Internship Spotlight - Carlos Aragon


	From:	Albuquerque, NM
	Major:	Mechanical Engineering
	Company:	Sandia National Laboratories
	Location:	Albuquerque, NM

"Ever since I was a little kid, I've loved to take things apart." Carlos wanted to see how things worked, and learn how to put them back together. Sometimes that took patience and persistence - attributes that aided Carlos in landing an internship with Sandia National Labs.

In his freshman year at Ricks College, Carlos heard through a friend about Sandia internships. "I e-mailed my resume to Sandia, but received no response," he explained. This pattern continued for almost three years; but determined to get in touch with their offices, Carlos made a phone call, explained his qualifications, and was interviewed over the phone.

He happily accepted the internship and spent the summer semester working as a mechanical engineer in the Integrated Microsystems department. "I interned with GE Aircraft Engines a year before, but they dealt more with the production and commercial sides of the industry," he said. "At Sandia, I saw the research and development sides of mechanical engineering and it was better suited to my interests."

Carlos worked on one of Microsystems' main lines of development, MEMS (micro-electrical mechanical systems), whose gears (10-45 µm) have a diameter smaller than a strand of hair's (70-100 µm). He also used special technologies to design microfluidic devices, which have applications in many fields from military to medicine.

Sam works with an engineer at Sandia National Labs While interning with Sandia, Carlos also conducted research on an imaging system for "Z" - used to simulate nuclear weapons explosions, conduct fusion experiments and produce the world's largest amount of x-rays.

Research on nondestructive evaluation methods was another of his projects. Gripping a door handle he explained, "Some of this door knob's properties could be determined by cutting it open and analyzing the metal; but nondestructive evaluation methods would use eddy currents and ultrasonics to determine its properties and defects."

For Carlos, landing an internship with Sandia was an important personal step. To him it was an indication of his ability. "My first job was shining shoes when I was ten," Carlos said. "But the reason I got it was because of my father. He was well respected in our community, so when he wanted to get me a job, he'd talk to the right people and I'd get it."

"My grandfather used to work at Los Alamos National Labs, from which Sandia Labs branched off, when their location was still secret and they were developing the first atomic bomb," Carlos said. When he got the intern position at Sandia without family or other connections, Carlos said he felt a great sense of accomplishment.

Carlos saw first hand how the MEMS were designed and produced, and found he was able to apply many principles from his education to the workplace. "It was great working with individuals who have Masters and PhD's in various engineering disciplines," he said.