As a Linguistics Graduate student, this internship seemed like a great opportunity to put my language arts skills to use and gain experience working with an engineering-based company. With an undergraduate degree in Chemistry and a minor in Japanese I was familiar with many different forms of writing, but I had never fully delved into the realm of marketing or writing for an audience that could contain potential customers. I had also been looking for a job or internship that would allow me to put my experience with both language and science to use. So when I heard that the internship would involve helping redesign the website and writing blogs about scientific topics I was excited to develop my skills in these areas.
Starting out
My internship began with helping Coupi, Inc prepare for their website upgrade. I was able to work with different marketing professionals and learn the different tactics that they use to appeal more to customers. I also learned just how much work goes into creating a website, which was more than I originally expected. A lot more effort goes into the layout, designs, banner images, and even the small blurbs of texts than one would think. I was privileged to help find images that could be used as banners for the new website as well as make suggestions on the layout.
By thoroughly reviewing Coupi’s website I was able to learn all about the company and the things that they do. It was fascinating to see the wide range of applications that their DEM software can be utilized for. From martian sand to sea ice dynamics this software can be used to model any number of physical phenomena. It was exciting to realize that I was a part of a company that is creating innovation in the industry.
Developing My Writing Skills
After helping prepare content for the new website design, I was able to start my first blog by reading about a 1969 study that examined the important scientific events that preceded technological innovations. This was to be the sequel to a blog already posted on Coupi’s website, called “Research: It’s Toys First, Catapults Later”. The best part of this being that I was already excited to read the next blog in this series, and I was given the opportunity to actually write it myself.
From there I went on to write many more blogs and discovered the process for scientific blog writing. It involved the same amount of careful research into scientific topics that academic papers require. But in my undergraduate, and even graduate studies I had never really written anything that was aimed towards the general public. It was always essays or research papers that were geared towards my professors and what they wanted to see. It was always very logical and rigid in its formatting. But with blogs, you’re writing to an audience that could range from high school age students to professionals in the field. It’s less formal than an actual research paper and you spend more time explaining concepts in a format that is understandable to any audience. In a way it was almost like translation, you have to find the right way to explain something without losing any of the integrity of the initial concept.
Main Takeaways
By working at a start-up company, I was able to see what kind of work goes into creating a successful company. I gained valuable experience with working with my fellow interns in order to accomplish the company’s goals. While I worked on marketing work, the other interns worked on modeling and coding within the software itself. By working together, we were able to accomplish far more than we would have on our own and our differing perspectives allowed us to create solutions to problems more effectively.
I also gained valuable experience in both writing and marketing. By working with professionals, I was able to gain insight into the types of things that they do, and also why they do things that way. From the style of writing to the images you choose for your blogs, every part plays a role in making a successful posting or website.
This summer has been a great experience. With the open floor plan, collaborative atmosphere, and our daily stand-ups we made an incredibly efficient team. We focused on being adaptable with our tasks and focusing our efforts in the areas that needed it most. Overall I plan on bringing this experience with me to my future endeavors and am thankful to be a part of a company that is changing the way we work with particulate matter and simulations.