The students in our group come from diverse educational backgrounds that translate into unique research pathways. However, the computational and scientific skills we develop through our research are transferable to many different placements in industry and academia. Our group has taken advantage of this by actively participating in internship experiences in a wide range of industries. Below are the recent internships undertaken by members of the Clancy group, along with a short testimonial of their experience.
MILA – Quebec AI Institute
Student: Divya Sharma
Dates: November 2022 – February 2023
“MILA is a research institute based in Montreal, that is formed from the collaboration of many deep learning researchers that are motivated to use artificial intelligence and deep learning for the benefit of humanity. I was offered an internship to work on a state of the art generative model called GFlowNets and its application on producing Lithium solid state battery candidates using active learning. My work involved testing and preparing possible multi-fidelity simulation techniques as oracles for calculating ionic conductivity. I also worked on developing a new environment for GFlowNets to work on crystal structures.”
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL)
Student: Connor Ganley
Dates: February 2022 – August 2022
“My internship at LLNL was part of a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Graduate Student Research grant. The six months I spent there doing thesis work and learning from Dr. Rebecca Lindsey on machine-learned interatomic potentials was transformative for me as a PhD student.”
Alonics
Student: Aaron Chen
Dates: August 2021 – Present
Argonne National Lab
Student: Haili Jai
Dates: October 2021 – Present
Pacific North West National Laboratory (PNNL)
Student: Blaire Sorenson
Dates: January 2021 – October 2021
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
Student: Seun Romiluyi
Dates: May 2021 – August 2021
“During my 12 week internship at NIST as a Data Science Intern in the Cement/Concrete department, I was part of a team tasked with creating a database of experimental cement/concrete related properties extracted from 1000s of research articles in the cement/concrete literature domain. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience there as it gave me hands-on experience working with large datasets towards a long-term objective.”
Corning Inc.
Student: Nikita Sengar
Dates: June 2019 – July 2019
“During my 10 week long internship at Corning Inc., I worked on developing an understanding of how motion of ionic species in glass have a correlation on important bulk phenomena like ion exchange, electrical conductivity, etc. My work primarily involved conducting Molecular Dynamics studies of glass melts with a focus on capturing global transport properties. Corning has a particularly inclusive and open culture which allowed me to freely interact with experts in my field. Overall I had a rewarding internship with Corning. My experience there will definitely help me make informed decisions about my future endeavors as I near my graduation.”
Alacris Theranostics GmbH
Student: Andrew Ruttinger
Dates: June 2018 – August 2018
“I received a fellowhsip through the DAAD Rise Professional program, giving me the chance to work at a company in Germany and gain research experience outside of a university setting. My work focused on developing a codebase to integrate experimental data into a systems biology model for personalized medicine applications. On a professional level, I got the opportunity to develop my coding skills while learning about a field outside of my Ph.D. research. On a personal level, I got to live in a new country, experience a new culture, and make connections with scientists in Germany. Overall, this was an excellent internship and I gained valuable research and industry experience.”
Department of Homeland Security
Student: Ryan Heden
Dates: September 2017 – December 2017
“In the fall of 2017, I interned at the Department of Homeland Security. My work there, which is currently restricted, was a major departure from, and provided some great experience outside of my normal area of molecular modelling.”
IBM
Student: Jingyang Wang
Dates: May 2016 – August 2016; February 2017 – December 2017
“I am grateful to have the extremely fortunate opportunity to intern at IBM T. J. Watson Research Center twice. My work there was very different from what I did at Cornell, but they share a common theme: electronic properties of InGaAs-based devices. Specifically, I did two projects at IBM: the first one being TCAD simulation of InGaAs-based sub-10nm FinFET devices, and the other being ab initio contact resistivity simulation of Ni-In(Ga)As interfaces. I found my experience at IBM to be a very enriching one: my manager and mentors were never hesitant to teach me new things that I was not familiar with, while encouraging me to bring my own expertise in wherever it is necessary for my research. I think this internship experience offered me a valuable perspective towards research from the industry world, which is critical for my future career development in an industry setting.”
ExxonMobil
Student: Yaset Acevedo
Dates: May 2017 – August 2017
“As a process modeling engineer with the ExxonMobil Upstream Research Company, I developed process models that could support ExxonMobil oil sands operations. In particular, I expanded the capabilities of a pre-existing Aspen HYSYS flowsheet for the oil sands process, including the design and implementation of a custom unit ops model using Aspen Custom Modeler. During my internship at ExxonMobil, I was surrounded by intelligent, friendly engineers who challenged and encouraged me. Their quality of research and focus on work/life balance makes it a great place to work and start a family. I look forward to my employment in Houston!”
Corning Inc.
Student: Ryan Heden
Dates: May 2017 – August 2017
“This was the first of two consecutive internships I participated in, that were first brought to my attention by Dr. Clancy. This was an enriching internship at Corning Inc. for approximately 11 weeks during the summer of 2017. My main project was a molecular dynamics study on the effect of composition on silica glasses. I performed simulations to try to reproduce experimental bulk properties, and to identify molecular-scale structural differences that could account for these differences in bulk properties. I also briefly investigated the utility of ab initio methods in modelling silica glass structure.”
GlobalFoundries
Student: Nikita Sengar
Dates: July 2016 – December 2016
“After completing my MS program in May 2016, I went for a six month long internship with GlobalFoundries (GF). GF was then working on developing a 7 nm fabrication node technology which they launched last year in December. During my time as an intern there, I worked with the Frame Development team to design the lead frame structure in a chip which can support significant increase in performance and efficiency in comparison to the 14nm technology. It was extremely encouraging to know that my work contributed to developing a leading semiconducting technology. And also, doing an internship helped me understand the practical implications of research, and I feel it was an apt segue into my PhD program.”
Corning Inc.
Student: Henry Herbol
Dates: January 2016 – May 2016
“In my third year, I spent my Spring semester at Corning Inc. on a research internship. My work involved Molecular Dynamics studies of the inorganic-organic interface, with a focus on developing computational methods to extend current capabilities. Corning itself has a very open work environment, with collaboration being at the forefront. The people I worked with were very intelligent, and my experience there helped me better understand what industry has to offer. I enjoyed my time at Corning, and have made some good friends!”