CSM Student Lands Engineering Internship

Simmons joins Transportation Electrification at UMD

A College of Southern Maryland student landed a prestigious spot in a 10-week program through the University of Maryland’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Christopher Simmons of Marbury, MD, couldn’t wait for summer to start and not for the obvious reasons of trips to the beach, chilling with friends, or sleeping in. Instead, Mr. Simmons earned the spot in the Research Experience for Undergraduates: Summer Engineering Research Experiences in Transportation Electrification at the UMD A. James Clark School of Engineering. The internship began June 6.

“Having this opportunity to be a part of the [National Science Foundation] summer internship really motivates me to research deeper into the field of electrical engineering in the transportation industry. Working one-on-one with my graduate student mentor from the University of Maryland has not only expanded my knowledge in research as a sophomore student, but has also given me the opportunity to have hands-on experience. I am absolutely anxious to see what my future as an electrical engineering student has in store for me,” Mr. Simmons said.

The Maryland Power Electronics Laboratory is focused on research and development of transportation electrification systems such as used in electric, hybrid electric, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles including aircraft, ships and heavy duty vehicles, wind energy, and solar energy conversion and micro-robots.

The 10-week program through UMD’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, with support from the NSF, provides students team-based research with technical and educational seminars. Students are supervised jointly by faculty members and graduate students.

As part of the program, undergraduate students work on research projects that connects the students with local industry and government representatives. At the end of the program, student teams participate in the Transportation Electrification Fair to present their technical research projects.

The program includes a stipend of $5,000 and housing on the College Park campus.

For more about the College of Southern Maryland, visit their Leader member page.