Chemical engineering major Nicholas Langberg had the summer before his junior year all figured out: He would work for two months and then head to Germany in mid-July for a month-long International Summer School session at UMass Lowell鈥檚 partner university, the Hochschule Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences.
But when Langberg鈥檚 summer job fell through, he didn鈥檛 despair. Instead, he got a better idea.
鈥淚 went into the Study Abroad Office and said, 鈥業鈥檇 like a chemical engineering internship in Germany if you have one.鈥� They said they had the perfect thing,鈥� says Langberg, who was able to arrange a two-month internship in a chemical engineering research lab at Hochschule Darmstadt.
鈥淚t ended up being one of the best experiences of my life,鈥� says Langberg, a native of Lancaster, Mass. 鈥淣ot only was I able to have this great experience abroad, but I was able to gain real-world experience in my field of study, which I hadn鈥檛 really had yet.鈥�
While Langberg鈥檚 internship began with 鈥済runt work鈥� such as creating dilutions and preparing reactions, he was soon doing graphical programming in LabVIEW, work that gave him a head start on his junior year coursework.
鈥淚 was analyzing two-phase reactions, which is in the vein of what I鈥檓 going into as a chemical engineer,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 sure what I was doing at the time, but now I have practical experience to back up what I鈥檓 learning in class.鈥�
Once his internship was complete, Langberg began the summer school program, which consisted of the course 鈥淓nergy Efficient and Sustainable Building Engineering鈥� and German language lessons.
鈥淭hey were really intensive classes. In the mornings, we鈥檇 study German, and after lunch we鈥檇 study civil engineering and architecture,鈥� says Langberg, who didn鈥檛 mind that the program wasn鈥檛 directly related to his chemical engineering major.
Langberg, who had already been to Germany once on a high school trip and considers himself fluent in the language, is now eyeing potential career options there.
鈥淚鈥檓 looking into chemical companies like Merck,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 such a beautiful country, and the food is amazing. One of my favorite places is Olympic Park in Munich, which is built from the rubble of the bombed city. You can look out over the city and see the Alps in the distance.鈥�