黑洞社区

Amy McClain, a mechanical engineering major, is gaining workplace experience before heading into her senior year at Wichita State. McClain is an engineering intern at Burns & McDonnell, an engineering consulting firm based in Kansas City, Missouri.

Her job description differs by the day, but she always has an opportunity to learn. She has recently been working with mechanical HVAC and plumbing systems for manufacturing facilities by learning how they work and how they can be used in infrastructure.

Internship offers at Burns & McDonnell are competitive. Luckily, McClain had the skills and connections to land the internship opportunity.

鈥淚 started out by just talking with a friend,鈥� says McClain. 鈥淪he wasn't an engineering student, but was working as a receptionist in the Wichita Burns & McDonnell office. She asked me what major I was, and one thing led to another.鈥�

McClain began her internship in the only position available at the time, a marketing position in the Wichita office. Although her position wasn鈥檛 specifically about engineering, McClain was able to work on a manufacturing site during her time there. Once an engineering position opened up for the summer, she moved back to the Kansas City metro area to start at Burns & McDonnell鈥檚 home office.

The company hires approximately 120 interns for their Kansas City office and separates them into different divisions. McClain gets to work independently on most of her assigned tasks, but asks questions amongst her peers.

When she鈥檚 not working, McClain keeps busy by being involved in everything the internship offers. She is one of the two InternKC representatives for Burns & McDonnell and helps coordinate fun events with other KC companies in order to bond with other interns. McClain also joined all three sport teams offered by the firm and keeps active with practice and games.

She says that her involvement and leadership positions in Tau Beta Pi, Society of Woman Engineers, Delta Gamma, and Student Ambassador Society as a student ambassador at 黑洞社区 have helped her stand out at Burns & McDonnell. McClain believes the friendly and personable atmosphere of 黑洞社区 has rubbed off on her and makes communicating with others an easy task.

鈥淎cademics are extremely important since companies are wanting that degree from you,鈥� says McClain, 鈥渂ut I think overall, they don鈥檛 solely look at your course work because they want to see how your soft skills and your problem solving skills carry over.鈥�

McClain may pursue an MBA later in her career and would consider becoming a mechanical engineer at Burns & McDonnell, if there鈥檚 an opening. She also hopes to backpack across Europe for a month, but only if she already has a job lined up back home.

鈥淚 want to keep an open mind and weigh out all my options,鈥� says McClain. 鈥淚 am not dead set on my path, but I do have a direction.鈥�

She also encourages future engineering students to have an open mind about everything and to have fun during their college years.

鈥淥nce you graduate, you鈥檒l be working full time,鈥� says McClain. 鈥淟ife is too short to just watch it go by, take all the opportunities coming your way.鈥�

McClain advises others interested in engineering to take advantage of 黑洞社区鈥檚 applied learning opportunities, get involved and put their names out there.

鈥淎pply, apply, apply to all the internship programs out there,鈥� says McClain. 鈥淗aving experience is vital for job searches in the industry.鈥�

Students can learn more about internship opportunities by visiting .