AIMES Offers Undergrads Industry Work Experience

Melissa Laue
March 30, 2000


Juan Restrepo of the University of Arizona has always had an interest in increasing internship opportunities for undergraduate students. His interest has become a resource for students around the world for the past five years.

The resource is called Arizona Internships in Math, Engineering, and the Sciences, otherwise known as AIMES.

The main goal of the AIMES program is to provide undergrads, in any discipline, opportunities to experience and learn things that are seldom or never taught in the academic environment, said Restrepo, UA assistant professor of mathematics and member of the university's Applied Mathematics program.

"This program is a clearing house for internship opportunities primarily for undergrads of any discipline. It provides students with an opportunity to become more resourceful, responsible, and mature. It allows students to test themselves out in a work situation, working with teams, communications, etc. This can also be a fun experience and a reference for graduate school or a job." Restrepo said.

Restrepo conceived the idea for AIMES in 1995-96, when he was a faculty member at the University of California, Los Angeles. Most programs then available to students were too slow and complicated, he said. He wanted to find a more efficient way to "feed" in as many students as possible into the many available internship opportunities.

The program is aimed primarily at undergrads in their junior or senior year of college. However, Restrepo said he encourages students to begin thinking about AIMES internships during their sophomore year.

Interested students are encouraged to check out the web site, contact Restrepo, and attend one of the two meetings offered a year (one a semester) on what people and companies look for in students before they offer them internships. Companies that have offered AIMES internships in the past include Motorola, Raytheon, and Honeywell.

Restrepo strongly believes that students must be resourceful enough to set things up for themselves. This is when the internship starts. Restrepo is willing to help as much as he can, but his main goal is to simply make students aware of all the opportunities available. "There are more
opportunities than there are students," he said.

Restrepo received his doctorate in physics from Pennsylvania State University in 1993. He has been at the UA since August 1997. Currently he is doing research in the areas of geophysical fluid dynamics and scientific computation with funding from the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.

(From Melissa Laue, UA/NASA Space Grant Intern in UA News Services)

Contact: Juan Restrepo
restrepo@math.arizona.edu
520-621-4367
http://www.math.arizona.edu/~restrepo/AMII/amii.html


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