Riverside Community College District Students Selected to Intern with Naval Surface Warfare Center

Five Norco College STEM students were selected to participate in a seven-week summer internship beginning July 6 and ending Aug. 21. Each student has been paired with a Navy civilian mentor working on a variety of projects supporting Corona Division’s role in range systems and communications engineering, rapid prototyping and machining, and interface engineering. “Having the opportunity to participate in this internship has exposed me to learning opportunities for a career that interests me,” said Ryan Melendez, STEM student and intern. “Working alongside some of these engineers has helped me understand the field that I am going into.” Corona Division is a Working Capital Funded organization, which means work performed at Corona Division is funded directly by military programs and customers and not through congressionally appropriated funds. This funding model creates a lean business engineering environment where students witness tight deadlines and product turnaround times to maintain customer loyalty and satisfaction. Corona Division scientists and engineers provide products and services to support of the warfighter. “I am excited that we were able to work with the Navy and start this pilot program,” said Lorena Patton, Ph.D., director of Title III HSI-STEM Grant. “This allows our STEM students to gain more industry exposure and research opportunities in the field of engineering.” In addition to working alongside Corona Division scientists and engineers, Norco College STEM students have the opportunity to network with students from other internship programs that cover high school, college, university, and faculty from a variety of schools across the United States. Student interns will be given a detailed tour of Corona Division facilities, an opportunity to tour other California Navy installations, and have a Naval ship tour. "Internships are a way to support the urgent national and Navy need for students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM),” said Jennifer Stewart, NSWC, Corona Division's technology transfer officer. “Our hope is that these interns will consider joining the strong Navy civilian STEM workforce of tomorrow." Upon completion of the summer program, STEM students will receive a $1,000 scholarship sponsored by Edison International. ​