Hello, my name is Marvin Gomez. I am currently a third-year student at UC Davis, majoring in Aerospace Science and Engineering. I worked for a startup company called Action Tracker, located in Barcelona.
Action Tracker is a software service platform that uses IoT, AI, and real-time geolocation technologies to help field-based operations prevent accidents, monitor personnel, and track equipment. Being an intern at Action Tracker allowed me to further develop my technical, research, and communication skills. As an intern, I worked on several research projects relating to satellite communications and heat stroke detection & prevention. Furthermore, I had the chance to design a new prototype case for the existing IoT device to make it more durable and design a new clip for the case using SolidWorks.
My advice for future interns is to keep a daily log of what you did because your supervisor may request that information from you to track your progress. Another thing is to ask your supervisor for personal feedback to learn from your mistakes and understand what you can do better as an engineer.
Communication is the most valuable skill I learned in my internship. At the beginning of my internship, communication was my biggest struggle. I had trouble communicating with my supervisor about certain tasks I was supposed to do when I was writing my first research paper. There were some misunderstandings about how I should track my progress and how I should follow the format of the paper.
Things escalated when there were some delays in getting my work done because I unfortunately got COVID. Once I recovered and resumed back to work in person, I learned how to efficiently track my daily progress and asked fewer clarification questions to my supervisor. I was able to keep my supervisor updated on any early issues I encountered and made faster progress on my future projects. This experience revealed to me how important communication is to get projects done on time and prevent misunderstandings of technical instructions.
My CIS Abroad micro-credential increased my awareness of my strengths and weaknesses. It helped me develop clear career goals and build my network while studying abroad. My thoughts and ideas changed toward an appreciation of cultural differences by understanding the work ethic and environment in Barcelona. It pushed me to work on my habits and learn to communicate with my new community. It also helped me better evaluate my progress and improvement during my internship experience.
The weekly challenges I did made me step outside my comfort zone to try new things. The knowledge I gained from the micro-credential will help me become a better problem solver, demonstrate professionalism, and be a good team player.
This internship confirmed my plans to continue my education by attending graduate school, where I would like to get my master's degree in aerodynamics. It has better prepared me to go straight into research, as it has further enhanced my technical, design, and communication skills. I will take all the experiences I have gained with this internship and apply them to my engineering career.
Check out all CIS Abroad programs in Barcelona here!