Frequently Asked Questions

The last requirement for my Masters program is a fulltime 6-month thesis internship at a company. As such, the baseline requirement from my standpoint is an internship that is project-based and will be suitable for a report to my university that includes an analysis of the company and the results of a market-oriented research project. Ideally, the role would contain elements of strategic analysis, product development, and require cross-domain coordination. Of course, the potential for a salaried position afterward is a plus.

For a complete description of the internship requirements, click here to download a pdf of the program guidelines.

When I was working at Allied Cooperative's Pest Pros Division, an opportunity to land a significant contract fell into our lap. The client was requesting a high volume of multiple, related laboratory assays to be performed on an ongoing basis. They were looking for a service provider that could provide superior sample processing speed compared to their current provider. The challenge was figuring out how to ensure that our lab could absorb the increased workload without degrading our capacity to serve other clients. It was a daunting challenge because the seasonal nature of our services meant that the division was run on a lean basis.

I was given the lead role in figuring it out. I realized that even if we got approval to hire an additional lab technician, we would still be limited by the facilities we had (sinks, centrifuges, etc.). Moreover, hiring a technician and building out facilities would take too long - the client would approach someone else. So, I tackled the challenge by improving the process.

Rather than adapting the protocol of the client's previous provider, I worked with the client and outside experts to streamline the procedure without sacrificing the integrity of the test. Furthermore, our laboratory's information management and reporting system was highly inefficient. I secured a bugdet to contract the development of a custom, lightweight laboratory information management and reporting software. This software was deployed within about a month because I knew exactly what our lab needed and communicated it clearly to a well-reputed outside developer.

We successfully struck a deal with the large client for this work and managed to absorb the extra workload without compromising our capacity to serve other clients. In fact, the new laboratory reporting software was so much more efficient that it allowed our lab administrator to voluntarily reduce her employment status from fulltime to part-time. Thus, we were able to absorb the large client and also significantly reduce our administrative expenses.