Everything has been great. My co-workers are awesome and I'm learning a lot. Lately I have been organizing pictures of invertebrates taken from an ROV, these photos will hopefully be used as a source of information on the NOAA website. I have also done measurements of rockfish based on video taken from an ROV and collected seaweed to feed the abalone that we have in the NOAA aquarium. I have been to a couple of lectures at NOAA and I have discussed careers with other people in my lab. All in all I'm learning a lot and getting a good idea of what it's like working at NOAA.

Sincerely,
Allegra

Everything at Scripps Institute of Oceanography is going beautifully. The people are wonderful, my "mentor" is a great guy, and the days are never dull. The days change constantly, which is great. One day we will go out on the boat and collect plankton with some researchers, and the next, we will do paperwork and talk with scientists. We have repeatedly helped one group of researchers with long-line fishing, in the hopes of tagging a baby thresher shark. I also make daily rounds of two aquariums, and make sure that everything is in tip-top shape. I feed animals bi-weekly, and have fun daily. I couldn't ask for a better summer.

Thanks for your email.
Lily Bolig

Thank you for you email. I am currently working at Advanced Survey Technologies and I am enjoying it. At first, the shift was a little bit difficult because I was not used to working 8-hour workdays, but this is my 5th week and I'm much better adjusted now. Advanced Survey Technologies deals with Fisheries Acoustics, so my main task these past weeks has been to develop a teaching module targeted at high school students about Fisheries Acoustics, specifically how fisheries acoustics works and how it is applied to real life. The project has been coming along well. And on Friday I will be going out on a boat to help with an instrument calibration.

Thank you for you interest and your work in organizing this internship. It has been a great experience so far.

Dylan Shinzaki

So far I have worked extensively on R & D here at DeepSea Power and Light. I've learned how to use modeling programs like SolidWorks, gained more experience with machinery and learned how to work in a professional environment. I've had a great time so far and everything is going great!

Matt Thompson

I'm interning at Sontek/YSI right now, and sadly it is my 6th and final week here :( but otherwise-

1) Everything has been pretty good over here. This has been a great summer and a great program, and I personally think I have gotten a lot out of it. The people are wonderful.

2) The first about week and a half, I was doing some testing on the almost-finished products made by Sontek, which was cool because I got to see the instruments themselves, and also the amount of work that goes into engineering one product, which I found amazing. And for the past 3 or 4 weeks, I was given a project of my own, one that was new to Sontek as well as me. It is called an Econet, and it basically transmits data from the field site onto a website, to save the hassle of bringing a computer to the field site every time. It has been a little tough, a little trial-and-error, but I've finally got it working, although there are still some bugs to still sort out. But it's been fun, and I had a great time working on it. I'll be sad to leave everyone at Sontek, but the six weeks have flown by and I've had a great experience here.

Tamara Louie

Everything here at Teledyne RD Instruments is going splendid. I've been helping them test out their new product, and I've been learning so much about oceanography. I do compass calibrations and frequency tests as well as other things, and after collecting the data, I work them into either a presentation or format it to where it can be read by other people to incorporate into their work.

Thanks so much for this opportunity!
Jennifer Wong

Everything is going great. I have done a lot of cool and interesting things. I have tested two ROVs for current draw and I have done electrical wiring on two surface power supplies. Along with doing manual labor I have done some pretty cool things. I am really enjoying this internship and I have learned a lot.

Reid Collins

Everything is going great at my job and I have learned so much that I can barely remember it all. I have been doing all sorts of things from extensive machine work to plastic molding to engineering and drafting. I just finished my first day of my last week at InterOcean systems. The only things I regret not doing are doing more painting and actually making time to finish the undersea winch project I started with the other intern (not from MTS). With a little prodding at the bosses I have gotten them to teach me to weld. The best part of this internship however was the responsibility I received. I was treated like an actual adult, and it was an eye opening experience into the real world. I really appreciate the opportunity given to me – thank you so very much!

Sincerely,
Casey

I am in my fourth week as an Intern at SAIC, and things are going excellently. I've been working on programming their database so we can catalogue their warehouses of marine equipment. They also have me head out to work in the warehouses some days. I've scaled containers to attach cranes and spooled more than 5 tons of cable. I'm having a great time of it, too! Working full time can be intense, and it doesn't let up, but it's how the world runs, and when I get that crane hooked up and clambor down to the ground or finish off that last line of code and watch the programs run flawlessly it's all worth it. That sounds cliche, and ...well... it is I supose, but it's really true in this instance. There's a unique satisfaction that comes from solving a problem in theory then pulling the pieces together into a tangible and dependable solution. We talk about marine science (like Acoustic Thermometry) and engineering (like the Darpa Challenge) daily, and it makes my 8 hours much more fun.

I feel that I should thank you for giving me this opportunity, and so I do. It has reinforced my interest in Marine Science and more specifically Marine Engineering.

Sincerely,
Alex Trahan, Intern
SAIC Marine Operations Division

Every thing is going well here at Scripps. I like it. My co-workers here are really friendly and helpful. Every day before I start working I go and run on the beach which really warms me up considering I arrive at six! I work as an assistant, describing cores, which are earth samples from the deep ocean. I also get to sample things and sometimes I find huge shells. I like it here; in fact, I was able to tour the aquarium for free! Thank you Mr. Nordell for giving me the opportunity to learn new things as an intern here.

Thank you
Adrian Ramos

The internship (Fugro) has been going very well. Employees at the office have been giving me meaningful assignments that have helped contribute to the completion and efficiency of certain projects. Also, by working on these assignments, I've gained a more thorough appreciation of the intricacies and effort involved in this business. This has been a very rewarding experience and it feels great to be a contributing member of a company like this.

Nick Saade