Earthly Dynamics Internship Program gives students the opportunity to apply all aspects of their education and experience to tackle the challenges of the aerospace community. Interns work closely alongside other engineers in the office at our Roswell, Georgia facility on a multitude of projects such as: design of mechatronic systems, applied electronics design, PCB layout, integration of sensors, actuators, and microprocessors into an embedded real-time autonomous system, firmware development, fabrication/assembly/testing of air vehicle mechatronic subsystems, interfacing with vendors and suppliers of components, and support of flight test activities.
Earthly Dynamics’ long-term interns of Summer 2021, Laurence Leon and Andrea Vu, share their experiences interning at Earthly Dynamics.
Laurence Leon – Georgia Institute of Technology, Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering – May 2022
How would you describe our company culture?
EDC’s company culture is lighthearted while also being hardworking and productive. No one takes themselves too seriously. Everyone is willing to learn new things and teach others. The owners are very involved and interested in the work EDC does.
Can you name a few things that you’ve learned (or newly developed/honed skills) from your internship?
I’ve developed a host of electronics prototyping skills like soldering and Arduino. I have also been introduced to PCB design, firmware development, electronics selection, and power estimation. Finally, I have had plenty of opportunities to further learn and apply Python to a variety of projects.
How has EDC’s internship program helped you meet or develop your career plans/goals?
I had wanted to learn about embedded systems for a while, so getting the opportunity to design PCBs and work on their firmware gave me good exposure and experience in this area. Also, being an EDC intern allowed me a large part in the design steps, which is not too common for interns, but is great experience.
Andrea Vu – Georgia Institute of Technology, Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering – December 2022 Graduation
How would you describe our company culture?
I would say that the office is both productive and interactive. I feel like a lot of work gets done throughout the day, but you can also always go up to someone and bounce ideas off of them or ask for advice on a project. It’s pretty easy going and there’s always a good bit of laughs.
Can you name a few things that you’ve learned (or newly developed/honed skills) from your internship?
A new skill that I’ve recently picked up is kiting parafoils. It’s a lot harder than it seems to get the wing to inflate properly and it still takes me a couple of tries to get it going. Mike is really good at it, though. A skill that I’ve really enjoyed getting to continue to develop is manufacturing my CAD designs through both rapid and professional prototyping. It’s really cool seeing what does and does not work and improving the design.
How has EDC’s internship program helped you meet or develop your career plans/goals?
EDC operates in a unique sector of the aerospace industry and has helped me to become more familiar with the industry. As an intern, I’ve been able to follow the design and implementation process all the way through and gain a better understanding of what it takes to get to a final design and create documentation for it. I’ve also had the opportunity to partake in research and be a part of the process of experimenting and publishing a paper. It’s been a really unique and rewarding experience.