My Intern Experience

Written by Rachel Wasik
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Over the course of my internship at the University of Akron Research Foundation (UARF), I have been involved in several projects that have contributed to the organization’s mission to “transform and expand the region's innovation economy through entrepreneurship education, technology commercialization, application of UA research, and creation of new entrepreneurial ventures”.
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I have greatly valued being able to have a role in helping the Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 I-Corps Cohorts. I-Corps is a program that aims to teach upcoming entrepreneurs how to find and understand their customer market. I helped the instructors keep track of each team’s deliverables to ensure that we catch when teams are struggling so we can provide additional support and encouragement. For the same purpose, I also reviewed the specifics of each team’s submissions and provided feedback. However, the most rewarding part of this experience was helping to serve an instructor during the I-Corps weekly meetings. I enjoyed working with my co-workers to help guide teams in the right direction. I have learned a lot from them with regards to customer discovery and how to provide feedback that is both encouraging and constructive. 

​I was also fortunate to be a part of creating a new entrepreneurial class called Founder Life Skills. This class aims to help upcoming entrepreneurs avoid issues known to cause many start-ups to fail. I helped create content surrounding team building, emotional intelligence, leadership styles, conflict management skills, key performance indicators (KPIs), objectives and key results (OKRs), time management, and building relationships with co-founders, investors, and board members. These are critical skills to have regardless of if you are an entrepreneur or working in industry. I was very grateful to be a part of this unique opportunity.

I have also been a part of some smaller projects including managing the Starting Line course email, wrote blogs for the company website, and created automated templates that can be used for company outreach. I cannot express enough how enriching this experience was to me, which can only be credited to the amazing people working at UARF. 
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After the Spring 2024 semester, I graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Computer Science from The University of Akron. While I will be pursuing a career in research and development, the entrepreneurial skills I have learned through this experience will greatly impact my thought process as I navigate through this new chapter of my life.