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Internship Fair Benefits Students Industry Partners

February 24, 2016

Kyle Spomer didn’t have to look far this week for a summer internship.

The Electrical Engineering sophomore just walked 30 feet down the hall when class ended and into the Internship Fair on Tuesday.

“It was super convenient having this here on campus,” Spomer said.

Spomer was one of dozens of students who networked and shared their resumes with some of the top industry leaders in Central Florida. Among them was Naval Air Systems Command (NavAir), which provides a wide spectrum of services for the U.S. Navy, including research, systems engineering, design and development.

Eric Bagho, a NavAir systems engineer, was looking forward to meeting and hiring the next generation of engineers. NavAir offers several full-time internships for students close to graduating.

“We’ll help you get started before you finish school,” Bagho explained.

Tuesday’s industry partners embodied multiple majors and concentrations, including big data, mechanical engineering and logistics. Ray Oberhofer, co-founder of Cogistics, represented the latter. The Lakeland-based logistics company moves freight around the world. Oberhofer said he was looking for students prepared to solve challenges.

“We want out-of-the-box thinkers,” Oberhofer said.

A local internship appealed to Daja Isom, a sophomore studying Computer Science. Daja aspires to develop therapeutic games for veterans and active duty military members. An internship would be a great first step in that direction, she said.

“I would like to find an internship connected to my major, but I also enjoy learning new things. This could be my opportunity to do that,” Daja said.

Session Details

This session will demonstrate that practical risk management is for everyone, regardless of a formal program. Attendees will learn actionable and simple strategies that are easy to implement, enabling them to start immediately by focusing on their top risks to build greater operational resilience and ensure the sustained success of their auxiliary enterprises.

Presenter Profile

Michelle Powell serves as the pioneering Risk Manager at Florida Polytechnic University, the state’s sole 100% STEM-dedicated institution. Having been with the university for nearly 11 years, Michelle transitioned from a leadership role in Admissions in October 2023 to establish and evolve the risk management function from the ground up. In this solo capacity, Michelle builds robust frameworks for our dynamic, young university, overseeing our insurance portfolio, consulting on third-party and event risks, and developing critical campus-wide training programs. Michelle has obtained the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (COSO) Enterprise Risk Management certificate and the Associate in Risk Management (ARM) and Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist (CRIS) designations. Her distinct background in mathematics and engineering, combined with extensive higher education leadership, brings an analytical and strategic approach enhancing the institution’s resilience.