One intern's experience

She may have only completed her freshman year, but Christina Klecker '10 has already proven she's got what it takes to be a successful engineer.

Christina Klecker '10 with Tek-Air's John Lombardi

"We decided to test her a bit, to see what she could do," admits John Lombardi, product development engineer at Tek-Air Systems in Danbury, Conn., where Klecker interned this past summer. Tek-Air designs and builds critical air flow components for research facilities, universities, and other institutions." Early on, we asked Christina to design and develop a new mounting method for a product we just introduced to our industry," says Lombardi, pictured at right with Klecker. The product, a new velocity alarm, "is used to monitor face velocity of a fume hood and report any deviations in air flow that can lead to a lack of containment by the hood. Within a week, Christina not only had the concept drawings completed, but had a completely operational prototype ready for our customer to test. Her design was simple, functional, and exactly what we needed," says Lombardi.

A mechanical engineering major, Klecker decided early-on that she wanted the real-world experience an internship would provide. "I was honestly amazed that I could keep up with the other engineers. It gave me such a sense of fulfillment," she says. She credits an engineering design course she took her freshman year with helping her with designing and dimensioning. "I still had to learn Visio and Solid Works, but it was easier to pick them up having learned AutoCAD in class." Her other duties at the company included issuing drawings, generating engineering change notices, and doing some technical writing in support of production.

"Having an internship program was something new for us," says Lombardi. "We identified the workload we thought the intern could handle, and we came up with a list of goals. In each case, Christina exceeded our expectations. She was able to handle anything we could throw at her."

"As a freshman, I didn't think I knew anything," Klecker admits. "But you never know what you can do until you're out there. Tek-Air is a great company and they've really taught me so much already. I would absolutely recommend the internship experience to others."

Reprinted from The Owl, Fall 2007