Congratulating OPT’s 2021 Intern Class!
Ocean Power Technologies was fortunate to welcome several interns to our offices in summer 2021. As a new school year looms, we are thanking them for their hard work – and counting on them to remember where they started when they’ve gone on to establish successful careers in their chosen fields.
Maria Kaldas – Finance / Accounting
Rutgers Business School – Bachelor’s in Finance/ Honors college minor expected in 2022
- Future Career Goals: Graduate early in May 2022, work strictly in finance for a few years, go back to school for my MBA
- Biggest Takeaway: Networking is very important! I used this internship to learn as much as possible and figure out what I like to do.
Mohammad Khan – Engineering / Mechanical Design
Rutgers School of Engineering – Bachelor’s in Engineering expected in May 2022
- Future Career Goals: Become a lead design engineer, project management
- Biggest Takeaway: Development from idea to physical representations to application. One of my biggest takeaways is developing the skills necessary for determining real solutions, which requires listening, understanding, and applying suggestions/advice from the team. Therefore, the biggest takeaway for me is how to work with a distinguished team and apply technical skills.
Ahmad Nadeem – Engineering
Rutgers School of Engineering – Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering expected in May 2022
- Future Career Goals: To be an engineer in the green energy field, either help develop new products or optimize existing energy practices, become a project lead, and explore a variety of opportunities.
- Biggest Takeaway: How to be an engineer, act professionally, and use programs such as Orca Flex, MATLAB, etc.
Remy Sirc – Human Resources
Rutgers Graduate School of Human Resource Management – Master’s degree in Human Resource Management expected in 2023
- Future Career goals: Graduate with my Master’s degree, become SHRM-CP certified, climb the HR ladder
- Biggest Takeaway: Working at OPT has been a blessing for me and confirmed that HR is 100% the field for me. I have learned so much from my amazing mentors, Michele Burke and Karen Novak. I’ve created excellent relationships with the entire OPT team and enjoyed learning in a great work environment. Thank you, OPT for picking me!
Nicholas Steel – Operations
Rowan University – Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering expected in May 2023
- Future Career Goals: My primary career goal is to enjoy what I do for a living. I’ve always known I wanted to solve problems, so being able to experience both design and manufacturing engineering in this internship has helped me improve as an individual, as well as to identify my career path.
- Biggest takeaway: The most important thing I’ve learned is that efficiently managing your time is crucial, as there are many stages to a project, and if one is held up, other people cannot effectively do their job. If you take an hour to analyze the project and develop a plan, then stick to that plan, it can save a lot of time in the long run.
Matthew Thomson – Engineering / Software & Electrical, Program Management
Mercer County Community College – Associates of Science and Physics & Associate of Science in Computer Science expected in June 2022
- Future Career Goals: Finish associate of science in physics and computer science degree, go for a Bachelor’s in atmospheric and ocean science and then a Master’s in ocean engineering.
- Biggest Takeaway: Take risks and initiative!