That ardour introduced Phillips to MIT, the place she found product design, and from there to a job as a designer for the nation’s largest provider of cordless energy instruments, Milwaukee Tool.
Her time on the Wisconsin-based firm began by way of a monthlong internship throughout her junior-year Independent Activities Period (IAP) as a part of MIT’s Micro-Internship Program, the place she was capable of acquire beneficial expertise working straight with and for MIT alumni.
“I worked in the advanced engineering group, and I worked on developing an accessory for an electrical trade tool that was focused on, as our products tend to be, improving the efficiency of a common task repeated throughout the day for electricians,” explains Phillips, who earned her undergraduate diploma in Course 2-A—a customizable observe in mechanical engineering that allowed her to take a deep dive into product design.
The greatest a part of the January 2020 micro-internship, she says, is that she got here away with a prototype in hand: “The process of creating the prototype started with putting myself in the users’ shoes, experiencing what they are currently doing on the jobsite and what the pain points of that process are.”
“I just love the feeling I get when I hold something I designed or made in my hands for the first time. It’s a big part of the reason I became an engineer.”
Rosalie Phillips ’21
Once Phillips understood what success would appear like, she started brainstorming about tips on how to get there. “After I had my best concept selected, I began to iterate and problem-solve,” she says. “Milwaukee has great onsite rapid prototyping resources, and I was able to design a concept and have a high-fidelity 3D print in hand a day or two later to test everything from access to ergonomics to fit. It was an amazing hands-on experience surrounded by all the resources to prototype you could ask for—definitely an engineer’s playground.”
The success of the IAP internship motivated Phillips to signal on for a full internship at Milwaukee Tool in the summertime of 2020, when she started working on a prototype for a carpentry energy software. That was intently adopted by a full-time job provide. She began in September 2021. One factor that drew her to the corporate was the construction of product design cycle, and the truth that every particular person owned a venture somewhat than contributing to a number of bigger initiatives.
“I just love the feeling I get when I hold something I designed or made in my hands for the first time. It’s a big part of the reason I became an engineer,” says Phillips. “I feel amazed I was able to bring something from my brain into the world, excited to test it out, curious if it will break, and already ready to make the next one.”
The alumni benefit
The notion of an IAP internship just isn’t new. The MIT Alumni Association began the MIT Student/Alumni Externship Program in 1997 as a means for alumni to host scholar interns throughout the January time period. It was renamed the Micro-Internship Program upon being revamped after transitioning to MIT Career Advising and Professional Development (CAPD) in 2020. The program nonetheless encourages MIT alumni to host undergraduate and graduate college students at their firms, though college students now even have the chance to use for positions not hosted by alumni.