Ritika Kukreja, a final year MS Biotechnology student at the College of Science, Northeastern University, Boston shares her Pre-Co-Op (Summer Internship 2016) experience.
Tell us about your Pre-Co-Op experience.
From surfing and kayaking in the Pacific to trekking in Malibu to touring Hollywood in Los Angeles to conducting research at Amgen’s state of the art lab facilities, I spent my Pre-Co-Op tenure seeking out novel opportunities.
I worked at Amgen for 13 weeks from May to August, 2016 as a Grad Summer Intern in the Pre-Pivotal drug substance, Process Development department at Amgen Headquarters in Thousand Oaks, California. Broadly, I worked in the Operations division of Amgen. My summer project entailed media optimization for two of Amgen’s cell lines. My responsibilities briefly involved designing and developing an experiment to test various media conditions for the two Amgen cell lines using two different processes. I also analyzed the results and determined the most optimized condition for best growth and titer for cell line development. Toward the end of my internship, the project was successfully completed and presented at the illustrious Amgen Summer Interns/Co-Op poster presentation session. My work was later applied to other modalities. This internship was a great learning experience as, not only were my techniques and skills refined under expert guidance and insightful information, but I also got my hands on Amgen’s state-of-the-art lab facilities which allowed me to work with advanced biotech lab instrumentations while being part of the action.
Amgen has a very strong intern program that works concurrently with and for interns in their growth, in return empowering and motivating them to contribute to the industry. The impressive breadth of programs available to interns right from executive speaker series to team building experiences kept me involved beyond my regular lab work, thus ensuring an all-round development as well as providing tremendous networking opportunities. As a part of such activities I prepared a two-minute powerful video reasoning why I chose Amgen for the annual Amgen’s summer intern’s video competition and eventually won. Further, I was amongst the few interns who presented their work to the entire Operations division of Amgen. Being in Southern California, not only did I take advantage of the amazing weather and outdoor activities but also of the local professional networking meet ups to expand my associations. Overall, it was a fun, enlightening and well-utilized summer. Most importantly, I compiled knowledge and experiences that have been priceless.
What is your favorite part about Northeastern?
Besides the fantastically designed Snell Library where I do most of my work and the beautiful lush green campus, I really appreciate the strong emphasis on experiential education at Northeastern. The university conducts numerous seminars and workshops on campus that leads students to the right resources, skills and networking opportunities to land their dream job/internship.
Why did you choose Northeastern?
The two most attractive factors that had me hooked on to Northeastern were, the co-op program and its excellent location in Boston, in close access to Cambridge which is one of the largest Biotech hubs of USA. Northeastern is known for its experiential education and is rightly so. I was very impressed with the robustly designed interdisciplinary graduate programs to meet current industry requirements. For example, my program, MS Biotechnology comprises of business and science coursework with a compulsory co-op and an optional pre-co-op that students need to complete in order to graduate. So by the time a student graduates, s/he has satisfactory real world experience and network to be absorbed quickly by the industry.
What is your favorite part about Boston?
I like the Newbury Street and Copley square areas, as they are fantastic place to shop or to just take a stroll. I enjoy the vibrant atmosphere of the area.
What are the perks of being a Northeastern graduate student?
Many. To name a few, Northeastern possesses one of the best career services department of the country which conduct various seminars, workshops and networking meet ups to train and direct students to the right job. Students can utilize their walk-ins or special appointments to review their job applications or conduct mock interviews. The Co-Op and Employer in Residence programs confers several placement opportunities. Companies and potential employers often interact one on one with students either during job informational sessions or by chairing career panel events. Northeastern’s serious emphasis on experiential education and its robustly designed interdisciplinary graduate programs serves as the perfect blend when it comes to career building. Honestly, it would be hard to come and go as a student at Northeastern without making an employer connection.
What advice would you give to an incoming graduate student?
Tremendous growth opportunities are available to Northeastern grad students right from career services workshops, seminars and career fairs to on campus clubs and associations to Northeastern’s excellent research centers that can keep a grad student involved as well as provide the necessary exposure for career development. My advice to incoming students would be to utilize your tenure at Northeastern to the fullest by exploiting all such experiences. It is such involvements that is the essence of over-all development.
What are your plans after degree completion?
I intend to obtain an industrial position in the research or operations division of a biopharmaceutical firm.
