Foothill SLI STEM Summer Internship Scholarship 2021: STEM Research Internship

Description: STEM Research

Through the Science Learning institute (SLI), five Foothill College students will have an opportunity to intern either with a small team at the Palo Alto Research Center on the Marine Cloud Brightening Project (1 position) or with a researcher at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

The Marine Cloud Brightening (MCB) project is a geo-engineering method suggested by John Latham some 25 years ago to mitigate the effects of climate change. It aims to increase the reflectivity (albedo) of certain kinds of maritime clouds, such that more of the incoming sunlight is reflected, thereby cooling the earth. Researchers at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) are looking into the feasibility of geo-engineering of this type to determine if it might be a usable approach for global climate remediation. Find out more. This is a part-time commitment – 15 – 20 hours/ week for 8 – 10 weeks.

SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is one of 17 Department of Energy national labs in the U.S. and is pushing the frontiers of human knowledge and driving discoveries that benefit humankind. Their researchers invent the tools that make those discoveries possible and share them with scientists all over the world. This is a full time commitment – 40 hours/ week for 10 weeks.

Internship commitments:

• Enrollment in ITRN 50 or 51 (depends on projected number of hours of internship). Course tuition will be covered by the Science Learning Institute or your financial aid.
• A program orientation for the summer internship program in late June with the Science Learning Institute.
• Submission of a final report of your internship experience at the end of the summer.
• PARC: part-time (15 – 20 hours per week) summer internship during July and August (8 – 10 weeks). Exact dates to be determined.
• SLAC: full-time (40 hours per week) summer internship for 10 weeks.

Scholarship amount:

• Scholarship payments will occur in two installments and will depend on successful completion at each stage: one in the middle of the internship and one at the end. Total scholarship amount will be based on duration of internship; the PARC internship scholarship will be about $1800 and the SLAC internship scholarship will be $6000.

Application criteria:

• Be majoring in a STEM discipline.
• Upper level coursework in chemistry, computer science, engineering or physics.
  – For the PARC Cloud Brightening Project internship, students should have taken at least one of these courses: ENGR 35 (Statics) | ENGR 37 (Circuit analysis) | ENGR 47 (Dynamics) | Physics 4 series OR Equivalent experience with any of the above would be considered.
  – For the SLAC internships, students should have taken: Same classes as above for PARC internship OR Chemistry 1A, B, and C (the full series) OR At least 2 quarters of a computer programming language (C++, Java, or Python)
• For the Marine Cloud Brightening project, additional criteria include interest in the project – please do some research on the Marine Cloud Brightening project, such as this link
• Experience with mechanical engineering and operations are a plus!
• Be a full time student at Foothill College for winter 2021 and projected for spring 2021 (at least 12 units each quarter).
• Have Foothill College as your primary school (more credits at Foothill College than at De Anza College).
• Full completion of the application, including naming a faculty/staff reference.

Priority given to:

• Students with demonstrated financial need, who have not previously had an internship or company experience, and who have the intent to transfer.
• First time degree earners (no prior degree such as a Bachelor’s or Associate)

Application requirements:

• Fill out academicworks general scholarship application.
• Fill out supplemental application questions, including uploading your resume.
• Upload unofficial transcript to scholarship portal.