Employee Spotlight
EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT WITH ROMEO GARCIA
2022 TOMKAT INTERN
Q: HOW HAS THE INTERNSHIP AT AEROMUTABLE HELPED YOU GROW PROFESSIONALLY?
“At Aeromutable I was given a manageable and exciting amount of responsibility. This helped me feel like an integral part of the team. With this responsibility I felt the need to become a better engineer/designer, making critical decisions that helped the progress of the company. My critical-thinking, decision-making abilities, confidence as an engineer/designer, and versatility were all developed in my time at Aeromutable. This growth will surely transfer into my professional endeavors."
Q: WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT DOING YOUR INTERNSHIP WITH AEROMUTABLE?
“My favorite part about doing my internship with Aeromutable was definitely the hands-on aspect. This could have been when working on a project or assignment or prototype. Making an idea come to life was super fun. Being able to create as much as I did at Aeromutable has helped grow my confidence to begin making anything that comes to mind."
Q: WHAT PROJECT WERE YOU MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT DURING YOUR INTERNSHIP?
“The project I was most passionate about during my internship was the air intake system. Out of all my projects, I put in the most design time into this one. With the constraints given for this project, I was able to create a product I was really proud of. Piecing this project together was like a puzzle, I had to find the perfect pieces that would fit, and that was really fun. From this project, and my other projects as well, I gained design experience and was able to reinforce the idea of no detail being too small.”
Romeo Garcia joined Aeromutable as a rising Junior from Stanford University majoring in Mechanical Engineering. Romeo was Aeromutable's 2022 Stanford TomKat Summer Intern.
SPOTLIGHTS FROM THE PAST:
EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT WITH JUSTIN SKAGGS 20/21 ASD INTERN
Q: HOW HAS THE INTERNSHIP AT AEROMUTABLE HELPED YOU GROW PROFESSIONALLY?
“Working with Aeromutable was a blast. I got the opportunity to learn all sorts of hands-on skills, with excellent guidance from my supervisors. It created a safe place for me to ask questions and learn, and helped me get a better understanding of engineering in the real world. I got a chance to hone my hands-on skills in coding, soldering, and designing of prototype systems. Professionally, I gained skills of being organized, became better at sharing ideas in a collaborative setting, and practiced goal setting and tracking.”
Q: WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT DOING YOUR INTERNSHIP WITH AEROMUTABLE?
“My favorite part was working on site, as well as learning about electronics. It was extremely satisfying to finish a large project and see it in action. Seeing the whole process of putting together a working prototype was a blast to work with. Working with 3D modeling was also a favorite part of mine, as I was able to practice and apply a lot of the skills I’ve learned. Working on all of the projects with Aeromutable was refreshing, and the nature of the start-up filled me with motivation and excitement to work to my fullest potential.”
Q: WHAT PROJECT WERE YOU MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT DURING YOUR INTERNSHIP?
“The project I was most passionate about during the internship was the control system. I liked being able to synthesize several aspects of the design, and work with the electronic aspects and optimization of the system. I wanted to get more acquainted with electronics and coding prior to the internship, and being able to design and learn about chips was exciting.”
Justin Skaggs joined Aeromutable as a junior at UCSD, majoring in Chemical Engineering. Previously, he had worked as a volunteer lab assistant in the SOLEIL (Solar Energy Innovation Laboratory) Lab at UCSD, and as a UCSD Supplemental Instruction Leader for the Teaching + Learning Commons. Justin was an Aeromutable 2020-2021 San Diego Regional EDC Advancing San Diego Intern and completed that internship primarily remotely due to the pandemic.
EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT WITH KIMBERLY FAJARDO
20/21 ASD INTERN
Q: HOW HAS THE INTERNSHIP AT AEROMUTABLE HELPED YOU GROW PROFESSIONALLY?
“One of the areas of professionalism I have been able to practice and improve throughout my internship at Aeromutable is in communication. Working remotely throughout the internship, it was really important to communicate with Sandy and David if I was successful completing a task or if I needed further guidance to move forward. I have also been able to work on my flexibility while being an intern. Being introduced to new concepts and tools, I have grown to be able to adapt to and learn what I had no previous knowledge of, which is how I was able to learn SolidWorks and work with constraints to create necessary designs.”
Q: WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT DOING YOUR INTERNSHIP WITH AEROMUTABLE?
“My favorite part about doing my internship at Aeromutable is that I was able to work on tasks relevant to the career I am pursuing and in doing so have gained meaningful skills. I also enjoyed the environment at Aeromutable. Sandy and David made it very welcoming.”
Q: WHAT PROJECT WERE YOU MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT DURING YOUR INTERNSHIP?
“One of the projects that has been the most meaningful to me has been designing three different manifolds for the pneumatic system Aeromutable is working on. My designs began on paper and I eventually was able to create the 3D designs in SolidWorks. Throughout the process, I realized that almost anything is possible with Solidworks and as I continued to use it, I got more comfortable with it. After working closely with David to finish the design, the parts were manufactured using additive manufacturing technology. Having the parts in front of me, and being able to touch them, was really cool and allowed me to find areas that could be improved. Finally, I was able to contribute to the integration of this into the overall system, and being able to go from paper sketches to a fully assembled system was great. During this internship, I really enjoyed having the opportunity to bring a design from concept to Solidworks and finally to real life.”
Kimberly Fajardo is a graduating senior at UCSD from California, majoring in Aerospace Engineering, with a minor in Mathematics. Kim was an Aeromutable 2020-2021 San Diego Regional EDC Advancing San Diego Intern and completed her internship primarily remotely due to the pandemic.
EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT WITH MELODY YANG
2020 TOMKAT INTERN
Q: HOW HAS THE INTERNSHIP AT AEROMUTABLE HELPED YOU GROW PROFESSIONALLY?
“My experience at Aeromutable allowed me to work closely with two cofounders of a startup. I was able to learn about the various aspects of running a startup, from the technical side to the business side.”
Q: WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT DOING YOUR INTERNSHIP WITH AEROMUTABLE?
“Sandy and David were very intentional about prioritizing my professional development, and they offered me coffee chats, gave me access to conferences and meetings they attended, and allowed me to work on projects that were interesting to me and reflected the skillsets I wanted to improve.”
Q: WHAT PROJECT WERE YOU MOST PASSIONATE ABOUT DURING YOUR INTERNSHIP?
“One of the projects I worked on was creating a 3D model of the door hinge. This project was challenging because the hinge needed to satisfy several specifications, and I improved my problem solving skills and spatial reasoning. It was interesting to see the design go from a list of requirements to a working model by the end of the internship.”
Melody Yang is a rising senior at Stanford University from New York, majoring in Engineering Physics, with a concentration in electromechanical systems. Previously, they have worked as a research intern at the Schleier-Smith Lab at Stanford, and as a fellow at the Chinese Progressive Association in San Francisco Chinatown. Melody was Aeromutable’s 2020 TomKat Summer Intern and completed their internship remotely due to the pandemic.
Image attribution: Russell street, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons