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Summertime means exceptional internship opportunity for CNSE undergraduate student

CNSE student Nicole Palmer works in the cleanroom.

For the second straight summer, CNSE undergraduate student Nicole Palmer is receiving real-world experience while participating in an on-site internship with CNSE corporate partner Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL).

Palmer joined CNSE’s inaugural undergraduate class in 2010 with a goal of graduating with a degree in nanotechnology and launching a career as a process engineer in a cutting-edge cleanroom. Growing up approximately 50 miles north of CNSE, she became interested in nanotechnology while in high school. Knowing that the emerging science will drive nearly every industry in the 21st century, Palmer decided to pursue studies in nanoscale engineering and determined that CNSE was the perfect place to do so.

“Not only is CNSE in my own backyard, but it is the best college in the world that is dedicated solely to the study of nanoscale science and engineering,” she says. “It is the perfect place for me to pursue my goal of becoming a process engineer.”

CNSE student Nicole Palmer has interned with Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL) for two straight summers.

Beginning in the summer of 2011, Palmer earned the opportunity to receive a paid internship with industry experts at TEL – and the experience went so well, she’s back for a second round this summer.

As a TEL intern, Palmer is working directly on the multi-million dollar TEL tools in CNSE’s world-class cleanrooms. Her role as an intern began with a focus on fingerprinting, a type of quality control where she checks that a tool is running as it should. This summer, Palmer began exploring the chemistry behind plasma etching to better understand how plasmas can be used for etching different materials.

“The TEL internship is an amazing use of my time,” says Palmer. “I am able to learn so much from the people that I am working with, gain a new perspective of the industry as a whole, work with customers, and apply what I have learned in my CNSE classes to my job in the cleanrooms.”

Palmer’s internship is a major step toward her ultimate goal of working as a process engineer upon graduation in 2013. With a resume that includes experience working with one of the world’s leading high-tech companies, there is no question she’ll have a leg up on the competition.