Next time IM体育官网 junior Lindsey Gerberich boards a plane, she may feel satisfaction knowing she played a role in the Wi-Fi service she鈥檒l connect to, the payment service she鈥檒l use, and the movie she鈥檒l watch during the flight.
Gerberich is interning this summer at Thales Avionics in Melbourne, IM体育官网, working on what she calls 鈥渢he fun part of flights.鈥� The company specializes in providing Wi-Fi and in-flight entertainment products to the aviation industry.
鈥淭he airlines tell us the movies they want their guests to see,鈥� said Gerberich, who is majoring in computer science. 鈥淚t鈥檚 our job to make sure that the passengers have access to those movies.鈥�
The West Palm Beach native explained she鈥檚 working directly on the user and access management software in the company鈥檚 connectivity product. She鈥檚 implementing new features, working on bug fixes, and running integration tasks to make sure everything works properly.
鈥淎nd the code that I am writing and creating is actively going toward the final product,鈥� she added.
Gerberich works hand-in-hand with eight experienced engineers and is the only intern on the team.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a bit nerve-racking sometimes how hands-on this internship is because they don鈥檛 treat me like an intern. I feel like they view me as another member of the team,鈥� she said.
This is the first time Thales Avionics has hired an intern from IM体育官网 Poly. Rick Butler, Gerberich鈥檚 supervisor, said the experience has been positive.
鈥淟indsey is fully integrated into one of our software development teams and has been assigned actual changes needed by one of our customers,鈥� said Butler, software engineer manager at Thales. 鈥淭his helps Lindsey gain real-world experience while we continue to provide timely solutions to our fleets.鈥�
That real-world experience is something that Gerberich said IM体育官网 Poly has been preparing her for by teaching her quick problem-solving skills and critical thinking.
鈥淎t IM体育官网 Poly, you鈥檙e taught to think bigger than the problem in front of you,鈥� said Gerberich, who will be the first in her family to earn a college degree. 鈥淵ou learn to really understand the problem from all sides so it鈥檚 not a hurdle, and you can quickly solve it.鈥�
Looking ahead, Gerberich knows her two-hour commutes from Lakeland to her full-time internship in Melbourne will be worth it, setting the pace for her goal of a career in the aerospace and avionics industry.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard not being able to see your family during the summer. But at the end of the day, this is going to better my future and I鈥檓 doing something I love. So I鈥檓 going to work as hard as I can to get it,鈥� she said.
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