Electrical student completes internship in Germany
November 4, 2014
STARKVILLE, Miss. – A Bagley College student explored the international side of engineering with the support of a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).
As a RISE scholarship recipient, electrical engineering junior Brian Parker spent May through July assisting a doctoral student at the Universität of Paderborn in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Germany,” the MacHenry, Mississippi native said. “I knew that I wanted to travel out of the country before I finished college, and it just kind of fell into place.”
While his mentor created a theory based on amoeba-inspired self-organizing particle systems, Parker put it into action.
“I worked with the actual coding implementation. I made it so that when they came together, they then formed compact shapes,” Parker said. “For example, if I put them on a wall, they could paint the entire wall without having to split.”
While in Germany, Parker also got to enjoy many new experiences. He attended a traditional Schutzenfest and traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, to see the European Organization for Nuclear Research’s largest hadron particle collider. He said his most memorable experience, however, was being in Germany while the country became World Cup champions.
The trip held so many new experiences and learning opportunities for Parker that he said he intends to apply for the scholarship again.
“I would like to get an internship or co-op for one semester or two semesters,” Parker said.“If I am selected to go back, I would like to stay past the internship in order to travel.”
Parker highly encourages other MSU students to take advantage of the scholarships that would allow them to experience international culture.
“I’d very much like for someone else from State to keep applying for this, because I believe I was the first MSU student to do this,” Parker said. “It exposed me to global upper-academic research and to another country. I was able to realize that our cultures barely differ.”
Awarded by DAAD, the RISE scholarship provides undergraduate students the opportunity to serve as interns, under the direction of doctoral students at research institutions in Germany. Approximately 300 scholarships are awarded each summer to students in the fields of science or engineering.
For more information on the German Academic Exchange Service, visit www.daad.org.
The Bagley College of Engineering is online at www.bagley.msstate.edu.
By Amanda Meeler