Structural Composites, Novel Engineering launch summer internship for composites education

Structural Composites Inc. (SCI, Melbourne, Fla., U.S.), in partnership with Novel Engineering (Melbourne), launched a new internship program this summer 2022 for students looking for experience in composites manufacturing. Pioneered by Structural Composites’ director of communications, Dominique Gentile, the 12-week, paid Composite Pathways Program (CPP) received almost 100 applicants from a local engineering university. SCI is currently hosting 12 interns this summer as a trial run with the goal that they will be able to find job opportunities after its completion.

“Being a recent college graduate and being extremely lucky to have secured a job during my final year of college, I have realized many of my peers who have graduated were never able to obtain an internship, which makes them less likely to get a post-college job,” Gentile notes, when explaining her motivations for the program’s development. “Experience is a needed aspect of obtaining a job, but these students are not provided with the necessary tools to get the required experience. We are trying to fill that gap and produce solutions alongside Novel Engineering.”

According to Gentile, SCI is located on the Space Coast, where there is an influx of engineering work/companies but a lack of internship opportunities. Aiming to fill this gap, CPP curriculum includes many different areas of learning. No matter their specialty or major, Gentile says, each intern will spend time in the shop, laboratory and over at its sister company, Compsys Inc., learning manufacturing and production with a primary focus on composites.

Guest speakers and weekly group lessons are also provided. For example, Brian Said, Lockheed Fellow, taught the current interns the importance of proposal writing and topics to be a successful engineer. Now, interns are learning how to use FEMAP, an advanced simulation application for creating, editing and inspecting finite element models, a lesson taught by a graduating intern. Each week, continued lessons on different aspects of engineering, business and production manufacturing focus on hands-on manufacturing, unique testing aspects of composites and offer mentorships to help bridge education and real-world applications.

The 12 interns chosen by SCI — seven of which are contracted out by Novel Engineering — started on May 16, 2022, and will complete the program before the start of the new school year in the fall. Interns will also be offered the opportunity to continue working part-time during their semester. Gentile says SCI does not have a cap on internship spots, but it does depend on project load and need.

While she says CPP is still a work in progress, the ultimate goal is to use Novel Engineering's staffing expertise and network to help streamline internships into permanent employment that fits each student’s goals. After the intensive summer training program, the experience provided by SCI, and each intern’s academic experience will lay the foundation for a solid career path in advanced composites and materials.

The primary goal of this program is to use Novel Engineering's staffing expertise and network to help streamline internships into permanent employment that fits each student's goals. Structural Composites offers the opportunity to gain experiential learning and skills. After the intensive summer training program, the experience we provided, and their academic experience will lay the foundation for a solid career path in advanced composites and materials.

“SCI has worked with interns since it's inception,” Scott Lewit, president of Structural Composites Inc., notes. “Over the 35 years we have helped mentor many and steered them into our industry. This new program is exciting. With a record number of skilled motivated interns, we hope to take innovation mentoring to the next level while leveraging the technical achievements they will make.”

“It is an honor for Novel Engineering to be selected for partnership in the CPP quest to prepare students for their career paths while simultaneously improving industry environments with career-ready candidates,” Misty Marot, president of Novel Engineering, says. “The complementary nature of Structural Composites and Novel Engineering strengthens the outcomes of this endeavor by providing support in all aspects of the Composites Pathway Program.”