Impactship - MIT GEL

Program

Engineering Impactship

The GEL “Impactship” Program connects GEL students with a special type of engineering internship. These Impactships represent a collaborative effort between GEL and industry to create highly developmental and engaging engineering internships.

Information about upcoming  Impactship positions and application instructions will be distributed to GEL students via email announcements. GEL 1s who apply for a GEL Impactship must have a strong interest in also applying to the GEL 2 program.

Sample Employers

  • Apple
  • General Motors
  • Ginkgo Bioworks
  • Milwaukee Tools
  • Northrop Grumman
  • Procter & Gamble

The Impactship Difference

You may be thinking: These things sound great, but don’t other internship programs already offer similar characteristics? We hope that is true—after all, these are best-practice features of internship programs. Unfortunately, internships are highly variable in this regard. GEL actively seeks and partners with employers to cultivate such opportunities, and uniquely identifies the opportunities for you. Further, GEL is involved in facilitating pre-/post- Impactship goal-setting and reflection for students. You are invited to view the guidelines that GEL and Employers established to shape the development of Impactships.

For those students who advance into GEL Year 2, participating in an Impactship fulfills the GEL 2 InternshipPlus requirement.

 

Impactship participants will engage in meaningful, high-impact assignments that contribute to the success of their placement company. As a result:

  • Participants will see the “big picture” of how their work contributes to company success
  • Assignments offer practice in the Capabilities of Effective Engineering Leaders [Links to 1.4 Capabilities]
  • The output of the assignment will be of tangible value to the company

Participants will adopt significant responsibilities that reflect the work of a practicing engineer. These may include:

  • Presenting to senior stakeholders
  • Maintaining a schedule and possessing budgetary responsibility on a project
  • Leading a small team or coordinating the efforts of others

These experiences pair committed and passionate sponsors with participants. Such sponsors:

  • Have several years of experience in their field
  • Possess a balance of strong technical skills and social/interpersonal skills
  • Are viewed as high-potential technical leaders by the company
  • Most importantly: are excited (and able) to commit substantive time to a mentoring relationship