More than 1,600 college students applied for the National Research Enterprise Internship Program (NREIP) in December 2014 and 592 began their internships at various locations throughout the U.S. in May and June.

Of the 592 students selected for the prestigious Science, Technology, Engineering and Math internship program, the Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division (NSWC PCD) welcomed 41 students May 25, 2015 to embark on a 10-week journey.

"For this year, 1,663 students applied to the program and 592 internships in total were awarded," said NSWC PCD NREIP Coordinator Mary Hulgan. "NSWC PCD has the NREIP's fourth largest amount of interns for fiscal year 2015 and it's the largest number we've ever had."

NSWC Panama City Division is fourth behind Naval Research Lab with 54, Space and Warfare Command Pacific with 65, and NSWC Carderock Division Ship Systems Engineering Station (SSES) who accepted 90 students.

Hulgan attributes much of the program and NSWC PCD's success with the internship program to STEM engagement and community involvement by NSWC PCD's Educational Outreach Coordinator Ed Linsenmeyer.

"Ed is very engaged with our community and these students talk with each other," said Hulgan. "We look for interns starting at the sophomore in college level in hopes they will join our workforce after graduation."

"I am fortunate to have many occasions to speak to undergraduate and graduate students about the opportunities offered by NREIP internships. Because of the very favorable experiences that our program provides to these students, they in turn become our best recruiters," said Linsenmeyer. "Many of these young engineers are surprised that they are able to work on real DoD problems and that their contributions are valued by the engineering teams with which they work during the summer."

NREIP internships provide the opportunity for a young engineer to build his or her resume. We encourage our best interns to apply to the DoD SMART (Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation) Scholarship for service," said Linsenmeyer. "Many of the SMART award recipients we have chosen have had NREIP experiences that contributed to their high rankings during the selection process."

One example of the internship's success is Lauren Hawkins. Hawkins, who now supports the littoral combat ship mine countermeasure mission package integration effort, interned for five summers between 2006 and 2011 under this program.

"She began to intern with us several years ago back when we could accept high school students. Lauren interned with us as a junior in high school and now she is one of our employees," said Hulgan. "She was a NREIP intern who was then accepted as a SMART Scholarship recipient and now she's working with us."

"During my internships I worked with a group of other interns on a design task. I performed the mechanical design work for a piece of support equipment or a test apparatus. I would generate CAD models and drawings and capture the design in a report and presentation," said Hawkins.

The decision to apply with NSWC PCD wasn't difficult for Hawkins.

"I selected NSWC PCD since I was a Panama City local. I was also very familiar with the mission of NSWC PCD since my father has been an employee here his entire career. He has greatly enjoyed his career. If I have half the fulfillment in my career that he has had, I would count myself very fortunate."

Hawkins, who first interned as a high school student with NSWC PCD in 2006 and 2007, was part of the Summer Partnership Employment Program. In 2008 and 2010, she returned as a NREIP intern. By the 2011 summer, she returned but this time as a SMART Program intern.

"My sponsoring facility was NSWC PCD, so my employment here was automatic. That program is an amazing deal, I couldn't pass that opportunity up," said Hawkins. "I started full time in June of 2012. I am the MH-60S integration test lead, which means I coordinate aircraft based test events for the Organic Airborne Mine Countermeasures (OAMCM) systems. This summer, I have an additional role of the LCS logistics helicopter coordinator."

Hoping for similar successes are returning interns Hannah Nix and Tinsley Ressler, who both interned at NSWC PCD in the summer 2014. Both are now also SMART scholarship recipients.

NSWC PCD: Technical Center of Excellence for Littoral Warfare and Coastal Defense.

For more news from Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division, visit www.navy.mil/local/NSWC/.