[phas-dept] Internship opportunity for undergraduates

Fri Feb 16 09:22:41 CST 2018

I was contacted by Mike West who works for NOVA Magnetics in Garland. They are looking to get a physics major to start by interning with them a couple summers and then coming to work for them once they graduate. The internship is a paid internship.  From previous experience he told me they would prefer a physics major over an engineer. Let me know if you are interested. See the attached e-mail below.

Kent Montgomery, Ph.D.,
Interim Department Head
Physics and Astronomy Department
Texas A&M University-Commerce

Good morning Dr. Montgomery,
Thank you for returning my call.  As we discussed, I have attached the job description that we are looking to "grow a kid engineer into".  Frankly, magnetics and filter design is more of an apprentice program than anything else and if one wishes to get into the business, one must WANT to learn the skills and work towards that goal since there is little or no course work available to learn from.

An outline of what we have in mind is below.  We are open to discussion and would also like to suggest some elective course work that might cross over into the College of Engineering.  This will help shorten the learning curve for the internship and the eventual hiring process if we identify a candidate who meets our requirements and who succeeds in acquiring the skills required.

1.  We are looking at a two year summer internship slot(s) with a junior or well qualified sophomore.  A junior with a willingness for the second summer would be at an advantage having had Advanced Electricity & Magnetism in addition to the 200 Level courses in Electricity, Electronics, Mechanics, and Thermal Physics.
2.  We would prefer students who have ties to the Dallas area to assist with housing. (We will not exclude a non-Dallas based student if we find a superior candidate)
3.  The internship slot(s) will be paid positions with wage levels to be determined.
4.  To help with the broad base of knowledge required for this type of Design Engineering position, the interns would train in the following departments: Engineering, Winding, Assembly, and Test/Quality.
5.  We would like to have some base of knowledge in 2D drafting using  CADD software. Our preferred software is TriTools Partners' Visual CADD https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.tritools.com_&d=DwIFAg&c=oqyuZuih6ykib6aKiBq22_bich4AVfYGoLertJN0bEc&r=hjwEO_XYlnwAQWUGeaCrW47w4mK-Al28-BKyRvaivBs&m=rM4GvC2TIiKgk9YdRMZeg02OU-Kr66-Sn_DYT9OaV_s&s=VSxFfIwBSG4BuYTZb30VgwWbR8zHCEa9O8bGWqXwDGo&e=<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.tritools.com_&d=DwMFAg&c=oqyuZuih6ykib6aKiBq22_bich4AVfYGoLertJN0bEc&r=ClC0dKui16NsesUATLpQgnMUgkdQBfRjO_qQut95l7c&m=Gppxa1j6_hUfiCIypBbXSZYpgRlP2EHg6f_pT0czGiY&s=PVBhBEQJggYWUJo7sMzGLWX9U6rkkC-xfYE6hsbv3Xo&e=> but experience in any 2D or 3D software would be very helpful.
6.  We ask that you identify as many as 4 - 5 candidates and ask them to provide cover letters, resumes and transcripts. If any potential candidates have questions about what Nova Magnetics does, please feel free to refer them to our website at www.novamagnetics.com<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.novamagnetics.com&d=DwMFAg&c=oqyuZuih6ykib6aKiBq22_bich4AVfYGoLertJN0bEc&r=ClC0dKui16NsesUATLpQgnMUgkdQBfRjO_qQut95l7c&m=Gppxa1j6_hUfiCIypBbXSZYpgRlP2EHg6f_pT0czGiY&s=aCLSrgU8ewAytM0B8ii9rgDslmuvX71zzP4PM4NaXg0&e=> .  I am also available to answer questions.
7.  When we have identified preferred candidates and have reviewed their information, Matt Davis (Nova's president) and I will come to Commerce to conduct interviews.
8.  There will also be an interview with Nova's director of engineering, Don McDade.  That may be on the same trip or might be a phone interview depending on schedules.

As I noted on the phone, my father is an alumnus of East Texas State University having earned undergraduate degrees in Mathematics and Physics in 1958.  Dad went into the electro-magnetics/transformer industry straight out of school and became one of those "recognized experts" that we all hear so much about.  Our feeling is that the broader base of knowledge acquired in the Physics Department is a superior launching platform to the College of Engineering for a successful career in our field.  Matt Davis and I are both second generation in the transformer business and literally grew up in the industry.  For the right candidate(s), this is an ideal position and carries the opportunity to become the next generation of engineering management at a company founded in 1981 with a number of employees who have been with us since the beginning.

Nova has designed and manufactured products used on offshore rigs, in oil & gas production equipment, in aircraft, in orbit, in military radar systems, in your local telephone central office and even in the USS Gerald R. Ford.  We have designed and built devices that are as small as .050" in diameter using wire that is too small to see to devices that are the size of a pickup truck standing on end capable of 3,500 KW full load, 100% duty cycle power...and anything in between.  We have done volumes from single pieces for experimental purposes to hundreds of thousands of pieces for full production.  Nova is headquartered in Garland, TX and has manufacturing facilities in Garland and in Mexico.

I tell people..."it is challenging, it takes a special mind set...and damned if it isn't a lot of fun." and at the age of 60, I am still learning...because there's always something more to learn.
We need to grow one or two young engineers to start...and the door is wide open.

We look forward to discussing the possibilities.

Regards,

Mike West
Design Engineer
Nova Magnetics, Inc.
972-375-5809 (cell)
www.novamagnetics.com<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.novamagnetics.com&d=DwMFAg&c=oqyuZuih6ykib6aKiBq22_bich4AVfYGoLertJN0bEc&r=ClC0dKui16NsesUATLpQgnMUgkdQBfRjO_qQut95l7c&m=Gppxa1j6_hUfiCIypBbXSZYpgRlP2EHg6f_pT0czGiY&s=aCLSrgU8ewAytM0B8ii9rgDslmuvX71zzP4PM4NaXg0&e=>

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