When Ms. Blasick was studying mechanical engineering at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania, one of her professors suggested that she apply for an internship at NASA Langley in Hampton, VA. She ended up spending that summer designing an aerospike nozzle for a reusable launch vehicle that NASA was developing jointly with Lockheed Martin. Being exposed to such a high-tech work environment and being surrounded by engineers with very impressive backgrounds convinced her that she wanted to pursue a Master’s Degree. After receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Wilkes in 1997, she went on to complete her Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech in 1999. She then went to work at Lucent Technologies and subsequently Nortel Networks designing optical circuit packs and networks.
Ms. Blasick hopes Georgia Tech students will take advantage of the incredible co-op and internship opportunities that the Division of Professional Practice has to offer. The Division maintains a job database containing over 1,000 employers and has nearly 100 years of experience pairing students with employers. When students come in to meet with her, she emphasizes that they are not limited to the jobs in the database... The sky is the limit! Students are encouraged to network, attend career fairs, surf the net, and dream big.
She feels that the strength of the co-op and internship programs is that they give students the opportunity to work side-by-side with seasoned engineers and scientists on real-world projects. They not only gain valuable technical skills, but also communication, leadership, team-building, and interpersonal skills. Furthermore, they get a bird’s-eye view into the corporate world, and that view can help them better determine the type of job they’d like to obtain after graduation. Ms. Blasick points out that many students accept full-time employment with the company they’ve worked for, while others use their experience as a springboard to launch a career with a different company.
Please don’t hesitate to contact Ms. Blasick with any questions you may have about the job search process, resume writing, or interviewing. She looks forward to working with you!
Ann Blasick
Assistant Director
Division of Professional Practice
Georgia Institute of Technology
Savant Building, Room 112
Atlanta, GA 30332-0260
Phone: (404) 894-3320
FAX: (404) 894-7308
ann.blasick@dopp.gatech.edu
