INTERNSHIP STORIES

Last winter I exhibited Vestments of the Magus, a suit of steel armor I fabricated during my sophomore year. Nick Ireys attended the opening and was impressed with my piece. He was interested in meeting up to show me around his workshop, which I very happily agreed to! Through my time there we eventually got around to talking about summer plans and internships, at which time Nick offered me this opportunity to work as his summer intern! Nick Ireys is a blacksmith and metalworking artist that specializes in public art, restoration and fabricating high end architectural metalwork. His fine art work blends forged metal with blown glasswork, and primarily takes on a wide variety of metalworking projects through his personal studio label, NI Metal Design. He also started up his own blacksmithing school, Baltimore Hot Metal, where he teaches basic blacksmithing workshops in 3 hour long sessions.  I worked primarily as a workshop assistant for Nick, helping him with fabrication tasks that...

Danae Industrial 3D Printing is a 3D printing lab run by a MICA Alumni and winner of the MICA START. Originally beginning as a company focused on the creation and design of 3D printed prosthetics, they have since expanded to become a printing and prototyping service with SLA, SLS and FDM capabilities, taking clients from the medical/pharmaceutical industry, large sports companies, and companies on the fortune 500. I found out about this internship and applied for it through the MICA Network’s list of posted internships. The internship was secured through an email application and zoom interview. My direct supervisor was the founder and CEO of the company who oversees the management of the company and works creating processes to improve the workflow of the company, as well as securing production deals with potential clients. My main responsibility was to assist the production floor printing technicians with the slicing, printing and post processing of incoming jobs. Projects I was involv...

Hill Studio is a design and development studio that provides creative, thoughtful and lightly engineered solutions in partnership with companies. They provide sketch concepts, physical prototypes, and 3D models to the clients. The businesses they work with are furniture and lighting manufacturing businesses in North America with some overseas. I was offered this internship by my supervisor, we had already discussed this position over the summer, and I pursued it and continued the conversation before the semester. My direct supervisor is the owner and principal designer of the studio. I’m not able to discuss the details of the projects because I signed an NDA but they range from furniture, lighting, and household products. I helped develop concepts, create 3D models, 3D renderings, and 3D prototypes as well as designing presentation decks to present to clients. I am most proud that one of my designs for a product was approved by the client. I have many key takeaways from my internship, ...

I was recommended for the position at Ziger/Snead by my TA from a class I took on the fall semester of my sophomore year. He was graduating and was asked to find someone to take his place so he recommended me for it. I secured it by working on creating a portfolio and a resume that showed my potential and by interviewing with the partners and the studio manager at Ziger/Snead. Ziger/ Snead is an architecture firm that is based in Baltimore. They are very much committed to working specifically in the area of Baltimore and it’s surroundings . They work in a variety of residential, institutional and historic projects. The team is composed of 18 people. They create design that is tailored to the client and it is never a repetitive or robotic design process. Every project is different. In my internship my direct supervisor is Nicole Lamont and she is the studio manager. She manages everything in the office and maintains everything flowing smoothly.  I had som...

I am Arthur Futernik, a sophomore at Maryland Institute College of Art. During the summer of 2016 I interned for an industry design company called EC Designs. I was told about EC Designs through a family friend that mentioned my name to lead designer, Eric Cera. After doing a bit of research I noticed Eric worked for many reputable clients such as MTV, Time Inc, and ABC, among others. Eric was impressed by my website and I reached out to him to get further details. In the past I have always wanted to work in the entertainment industry. Interning for EC Designs would give me a great head-start and insight to this field of work. When the summer started, Eric and I met in person and went over what I intended to do with the company. After a long conversation about my past experience, future goals, and the work load I would be doing I was accepted as an intern! This internship provided an in-depth look into the field of industry design, an occupation that is very in line with ...

Hello my name is Connie Chong; I am usually  addressed as Frost. I am an interdisciplinary Sculpture student with a concentration in Ceramics. Over the Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 semester I was lucky to be the properties assistant and intern for the Lyric Opera House of Baltimore. I found this job purely out of luck. After having visited my friend’s apartment and talking about a possible career choice in theatre and film making weapons and props I happened to see two people taking a break outside the Lyric Opera House. These two people were Lisa Mion and Andrew Esposito. I got the nerve to ask them if they worked at the opera house and if there was maybe a chance I could intern for them. Delighted they told me that they were just talking about having a properties assistant. After that night I began to work for the Lyric Opera House. Although the Lyric Opera House hosts many shows there are two Opera performances per year. In Fall 2012 I was involved in La Boheme and th...