissect a rat to extract its spinal cord and to learn how to use a tensile
testing machine to test different types of materials. I also assisted the other
Iacocca Interns with a heart dissection to mechanically test the different types oftissues in the heart.

Spinal cord extracted
from an adult rat

Image of hollow PEDOT
nanospheres from an SEM
microscope152

Angel Rollo
IrelandGalway Bay

Cloudy day on a day trip to
the Cliffs of Moher

Value Derived from the Experience:
This internship helped me academically because I was able to learn and use a lot ofdifferent types of technologies and equipment that I most likely would not use
while at Lehigh. Since I was assigned to a specific project, I was able to learn about
the process of being a researcher. This project made me realize that research is a
lot of trial and error and that it takes a lot of patience to obtain a desired result. It
was interesting to experience a shared lab environment with about 30‐40 people
all working in one lab, and I am thankful for how helpful everyone in the lab waswhenever I had questions. Overall, this was a good experience because it helped
me to realize that research may not be the best career path for me. However, I do
not regret taking this opportunity because it helped me to learn more about
myself and my interests. I also enjoyed getting to meet and make connections withother students in my lab from talking to them or watching them perform certain
techniques. While I was appreciative to be assigned to a project, I was alsointerested in learning things that may not be related to my project. After speaking
with my advisor, he was completely willing to help me do the things that I wanted
to do. Therefore, one of the most important things I have learned is to takeinitiative. From a personal standpoint, this internship experience really pushed me
outside of my comfort zone. I was nervous to be by myself in a different country
for so long, but I feel that I was able to become acclimated to Galway city quickly.
Living on my own and travelling by myself are two of the most important skills that
I have learned, and exploring Ireland and its culture has been my favorite part ofthis experience. I am very grateful for the Iacocca Internship program because I
would never get this opportunity otherwise.
153

Matthew Cossel
Milano, Italia
College of Arts and Sciences
Journalism

B-Easy Communications
Contributor

Company and Position Description:
The company I worked at was B‐Easy Communications, the publishers of Easy
Milano. This company did communication work for multiple businesses andschools in the area but is most well‐known for the two magazines they publish:
Easy Milano and MamamiaKids. During my time here, I had a part in almost
everything that the company handles. We laid out both magazines in InDesign,
we wrote stories for the magazine and website, we helped with logo andadvertisement design, holding meetings with the clients to discuss their brands
and social media management. This internship and the extremely small nature of
the company allowed us to have a hand in almost every aspect of acommunications company. If there was anything going on in the office, we were apart of it.

An Example of some design workthat I did for the company.

The call box for our Office.
154

Matthew Cossel
Milano, Italia

Il Duomo, the center of Milano.

The view from the top of the Duomo, facing
the modern side of the city.

Value Derived from the Experience:
This experience was vital to my development into a working professional. Not only
did I get vital experience in my field and great connections within it, I was able toshowcase my ability to work in another country where I don’t know the languageor the culture. The experience has also given me confidence that I will be able tosucceed in the working world after I graduate this Spring. This summer, I have not
only prepared myself for the workforce, I have prepared myself to succeed in aworld that is becoming even more global each day by being able to say that I havethe international experience and know‐how to adapt to any global situation that I
may come across. I cannot speak highly enough of this experience. Thanks to thisprogram, I will now have practical work experience in another country right out ofcollege. I think that is the most valuable asset one can have as an aspiring
professional.

155

Simone Cotton
Italy
College of Arts and Sciences
Design, Graphic

Immediatic Digital Agency
Graphic Designer

Company and Position Description:
Immediatic is a small design agency focusing on creating websites, website
updates, and logos for various clients. With Immediatic, I was given full range tobe creative and create logos for clients as well as designing website layouts. I
created over sixty logos, each one more refined than the last. When I went toreview the logos with my coworkers, we would meet to discuss which logos were
beneficial to setting the theme and mood that the client wanted. I was also able
to learn a bit of coding as well as how to develop website layouts using the Adobe
products, and how they get transferred into code that is used to create thewebsite or phone app. Getting the experience to work in an actual design agency
allowed me to refine my own skills as well as learning new tricks of the trade.

Another day in the office!
156

Simone Cotton
Italy

The Royal Gardens at Lago Maggiore

Beautiful flowers at
Cinque Terre

Value Derived from the Experience:
Going abroad for the first time was such an eye opening experience. From thedifferent language, to food, down to the style of your shoes, as Milan is a fashion
capital. I had a great time learning the ways of the Milanese, picking up some of
the language and navigating the city and Italy itself. Within the first two weeks, I
found a little bit of home in Milan. I began to navigate the streets and the metro
system, while making friends at the local bakery I’d go to occasionally for amorning brioche. I found it interesting that the Italians would rather speak English
to improve their language skills, even though I wanted to improve on my Italian!
With the IES program, I was able to visit places in Italy that I would not have known
about on my own, such as Lago Maggiore or Cinque Terre, as well as going on local
excursions such as the top of the Duomo or to Eataly, a famed high end grocery
store. Italy also has so much history within their design and architecture, which
always made me keep my eyes open to the little details that were beautiful, hand
crafted, and unique. Being in Italy also taught me how time is different, as people
are not as rushed, with leisure meals or walks in the street, which is different thanlifestyle in the US. Overall, Italy showed me a new perspective of the world and I
hope to one day go back and explore more of it.
157

Nadine Elsayed
Milan, Italy
College of Arts and Sciences
Global Studies/Journalism

LUXOS Magazine
International Communications
InternCompany and Position Description:
LUXOS Magazine is a privately owned publishing company that produces biannual
magazine guides tailored to luxury travel, lifestyle, fashion, events, and more. It’s
a company with high net worth clients globally and only seeks to better cultivate
their digital presence through new platforms and guides.
The International Communications intern’s job is to manage web content byresearching and writing content for the travel guide section of the magazine. This
includes producing written reviews of partner luxury hotels, restaurants, bars,
and other venues through various feature articles. Furthermore, interns are
required to index the CMS database through mapping, sourcing, and editing
photos and articles in an effort to optimize SEO and marketing strategy.

LEFT:
LUXOS
Magazine
took interns
to Men’s
Fashion Week
in Milan.
RIGHT:
A copy of theChineseversion of
LUXOS
magazine.

158

Nadine Elsayed
Milan, Italy

Value Derived from the Experience:
The Iacocca International Internship gives Lehigh students the opportunity to havethe cultural and professional experience of a lifetime. This summer in Italy was oneof the best of my entire life in both facets.
As the world becomes more globalized, companies and professionals are looking
for candidates that can add international experience to their daily work. It’s
become imperative to be well‐versed in global affairs and the IIIP has equipped me
for just that. I can now sit across the table from an employer and explain how
working for an Italian‐based company has bettered my understanding oftransnational corporations as well as my communication skills in general.
Personally, I loved every second of being in Italy. There are so many wonderfulcharacteristics of the country whether it’s the food, the people, the sites, or theculture. Although I couldn’t speak Italian, being immersed in an environment
where I was forced to learn opened my eyes to so many new discoveries – not onlyof Italy but also of myself.
The Iacocca International Internship program gave me the opportunity to growprofessionally and personally and it’s an experience that I won’t ever forget.

159

Casey Farmer
Italy
College of Arts and Sciences
Journalism

ZesTrip
Travel Blogger InternCompany and Position Description:
ZesTrip is a startup company based in Milan that independently sells tours andactivities to travelers in Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. The tours andactivities include everything from cooking classes to private museum tours andare led by local experts. As the travel blogger intern, I wrote articles for ZesTrip’s
blog. Since ZesTrip is a new company, the purpose of the blog is to attract newcustomers, and the articles I wrote included information for tourists about thevarious Italian cities that ZesTrip sells tours and activities in. In addition to writing
blogs, I also contacted some of ZesTrip’s first customers to ask for feedback.

ZesTrip was located in the Polihub,
which is dedicated to helping
startups in Milan grow

ZesTrip’s office space in the Polihub – I
learned that Italians are never early!

Casey Farmer
Italy

On the roof of the
Duomo di Milano

Hiking in Cinque Terre

Value Derived from the Experience:
Living and working in Italy allowed me to grow as a person on both personal andprofessional levels. I now feel completely confident in my ability to live
independently, and the everyday challenges I faced because of cultural differences
and language barriers only allowed me to gain more confidence and growth fromthe entire experience. I learned how to work in an office environment and findways to relate to my foreign coworkers. Prior to this experience, I could have never
pictured myself living abroad for an extended period of time, but now it issomething that I would definitely not rule out for my future.

Klaudia Jazwinska
Italy
College of Arts and Sciences
Global Studies/Journalism

LUXOS Magazine
Web Content InternCompany and Position Description:
LUXOS is an international luxury magazine that is distributed in 5‐star hotels
throughout Europe and Asia. As an intern at LUXOS, I helped to upload and create
content for the online edition. It was my responsibility to upload content that was
published in the print editions onto the website. I formatted articles, edited anduploaded photos, and published them to the web. In addition, I helped to create
new destination pages for the site and wrote introductory guides for the newcities we were spotlighting. I also had the opportunity to pitch, write, format andpublish one of my own articles for the website. During my time at LUXOS, I
learned about the international luxury lifestyle, hotel and fashion industries, andeven had the opportunity to attend several events during Men’s Fashion Week in
Milan.

Insert work photo
here (with small
caption below)

LUXOS Magazine is distributed all over
Europe and Asia, and is headquarteredin Milan, Italy.

Insert work photo
here (with small
caption below)

A screenshot of an article I wrote about
travel in Italy, which was published on
luxos.com!
162

Klaudia Jazwinska
Italy

Insert cultural
photo here (withsmall caption
below)

LEFT: Me in
Giardino Giusi in
VeronaRIGHT: The
other interns
and I in Piazza
Venezia, RomeInsert culture
photo here (withsmall caption
below)

Value Derived from the Experience:
For a Global Studies and Journalism double‐major like myself, working for aninternationally distributed magazine was definitely a relevant learning experience.
My coworkers at LUXOS were very lovely, intelligent and helpful, and they taught
me a lot about what it’s like to work for an international publication and how to
produce content in a way that appeals to a global audience. I was able to put touse many of the skills that I have learned in my time at Lehigh, which mysupervisor and coworkers greatly appreciated.
In addition to my internship, I also made sure to take advantage of every
opportunity I had to learn about Italian culture, language and history. When weweren’t working, the other Iacocca interns and I explored Milan and traveledthroughout the country, visiting places such as Lago Maggiore, Florence, Rome,
Cinque Terre, Verona and Venice. I learned how to navigate Milan’s excellent public
transportation network and experienced many aspects of the city, including its
culture, architecture, museums, art, food, nightlife and much more. In my
conversations with locals, as well as my bi‐weekly evening Italian classes, I wasable to pick up some basic Italian, which was very useful. I also had theopportunity to get to know some really interesting people and talk to them about
their culture and their perspectives of global issues.
Overall, my time in Italy was absolutely incredible, and I am endlessly thankful for
all the experiences I had over those seven weeks.
163

Samantha Silverman
Italy
College of Arts and Sciences
Journalism

Gruppo Proedi
Intern/Web Journalist

Company and Desecription of Position:
Gruppo Proedi is the parent company of the Where Italian divisions in Milan and
Venice. The company aims to provide helpful information for traveling and exploring
Milan and now Venice. During my time at the company, they announced the launch of
Where Venice. I helped start the new company website and added content to both the
Where Milan and Where Venice websites. I wrote several event posts as well as off site
work including reporting on new openings and photography. My main job was writing
my blog "Sam on the Street" for the Where Milan student section of the website,where I discussed what it is like to be an American student exploring Milan.

A fellow intern and I at the
Where Venice launch party.

A photo of me at the Last Supperthat was featured on my blog.

164

Samantha Silverman
Italy

A photo of myself at the top of
the Duomo. The 5th largest
cathedral in the world that isstill being built today.

Me and fellow Iacocca recipients at
The alla Scala opera house.

Value Derived from the Experience:
This experience was truly one in a life time. It was my first time traveling out of thecountry and I could not be more thankful to the team at Iacocca, IES, and Professor
Lule. I learned how to be more self sufficient through navigating my way through aforeign land and holding myself accountable for the work I was given to complete. I
was able to learn how to interact with people of a different culture and how
important it is to be able to adapt in the business world. Overall, my experience
with Iacocca was incredible and I am forever greatful. I made friends that will last alife time and gained knowledge that will benefit me for years to come.

165

Mitch Thomas
Italy
College of Arts and Sciences
History/
College of Education
Education

B‐EasyContributor/InternCompany and Position Description:
I worked at the communications company B-Easy in Milan, Italy. B-Easy
publishes Easy Milano magazine, Mammamiakids magazine and
EasyCircle. I helped with their EasyMilano publication, both with writing
and laying out the magazine. I also worked on many different projects forclients such as creating advertisements and designing yearbooks. Some ofthe skills I used were InDesign print and website layout, advertisement
creation and editing, researching and writing articles for print and website,social media optimization and management, and meeting and collaboratingwith clients.

The B‐Easy Staff in the office.

Matt Cossel, the other Lehighintern at B‐Easy, and myself
at our desks.
166

Mitch Thomas
Italy

Il Duomo, the main church
in Milan.

A view of Florence from the
Palazzo Vecchio.

Value Derived from the Experience:
This experience helped me develop in a number of ways both personally andprofessionally. Personally I was able to learn about and live in a different culture. It
gave me a new perspective on how people in Italy live their lives and do every‐daytasks in ways that are often very different than how Americans do them. Being in acountry where I did not speak the language also helped me understand how it canbe confusing at times and made me empathize with people who speak English as asecond language in America, for example. I always appreciated help I got from
Italians or just people being friendly in general because minor things like paying for
groceries or figuring out the metro stops can be confusing, and I will make aneffort to help people at home who may feel like I did.
Professionally I was able to learn new skills, but also improve on ones I alreadyknew. I got much better on Indesign and programs for laying out the magazines,
advertisements, and projects for clients. I also got to see firsthand how to deal
with different clients and meet their needs from the different meetings I attended
with them.

167

Jamal Connelly
Rome, Italy
College of Arts and Sciences
Political Science/ Religious
Studies

The Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas
InternCompany and Position Description:
The Lay Centre’s mission is to foster inter‐religious dialogue and cultural exchange
while also giving lay people a place to stay while they are studying in Rome. It’sboth very expensive and time consuming to find a place to live in Rome and a lotof the lodging for students at Pontifical Universities are for nuns and seminarians,
which ties into the Catholic Church’s long history of ignoring the needs of themasses in favor of the needs of the few. Lay people are defined as anyone who
isn’t clergy, so thousands of scholars are left scrambling every year for affordable
housing and The Lay Centre helps satisfy that need.

One big part of our internship waslearning about the relationships
between investors and non profits andon a few occasions we got to speak to
the financial advisor at the Lay Centre.

We also got to set up for different
conferences and we go to go to many
religious buildings in Rome.

168

Jamal Connelly
Rome, Italy

Typical Roman desert at St.
Paul’s out side of the walls

Brazilian Embassy at Piazza Norvaona

Value Derived from the Experience:
Very early on I found great love for both the work that I was doing and Italianculture. I loved getting to meet guests and going to different religious buildings
etc. Most times the guests were religion professors, but on a few occasions I got tomeet doctors, ambassadors and philanthropists. Italian culture is more than justwalking down a cobblestone street and seeing the Colluseo. It's language,
acceptance and multiculturalism. Almost everyone I met spoke 2‐3 languages andthat has left a lasting effect on me. Next semester I want to take Spanish because I
want to be able to communicate with more people.

169

Paige Pagan
Rome, Italy
College of Arts and Sciences
Journalism/English

The Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas
InternCompany and Position Description:
The Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas is a non‐profit organization that dedicates its time to contributeto the formation and promotion of the lay vocation to outsiders. It’s a place where people ofvarious nationalities, backgrounds and religions come together and engage in inter‐religious
dialogue. The Lay Centre’s goal is Christian unity and engagement with other religions in an
attempt to broaden people’s views. The Centre conducts numerous conferences, gatherings,
speeches, and other intellectual programs that enhances people’s understanding of the world
through a theological lens. During my six week internship there I served as an intern and helper
to any task that needed to be completed. I worked on preparing for the Lay Centre’s 30th
anniversary alumni reunion and week of conferences on interfaith perspectives. I partook in
simple tasks such as setting up for coffee breaks, washing dishes from meals, creating nametags and conference place‐settings. On the other hand, I also participated in more rigorous
tasks such as listening to every speech given and analyzing what it meant. I wrote many entries
for the Lay Centre’s website and spoke on the practice of Catholicism in Rome to a group fromthe U.S. Embassy to the Vatican.

I was given the honor of presenting
orchids for the U.S ambassador at
Piazza Navona.

Talk from Joe Lynaugh on running
non‐profit organizations.

170

Paige Pagan
Rome, Italy

Insert cultural
photo here (withsmall caption
below)The day we attended a Papal Audienceat St. Peters Square

Praying before the Virgin Maryat St. John the Lateran Church.

Value Derived from the Experience:
This has proven to be the most positive experience of a lifetime. I knew interning at a Lay Centre
surrounded by laity and intellectuals in theology would enable me to learn a great deal about
religion. However, I wasn’t aware that this internship in such a holy city as Rome would
personally have such a big impact on my personal relationship with religion. Being here I havemet people from all around the world that are so many different religions, some that I haven’t
even heard of before, and that to me was the most beneficial part. By learning about otherreligions, I was able to get closer to my own religion. Catholicism was a big part of our stay here
and I’m so glad because as I expanded my knowledge and became more cosmopolitan, it gaveme the opportunity to be proud of being Catholic and revel in the experience of being in a citywith 900 churches. I also grew professionally as I was given the opportunity to meet many
important figures. I learned how to be attentive at special events such as major conferences andhow to work in a group setting with the other interns and scholarship students. I’m very gratefulfor being given this opportunity and I have met many people here that I will never forget. My
goal for this internship was to learn about inter‐religious dialogue; the outcome was that I
achieved that along with so much more.
171

Anastassiya Perevezentseva
Italy
College of Arts and Sciences
International Relations

The Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas
InternCompany and Position Description:
The Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas is a non-profit organization which hosts lay students
who study at pontifical universities in Rome. The mission of the organization is topromote the lay vocation, Christian unity and interreligious dialogue. At the time of ourinternship, the organization was focused on conducting a reunion for alumni, an
academic conference, and two pilgrimages. The group of Lehigh interns was asked toassist with the reception of visitors and to provide for their needs. Responsibilities
included attending meetings and facilitating with the planning and organization of theabove mentioned events. Other interns and I were fortunate to visit the holy sites ofRome and other tourist attractions either with the pilgrim groups or with the students
from the Lay centre. The Lehigh intern group contributed to the development of thesocial media outreach of the organization by blogging about the visits and the internshipexperience. The interreligious aspect of the internship was fulfilled through theinteractions with representatives of various religions in the beginning of the internship,
and through visits to the Jewish ghetto, museum and the Great Synagogue of Rome,the ancient synagogue in Ostia Antica, as well as the Muslim center “Istituto Tevere.” It
was great to learn about how religion is important in diplomacy through our meetings
with the Israeli Ambassador to the Holy See, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See staff,
and religious officials at the Anglican center.

Our group is taking notes during a
lecture on non‐profit management by
Joe Lynaugh

After the meeting with theIsraeli Ambassador to theHoly See Zion Evroni

172

Anastassiya Perevezentseva
Italy

The building of the Lay Centre

From a day trip to the city of Assisi

Value Derived from the Experience:
I am confident that this internship will be one of the highlights of my college years. In aprofessional sense, I was able to make valuable connections with people who haveincredible careers in teaching and diplomacy. After being introduced to the world ofinterreligious dialogue, I understood that this difficult task requires serious historical andcultural awareness. For example, dining at the Lay centre had to be regulated toacknowledge all of the religious dietary restrictions of the guests. I could see how evenless important aspects of hospitality were important to creating an atmosphere of respectand kindness to promote such dialogue in the first place. I was very fortunate to have aninsider perspective on the way that a non-profit organization operates, which has taughtme the value of having good interpersonal and communicational skills. The Lay centre
staff is a great example of a team of leaders who are true professionals and innovators in
the field of interreligious communication.
On a personal note, it was an incredible experience to actually live in Rome as opposed
to visiting the city as a tourist. I felt that my visits to the Vatican, the center of the Catholic
church, and many important religious sites have developed me spiritually. Moreover,living in one building with people of different faiths, even one tradition that I have neverheard of before, has exposed me to seeing how religion manifests itself in a life of anindividual on a daily basis through the way that they pray, talk, eat, and celebrate. I was
grateful to learn about the theory of Ecumenism and interfaith dialogue at the conferenceat the Lay centre which I was able to attend. The warm welcome of the Lay centre, theirgenuine desire to make our group feel “at home,” and the plethora of events and visitsthat they organized for us has made it possible for this trip to be such a great experience.
173

Samuel Topp
Italy
College of Arts and Sciences
Astrophysics/Journalism

The Lay Centre at Foyer Unitas
Office AssistantCompany and Position Description:
I worked for the Lay Centre, a non‐profit Catholic organization which houses lay
students studying at various universities around Rome. The community isinternational and of mixed religions, promoting interreligious dialogue whileproviding a welcoming, hospitable environment. In addition, the Lay Centre holds
international programs for church leaders and laity to converse in a neutral,friendly setting. As an intern, my job along with my other group members was toprovide hospitality services for guests staying at the center during various
programs held throughout July. My main job, helping to run a conference titled"Full, Conscious and Active: Lay Participation in the Church's dialogue with theWorld." This was the largest event the Lay Centre has had, accommodating 40
participants. I also helped to reorganize the center’s library and prayer books, andassist in any jobs or projects that needed to be done as they arose throughout mystay.

The Lay Centre hosts dinner for
one of the pilgrimage groups.

Presentations are given at aconference titled, “Full, Conscious
and Active: Lay Participation in the
Church’s Dialogue with the World”

174

Samuel Topp
Italy

St. Peter’s Basilica as seenfrom Castle Sant’Angelo

View from the base of the
National Monument toVictor Emmanuel II

Value Derived from the Experience:
During my trip to Rome, I think I was able to learn things about myself that I
otherwise wouldn’t have at home. On a professional level, I learned the intricacies
and background details of hospitality and how many little things go into making an
event come to life. My organizational skills were certainly improved as I was able
to work more and more independently on things that I’d previously need help
with. On a personal level, being in a completely new place for the first time helped
improve my confidence in a way unique to a different country. I was able toexplore the city and interact with people of various faiths, cultures, languages, andworldviews that I never have before. Living in a community based aroundinterreligious dialogue also gave me new perspectives within the topic of religion,
which led to many conversations regarding various aspects of theology and beliefs.
I feel like these conversations helped me to further develop my own religious
views and more easily converse with others who have their own.

175

Jasper Jeffrey
JapanCollege of Arts and Sciences
Molecular Biology

Kanazawa University
Student Teacher

Company and Position Description:
Kanazawa University is a national university located in Kanazawa, Japan. Its founding dates backto 1862 during the Edo period, and it is one of the premier institutions of higher learning on thewestern side of Japan. Our role as students from an American University was twofold: to study
and gain the basic skills of teaching English as a second language, as well as acting as culturalambassadors. The basic routine for a day would consist of a lecture‐style class in the morning
by our Lehigh instructor, followed by classroom observations and/or leading class lessons for
Kanazawa University ESL students. A sizeable portion of time was allotted to observing ES
classes as well as visiting the University’s affiliated Elementary and Junior High schools in thearea; this was meant to help familiarize us with the Japanese teaching style (which differs inmany ways to the western style many Americans are used to) as well as to study the ESL
methods employed by teachers. Our capstone project was comprised of two separate
presentations ‐ one which compared and contrasted the American and Japanese school
systems; and the other being a recap of our experiences in Kanazawa and the differences
between American and Japanese culture. In short, we came to Kanazawa as both teachers‐in‐training and cultural ambassadors.

Group photo of a Kanazawa
University English Class

Kanazawa University Campus
176

Jasper Jeffrey
Japan

Downtown Kanazawa

Garden in Oyama shrine

Value Derived from the Experience:
It had always been a dream of mine to go and visit Japan one day and throw myself into
its culture. Going to Kanazawa was truly a unique life experience for me, with plenty ofmemorable moments from exploring the city’s temple district to simply interacting withpeople at the grocery store. As a current Japanese-language student at Lehigh, every
interaction I had with anyone there was an opportunity for me to learn something newabout the language (something I sorely miss right now). With everyone acting as myJapanese teacher, it was now my responsibility to learn how to become the best ESL
teacher for them and help them appreciate the English language. Travelling abroad was
also an experiment in independence for me, going across the country at times by myself
and exploring a place where I can’t proficiently speak the native language. Being able tolose myself in a crowd of people gave me a stronger sense of connection to Japan- onethat I want to continue to strengthen by visiting the country again.

177

Veronica McKinny
Japan
College of Arts and Sciences
Physics/Cognitive Science

Kanazawa University
ESL Teacher InternCompany and Position Description:
For six weeks, I lived and worked on the Kakuma Campus of Kanazawa University,
one of the largest universities in Japan. With the joint guidance of Lehigh
University’s TESOL department and Kanazawa University’s English department, I
learned the intricacies of teaching English as a foreign language. In the classroom,
I then employed the skills of clarity of speech, grammar explanation, critiquing
writing, and lesson planning. I taught English classes to Kanazawa University
freshmen and local high school students, and I gave presentations on American
culture and education to the Kanazawa University community at large.

At the entrance to the university was ahuge stone with the university namecarved into it.

The classroom in which we learned toteach and prepare lessons

178

Veronica McKinny
Japan

I participated in the
Hyakumangoku Matsuri
Festival’s dancing parade,wearing a traditional Happi

Jamming at Mock Publish Bar
in Kanazawa with the
Kanazawa University Modern
Jazz Society

Value Derived from the Experience:
The six weeks that I spent at Kanazawa University were six of the most formativeand important weeks of my life. From a professional perspective, this internshipput me in situations that forced me to improve my communication skills. I became
immensely comfortable with speaking in front of groups of various sizes, explaining
complex technical details clearly while working energetically to keep listeners
engaged. From a cultural perspective, I had the experiences of a lifetime. I saw
traditional Japanese theater, art, and architecture, modern sport and culture, andbreath‐taking landscapes. The biggest festival of the region occurred during ourtrip, and I participated in it by joining a traditional 12,000‐person choreographed
dancing parade. Japanese music students who were performing at a jazz club had
an extra saxophone on hand and invited me to play with them. With my limited
Japanese language skills, I travelled across the country by myself on free days,
exploring regions that generally receive few tourists. Finally, I made many friends
during this time period among both my Japanese and international student peers,with whom I keep near‐daily contact.

179

Sean Sakdiponephong
Japan
College of Education
Globalization and
Educational Change

Kanazawa University
Graduate Student

Kanazawa English Teaching Practicum:
During this internship we learned about the philosophical, methodological, andstylistic approaches to teaching English to second language learners. We initiallyspent time reading and analyzing different techniques involved with teaching asecond language and, also, of how students learn and acquire a second language
both cognitively and linguistically. In addition to learning about second language
learning through individual tutoring, we were given the opportunity to apply
these different techniques in classrooms with first‐year undergraduate level
students. Furthermore, we were asked to participate in breakout groups withhigh school students, conversation cafes with random Japanese students studying
mainly education, asked to present on the differences between the American andJapanese education systems, and participate in cultural events with students as
well.

Insert work photo
here (with small
caption below)

The grounds of Kanazawa University

180

Sean Sakdiponephong
Japan

Taken by the famous Kotoji Lantern in
Kenroku‐en Garden in Kanazawa, Japan.

Value Derived from the Experience:
This internship helped me become more self‐reliant based on individual
exploration, learn how to work better with fellow students and staff, and become
more aware and accepting of other’s unique cultural differences. Above all else,
this internship gave me the opportunity to nurture rewarding relationships withother students abroad. The time spent listening, laughing, and exploring different
historical sites with new friends of different nationalities gave way to a greater
sense of global interconnectedness and understanding that most internships rarely
provide. I have always believed that immersing one’s self in different culturesbuilds a deeper appreciation for the basic aspects of life. And, in this way, I canhonestly say that the experiences provided by this internship were profound andunforgettable. For example, getting lost while using the public transportation
system, exploring ancient shrines in Kyoto on my own, or watching hundreds oflanterns floating down the main river during the annual Hyakumangoku Matsuri,or “a thousand grains of rice” festival, were just a few moments I will always
remember.

181

Christi Sullivan
Japan
College of Education
Globalization and
Educational Change

Kanazawa University
TESOL InternCompany and Position Description:
I worked in the English department at Kanazawa University in Kanazawa, Japan.
For the first two weeks, I took a seminar course focusing on teaching methods,
theories of learning, lesson planning, et cetera. I then put this knowledge topractice through classroom observations, student‐teaching, small‐group
discussion sessions, and individual advising appointment.

An English class for freshman engineering
students that I taught a class for.

We had small‐group discussion withEnglish‐language learners to build
vocabulary and practice informal dialogue.

182

Christi Sullivan
Japan

Insert culture
photo here (withsmall caption
below)
Feeding the tame deer
at a park

Visiting a Buddhist temple
in NaraValue Derived from the Experience:
This experience was professionally and personally rewarding and challenged me to
grow. I was able to get a sample of Japanese culture and daily life in Japan. I waschallenged to be flexible, keep my mind open, stay positive under ambiguous
circumstances, and step outside my comfort zone. I got to meet wonderful people
and form relationships with Japanese students and faculty, as well as otherinternational students from all over the world.

183

Kevin Augustyn
Japan
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Civil Engineering

Nagoya Institute of Technology
Research InternCompany and Position Description:
The Nagoya Institute of Technology is a technical research university in Nagoya
Japan. During my time there I acted as a research intern in a civil engineering lab
run by Professor Atsushi Sato. My duties as a research intern were first to assist
with the research that the lab was currently doing on local deformation in steel
beams. Then I performed an individual research project on the hysteric strain
hardening effect of low yield point steel. This project was then presented to theinstitute and other interns.

Insert work photo
here (with small
caption below)

Lab group holding specimens
after compression testing

Myself in the materials lab
during the low yield steel
experiments
184

Kevin Augustyn
Japan

Insert cultural
photo here (withsmall caption
below)

Value Derived from the Experience:
Working in Japan has helped me gain a new understanding of the differences
between cultures even in how engineering work is accomplished. I haveexperienced the companionship between coworkers which is something that isharder to find elsewhere. I also learned how a simple geographic change can makea difference on how civil engineering is taught. Because of the great risk ofearthquakes and typhoons in Japan, they focus on those in engineering study andto make sure that all buildings are kept to code, all structural engineers that designbuildings are also trained in architecture.
Outside of my professional life, I have grown a lot culturally. I was able to taste andlearned how to create many Japanese dishes, as cooking is one of my hobbies. I
experienced going swing dancing, a historically western style which I practice,
while in Nagoya and learned a few things that make the Japanese style different.
Finally, being able to travel allowed me to learn about all the different culturesthat exist within Japan, from the electronic‐ and hobby‐store riddled cities to thepeaceful and beautiful agricultural towns. Seeing a place that holds on to its
national culture in a developed country really gave me a different outlook on
countries outside the United States.
185

Joseph ClineJapan
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Materials Science and Engineering

Nagoya Institute of Technology
Research InternCompany and Position Description:
I spent two months working as a research intern at the Nagoya Institute ofTechnology in the Material Science department underneath Professor Tanemura.
I was involved in research on graphene synthesis, specifically, chemical vapor
deposition synthesis. Using a specific precursor, graphene crystals weresuccessfully grown to a size of ~500 micrometers in diameter. Over the internship,
I was taught to use atmospheric and low pressure chemical vapor deposition
furnaces. Additionally, I was taught how to use light optical microscopy, scanningelectron microscopy, and RAMAN spectrometry to analyze the graphene samples.
Furthermore, I was shown atomic force microscopy and transmission electron
microscopy.

Graphene crystal on a copper surface

Myself next to a low pressurechemical vapor deposition
furnace
186

Joseph Cline
Japan

Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto

Kinkaku‐ji, Kyoto

Value Derived from the Experience:
Being able to visit Japan and really experience what it is like to live there has been
an invaluable experience. I never really experienced what it was like to work in a
research environment within my major. I found that I really enjoyed living andworking in Japan, as well as working with the people in my lab. I had great timeconnecting with my colleagues and working on my communication skills. From apersonal standpoint, I had a great time in Japan enjoying the food, culture, andexperience. The other students in the group were great and we got to spend a lotof time together. I never had the chance before to really live in a foreign city.
Overall, I really enjoyed the experience and I would highly recommend this trip to
my peers.

187

Angela Nguyen
JapanCollege of Arts and Sciences
Physics

Nagoya Institute of Technology
Research InternCompany and Position Description:
Located in Nagoya, Japan the Nagoya Institute of Technology – commonlyreferred to as NITech – is a public institution of higher learning dedicated to thestudy of science and technology. I was assigned to the laboratory of Norio
Shibata, under NITech’s Department of Life Science and Applied Chemistry. The
laboratory’s work focuses primarily on fluorine chemistry; my work entailed
synthesizing various components of thalidomide.

Dry trimethylamine used in synthesis

Researching at NITech

188

Angela Nguyen
Japan

In a yukata for tea ceremony

Japanese sweets eaten with tea

Value Derived from the Experience:
Prior to my internship with the Nagoya Institute of Technology, I had no exposure
to organic chemistry, let alone fluorine chemistry. This experience marked my firsttime traveling internationally and living in a foreign country. Living abroad gave me
room to grow as a person; I had to adapt to a different culture and learn how tocommunicate in – effectively – a different language. Even as I took a Japanese
language class offered by NITech, I had to constantly push myself to better myJapanese for the sake of survival if not academic interest. With regards to my lab
work, because I had very limited knowledge of the subject beforehand, I had topush myself to study organic chemistry concepts while researching backgroundknowledge regarding the Shibata laboratory’s current and previous research. The
research presentations that the laboratory had me give were a new opportunity
for me, as I have never given presentations in a professional setting. Overall, thisinternship helped me become a better scientist and person.

189

Peter Schaedler
Japan
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Computer Science/ Music

Nagoya Institute of Technology
Engineering Research InternCompany and Position Description:
Nagoya Institute of Technology is an engineering research university located in
Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. During the internship, I was responsible for bothparticipating in computer science research in a laboratory led by Dr. Takayuki Itoas well as taking classes in algorithms and Japanese language. The Japanese
language classes covered aspects of Japanese grammar and speaking practicealong with learning the various character sets of written Japanese. The algorithms
class I took was taught by Dr. Ito, and focused on artificial intelligence algorithms.
In the laboratory, I worked with other graduate students on the lab’s main
research project by providing programming assistance and English translations.

In lab chatting with colleagues

Presenting my research project

190

Peter Schaedler
Japan

Torii gate at a Kyoto shrine

A summer festival in Nagoya

Value Derived from the Experience:
Going to Japan and working in a research laboratory has not only given me a newperspective on the world and the culture of Japan, but it has allowed me to growas an individual and as a computer science student. I met many wonderful andfriendly people in my lab and around campus with various perspectives andopinions about Japan, America, and the rest of the world. By hearing theiropinions, my mind has opened to ideas that I would have not consideredpreviously. And by working alongside Japanese students in my field and seeing
how they learn, I was able to learn what another country’s values are with respect
to computers and technology. And of course, I saw historical monuments, learned
about cultural events, and participated in some festivals and cultural experiences
like traditional tea ceremony, flower arranging, and others. Couple this withconstant practice in using the Japanese language, which I’ve been studying foryears, this experience was amazingly beneficial in allowing me to grow.

191

Ryan Digilio
Malaysia
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Mechanical Engineering

Universiti Teknologi Petronas
Research InternCompany and Position Description:
The internship took place at Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP), a private
research university in Perak, Malaysia. UTP was founded in 1997, and has a range
of departments focusing predominately on engineering. My position was focusedon powder injection molding, where I would work in the lab with two graduate
students in the department of mechanical engineering, and the department ofmaterials science. The goal was to run experiments to learn how the process
works, and then to test the effects of various amounts of porosity in the stainlesssteel injection molded parts. These molded parts were then tested for various
traits, like tensile strength. These parts would ideally be used in application for acouple of fields, such as the biomedical field.

Parts molded frompowder injection molding

Working on the injection molding
machine – it jammed
192

Ryan Digilio
Malaysia

Value Derived from the Experience:
This experience was great because it allowed me to really expand my worldview. I
had an amazing time going abroad to Southeast Asia and diving into the culture.
Everything that is done in Malaysia is different from what is done in westerncountries, ranging from food and family values to how they work and thetimetables they operate on. I think the most significant and intangible impact
working abroad has had on me is developing my understanding of Malaysia’s own
customs and values. Professionally, I think I have grown because I was successfully
able to work with people outside of my degree on an engineering task. I havemade some great friends with some of the students at UTP, and have even stayedin contact with the professor I worked under.

193

Melissa Milstrey
Malaysia
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Chemical Engineering

Universiti Teknologi Petronas
Research InternCompany and Position Description:
In Malaysia, I stayed on University Teknologi Petronas Campus, one of the top universities in allof Malaysia. The academic campus was stunningly modern and equipped with laboratories andresources. I worked in the Biomass laboratory/office block which was a branch of the Chemical
Engineering department. I participated in research under a professor from the university
focused on COx free hydrogen production by a catalyzed methane decomposition reaction. I
worked on researching optimization of the reaction process under a variety of temperatures,pressures, flow rates, catalyst types, and catalyst synthesis methods. I focused a lot of myliterature review on the catalyst synthesis method of Sol‐Gel processing to create a higher
surface area, more controllable, and more chemically active catalyst. I was able to makesuggestions on the synthesis procedure and parameters to a phD student working under myprofessor that can help them finalize their final paper on the catalyzed methane decomposition
reaction.

Hannah(Lehigh), Kevin (Texas
A&M), Miss Norzat (UTP staff), andI after the end of internship officecelebration.

Giving my final
presentation to myprofessor and his phD
students.

194

Melissa Milstrey
Malaysia

The Lehigh students with a
Nissa, a student from UTP at
the Wednesday food market
near campus.

On the beach of
Pangkor Island,
Malaysia.

Value Derived from the Experience:
Academically, this internship helped me to learn about how research from a graduate student’s
perspective works which will help me make a more informed decision about my career aftercollege. My time with the biomass department also helped me connect the classes I am taking at
Lehigh to a practical aspect of chemical engineering. It helped me learn independence andprofessionalism. Despite this, the most important experiences I enjoyed were not in theworkplace. During our time in Malaysia, we were able to explore a culture that was so different
from our own through the people we met and the places we traveled. I was pleasantly shocked
by the pure hospitality of everyone I met. Everyone sincerely wanted us to enjoy their culture
and country’s beauty; they were all so proud of their heritage and upbringing. We befriended thestudents on campus who showed us fun things to do in the Perak area (even getting to go
whitewater rafting not far from campus) and dared us to try the different foods, from the stinky
durian fruit to spicy rice breakfasts. We were able to travel off campus and explore the gorgeousislands and grand cities of Malaysia. I traveled more in these two months in Malaysia than I havethe rest of my college experience. The Malaysian culture was so interesting to experience in part
because of the muti‐ethnic nature of the country as the cultures of the Chinese, Indian, andMalay mixed: it was cool to see the impact the different influences had on different areas of thecountry. Overall, my internship in Malaysia taught me to adapt to new places quickly, understandand accept things that seem different from what I am used to, and overcome difficult situations
both in and out of the workplace.

195

Hannah Plaza
Malaysia
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Chemical Engineering

Universiti Teknologi Petronas
Research and Data Analysis InternCompany and Position Description:
This summer, I worked as a research intern at the Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS
in Seri Iskandar, Malaysia. My supervisor was a professor at the university andwas working on his own research project in the Biomass Processing Lab. I was
assigned to assist him in gathering information and making recommendations forhis current project. The topic of his study was catalytic methane decomposition,and I was specifically working with Density Functional Theory (DFT) computing
software in order to study the reaction. The software was able to model different
chemical reactions and collect data about the thermodynamics and kinetics ofthe reaction without time‐consuming and costly physical experimentation.
Throughout the duration of my internship, I read scholarly articles to determine
optimal reaction conditions, and then proceeded to use what I learned toconstruct 3D models of the catalyst system and hydrocarbons within thesoftware. My research taught me a lot about the importance of methane
decomposition and its applications in the modern world, and it introduced me to
new methods of scientific experimentation and investigation.

Alumina crystal
constructed with DFT
software

UTP Information Resource
Center196

Hannah Plaza
Malaysia

Visiting the Wednesday
market with a local friend

Exploring Gua Tempurung
Cave with other exchange
students

Value Derived from the Experience:
The two months I spent in Malaysia were unlike anything I have ever experienced
before. Being immersed in the Malaysian culture allowed me to learn so muchabout different ways of life that I previously knew nothing about. It was wonderful
to talk to local residents and to see how excited they were to talk to us about theirreligious traditions, unique foods, and everyday adventures. In some ways, it wasdifficult to adapt when certain aspects of daily life were very different from what I
was used to back home. However, upon my return to the States, I am so much
more appreciative of everything that I have been given and grew up with during
my life.
During my internship, I was challenged to live and work with new people in an
unfamiliar place, and the experience has truly helped me grow as an individual.
My work environment introduced me to truly independent study. It showed me
the value of making connections and communicating with professionals and peers
who are more educated about a topic than I am. Leisure and travel taught me somuch more about myself and the three other Lehigh students that accompanied
me on the trip. Spending so much time with one another and making plans
together helped make it clear to me the importance of having and voicing youropinion, decision making, and compromising. The trip allowed me to strengthen
these skills, which can only benefit me in the future. I am so grateful foreverything this summer experience has taught me.
197

Artem Timchenko
Malaysia
P.C. Rossin College of Engineeringand Applied Science
Chemical Engineering

University of Teknologi PetronasIntern at Phase Separation andCarbon Capture Lab

Company and Position Description:
At the Phase Separation Lab we study methane and carbon dioxide gas hydrate
formation. Gas hydrates result from water molecules trapping molecules of gas
inside cages. These cages form at low temperature and high pressure. Gas
hydrates pose a problem for oil companies. In offshore drilling operations gas
hydrates are known to form in pipes, their formation negatively impacts the flow
assurance of oil as it is being transported. Gas hydrate formation may clog thepipe, damage the pipeline and cause it to burst. In the Phase Separation Lab we
explored possible inhibitors for gas hydrate separation. Traditionallythermodynamic inhibitors are used to shift the conditions under which thehydrates form, namely to lower the temperature and increase the pressure.
Methanol, commonly used in industry, is used in upwards of 40 volume % and is
toxic to the environment. We explored the possibility of amino acids as areplacement inhibitor. Amino acids are environmentally friendly as well as being
low dose hydrate inhibitors.
LEFT:
Enjoying Sushi in
Japan
RIGHT:
Working at thePhase Separation
Lab

198

Artem Timchenko
Malaysia

Cave tour and exploration of
traditional Malay housing with
GNC
Visiting Buddhist Temple

Value Derived from the Experience:
The cultural immersion helped me develop personally by broadening my global
perspective. The interactions with a new environment showed me how much more
there is to learn about the interworking's of societal norms and the relationshipsof people that make up a community. Not only abroad in Malaysia but here athome as well. From the food, I got a chance to learn of the historical and cultural
influence of European cuisine as it mixed with that of traditional Thai and Malay.
The food carried with it new taste but also new stories, something I had previously
never considered. Travelling around the country, I got to visit quite a few historicaland religious sites. It was a pleasure to indulge in the living history of the country.
Traditional dress worn to commemorate public holidays also added to theexperience. This experience helped open my mind to new possibilities, some that I
experienced and others that are still waiting.

199

Dabney Brice
UgandaCollege of Arts and Sciences
Global Studies

Pathways Development Initiative
Sustainable Livelihoods in Rural
Uganda InternCompany and Position Description:
Pathways Development Initiative (PDI) is a non‐governmental organization that
operates in the Bududa District of Uganda. Their aim is to improve the livelihoodsof the men, women, and children in this rural area. As an intern, I worked withPDI Education Centre, the nursery school, and Village Savings and Loans
Association (VSLA), the microfinance program. At the school, I was responsible forhelping the teachers in the classroom as well as organizing the school so that it
could run smoothly. Along with the other interns, I helped form a proposal for PDI
on ways to improve the school and to budget properly. With VSLA, I observed
several savings and loans groups while collecting data for PDI. I also held
workshops for the groups and taught them about how to form a Constitution andgroup income‐generating activities.

My class at PDI Education
CentreOne of the VSLA groups

200Dabney Brice
UgandaPlaying soccer in Bududa

Cooling down by awaterfall after a long
hike

Value Derived from the Experience:
This was one of the most humbling experiences I have ever been on. It reallyopened my eyes to a part of the world that is often ignored. Although Uganda isstill developing and is very poor, their culture and people are so rich in community
and appreciation for the little things. Salads, toilets, showers, and paved roads –these are only some of the things that I missed while in Uganda. In the U.S., wecrave material things and get upset when we do not get them. We fail to stop andbe grateful for the small things that surround us daily. After my time in Uganda, I
now realize that minor things, such as being able to eat raw vegetables withoutworry of getting sick, is just as much of a blessing as getting money or a brand new
car.

201

Tanner Buss
UgandaCollege of Arts and Sciences
Accounting/Journalism

Pathways Development Initiative
Student InternCompany and Position Description:
During my time in Uganda I worked for an NGO called Pathway Development
Initiative. The organization was founded in Bududa, Uganda by a local citizen
named David Zaale. The organization focuses primarily on a nursery and primaryschool they developed, along with working with local business owners in theirVillage Savings and Loans Administrations (VSLA). At the school I worked alongside the teachers to develop new ways to give the students a better, more quality
education. Also at the school I proposed a new plan that would make theschool’s operation financially sustainable, in hopes that future funding can go
towards expansion rather than balancing the budget. For the VSLA programs I
would attend different groups weekly meetings, giving seminars on how toestablish savings and the benefits of doing so. I worked with local businessowners guiding them on how to use the VSLA groups to expand their business.
During the course of the summer the groups made constitutions, loan requests
forms, all which led to some groups nearly doubling their estimated amount ofsavings.

Students working at the PDI
nursery and primary school.

VSLA group that would receive weekly
seminars. Average attendance was over 250.
202

Tanner Buss
UgandaPapa and Mai Zaale,
founders of PDI and thehost family.

Common living
arrangement in the
district.

Value Derived from the Experience:
Never would I have thought that an experience like this could have an such an
impact on me. Not only did this internship allow me to use the skills I have learned
to help and teach other people, but the lessons I learned far outweigh what I wasable to offer to them. The cultural exchange was something that I have neverexperienced in my life, and I was able to learn first hand how to adapt to yoursurroundings. Working here truly showed me the importance of working hard, andwatching the local people work so hard day to day just to get by truly motivatedme to go the extra mile with my work. The effects of this will surely carry over as I
continue to work towards my degrees. The most important experience I feel that I
took from my trip came from making new friends, and being able to say that I havebest friends that live half way around the world. I came to their country and theirhome for eight weeks, and from day one they accepted me with open arms andtreated me as if I was a part of their family. Their actions truly humbled me, andthe kindness will be something that sticks with me for the rest of my life. The
experiences I had in Uganda were everything I hoped they would be and muchmore. Everything I saw and learned will be with me for the rest of my life. After
spending eight weeks in Uganda I came away with such a love for the country andpeople. I can only hope that I will be able to continue to help the PDI program in
the future.

203

Priyokti Rana
UgandaIDEAS
Bioengineering /HMS

Pathways Development Initiative
Student InternCompany and Position Description:
Pathways Development Initiative (PDI) is a non governmental organization located in the
Bududa district of Uganda started by the Zaale family. The organization’s motto “Empowering
individuals. Educating communities. Changing lives.” is carried out in a multifaceted way.
Currently, there are two main projects: the Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) andthe Early Childhood Learning Intervention Program in Bubiita. The VSLA program focuses on
creating a savings culture among the people in the district; further, the program encourages its
members to create sustainable livelihoods with the support of one another, both monetarilyand socially. The PDI Education Center, comprised of pre‐primary and primary aged students,
helps provide support to the government‐provided education programs by encouraging
learning and going to school at an early age. The center also looks forward to expanding into afull primary school in the coming years. As student interns, we worked with PDI Education
Center in the mornings, supporting the teachers and adding educational elements thatencouraged learning in interesting ways. In the afternoons, we did field work by visiting
different VSLA groups and collecting data as well as providing seminars. We also helped
evaluate the programs and provided feedback on the organization as a whole.

Preparing a display of the photos taken at
picture day at the PDI Education Center

A VSLA group expressing theirappreciation for PDI with aposter204

Priyokti Rana
UgandaHike to a waterfall in Bududa
with Peter, one of ourhost brothers

Enjoying the beautiful
sunset at Sipi

Value Derived from the Experience:
Through my experiences in Uganda, I have learned so much about NGOs, public health, theimportance of government, understanding how people live and what is truly important in
navigating life in this world. By interning at PDI, I was able to interact with some of the many kids
in Uganda on a daily basis as well as some educators in the Bubiita area. Additionally, I was able
to live with a host family through a homestay and older members of the community through
VSLA meetings. Each day was unique, and each day provided a new experience. Whether wewere setting up the special opportunity for the students to watch a movie via a projector or wewere hiking a few miles to reach a VSLA meeting, I enjoyed the beauty of the Bududa life. It wasan eye‐opening experience to live in a place where running water was not commonly found andpower outages were frequent. And although our homestay was very well accommodated, we
lived in a village where many other people did not have many basic needs met such as access topotable water. Despite living conditions, the people were the most friendly and welcoming
people who were willing to share their stories and listen to yours. They were open to exchanging
knowledge about our cultures and spending their time with us.
Although I am not particularly interested in becoming a teacher or working in microfinance, I do
have great interest in NGOs and working on issues that a community faces. The lack of access tohealthcare as well as basic necessities is devastating and much growth and development isneeded in this world. As an IDEAS major, concentrating in bioengineering and health, medicine
and society, I am understanding and making certain that anything I pursue in life is sociallyconscious and strives towards the bettering of this world and its people. I truly appreciate theextraordinary experience that the Iacocca internship has provided for me, and it has certainly
had a huge impact on me and my perspectives in life.

205

Faculty/Staff Contributions
Thank you to the Lehigh University Faculty and Staff who created opportunities forgroup programs. Their efforts went above and beyond their responsibilities to theuniversity and they took the time to prepare and lead a group of students in theirinternational experience.

Faculty/Staff Program Leaders:
Kelly Austin
Sothy Eng
Kwame EssienJack Lule
Steve McIntosh
Don Morris
Christy Novak
Susan Perry
Lloyd Stefen
Dimitrios Vavylonis
Alex Wiseman
Zhiyuan Yan

Special thanks also to the Steering Committee:
Lia Assad (Lee Iacocca’s daughter)
Richard Brandt (Director, Iacocca Institute)Paul Brockman (Professor, Finance and Law)
Marie‐Helene Chabut (Professor, Modern Languages and Literatures)
Carol Ham (Director, International Internships)
Cheryl Matherly (Vice President & Vice Provost International Affairs)
Nik Nikolov (Assistant Professor, Art and Architecture)
John Savage (Associate Professor, History)
Tamas Terlaky (Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering)
Lorraine Wiedorn (Assistant Vice President, Planned Giving)206

Thank you to the donors who made this program possible!

Air Products Foundation

John '85 and Maria Chrin '87

John C. Evans, Ph.D.'66

Lee A. Iacocca '45 '69H

Donald R. Phillips '84

James J. andTrisha S. Alexy ‘11 ‘16P

Kieren E. Connor '16

Fidelity Investments
Charitable Gift FundIntel Foundation

PricewaterhouseCoopers
Foundation

Jefferson Allen ’67

Curts Cooke '58

Wayne D. Freese '59

James '85 andSharon Maida '17P

Rieper Family Fund/
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund

Anonymous

Gretchen F. Cusick

GE Foundation

Christopher W. Kohler '08

Alex P. Tamm '12

Susan K. Archer ’82

John R. Day '98

Peter M. Gilbert

Harry B. Levine '56

Lawrence J. Tamm, Jr. '12P

Joseph J. '80 and
Elizabeth Bailey '14P

Marianna R. Deal '15P

Stephen F. Goldmann '66

Henry I. Lewis

Arthur C. Tauck, Jr. '53

David M. Baldwin '51

Charles J. '81 and Terri Delaney

Steven H. Goldthwaite '87

Howard T. Lieberman

The Freeman Foundation

Christina E. Bauer '15

Jessica M. DeSantis‐Berg '03

Donald M. '49 and Judy Gruhn

Haley G. Maruschak '15

The Pratt Family Foundation

BD (Becton Dickinson)

Eugene T. Dougherty '87

Charlene Y. Harry '99

James D. Miller '64

Paul D. andCheryl A. Thomas '78

Harold P. Bitler '64

Stewart Early '66

Leon C. '48 and June Holt

Vincent G. Munley '74

Vincent R. Volpe, Jr. '80

Lauren E. Bloch '10

Jeffrey D. Enslin '88

Katherine J. Howlin '16

Noah O. Ongoro '14

Ryan L. White '15

Robert W. Bohny '84

Ernst & Young Foundation

Linda S. Huber '80

Kristin C. Perry '93

Arielle K. Willett '15
Deborah E. Zajac '97

For Additional Information
http://global.lehigh.edu/internships
Carol Ham, Program Director
csh205@lehigh.edu (610) 758-3467
OFFICE OF
INTERNATIONALAFFAIRS