Aerospace Engineering Internship Story: Northrop Grumman

Evan Munson

Aerospace Engineering

What company did you intern with and where are they located?

I was a systems engineering intern for Northrop Grumman in Huntsville Alabama.

How did you identify and apply for your internship? Are there any specific resources you used to find the opportunity (i.e., Handshake, career fairs, other recruitment events)?  

My mother works for Northrop Grumman as a software engineer. After she referred me through the referral program, I submitted my application.

What was the application process like?

The application process was very involved since Northrop Grumman is a government contractor. Beyond the initial application and interview process, I had to undergo an extensive and complex process to obtain a security clearance. With help from my parents, I got through it without issues.

Tell us about your internship experience. What types of tasks and projects did you engage in? Was there a particular project or part of the experience you learned the most from?

As a systems engineering intern, I wrote system requirements in the DOORS database. The requirements define exactly what the system is supposed to achieve and how it is expected to perform. Accompanying requirements are Verification Compliance Strategies (VCS). VCSs define how testers validate the requirements by detailing what the tester is expected to look for. If the requirements are the what, VCSs are the how. Writing requirements required a lot of teamwork. To define how the system was expected to perform, I needed a thorough knowledge of it. I worked with my team and subject matter experts to attain this information. Furthermore, the requirements had to undergo extensive reviews. Once the team left comments on the requirement package, I would host in-person meetings to get feedback and discuss edits. Overall, while writing requirements included a lot of technical writing skills, I also had to be well-versed in teamwork and collaboration.

In what ways did this internship help you prepare for your next destination after Auburn?

My internship was my first real professional experience. I was suddenly thrown into a world of meetings and emails for which I was unprepared. Learning how to navigate this environment was one of the greatest benefits I retained. Now, I feel more accustomed to what is expected of me going forward. Starting any new position is scary and presents a large learning curve. While this hump never disappears, I feel much more prepared to traverse it after already doing it successfully once before.

In what ways did your coursework or other experiences at Auburn prepare you for your internships? Are there specific topics or skills you learned from classes that you put into practice on the job?

I never used any of the material I have learned throughout my education. Calculus, physics, and chemistry doesn’t serve you well when your entire role revolves around writing. Rather, I found the process of learning that material to be of great benefit. This often raises the question; why do we have to learn this material that we’re never going to use? However, an often-overlooked aspect of studying engineering is that you’re not only being tested on the courses you study. You are also being tested on your ability to encounter a difficult subject and be able to learn that material and succeed in that field. That’s the situation I found myself in during my internship. I had never written system requirements before, but through my college experience, I was prepared to quickly learn how.

Are there specific topics or skills you learned from class that you put into practice on the job?

One skill that translated from my classes to my internship is resourcefulness. In class, I often encounter topics I don’t fully understand, and the same is true for internships. However, I learned to take advantage of the countless resources the university offers to reinforce my understanding. Like Auburn, Northrop has numerous resources and people to help new employees. From my experience at Auburn, I felt comfortable utilizing those resources to succeed in my internship.

Do you have any advice for other students looking for internships like yours?

As the start date for my internship came closer and closer, my nerves fired more and more intensely. I was terrified. What if I didn’t know what to do? However, it’s crucial to keep the situation in perspective. You aren’t expected to know what to do when you start working. Rather, the point of the internship is to learn and gain experience. While I was tossed into the deep end, I wasn’t without life rafts. As long as you use those life rafts, you will succeed. Also remember, it’s a much bigger mistake to pretend like you know what to do than admit you don’t. Secondly, you are there to learn, so learn. I often had days with downtime, and in my experience, many interns use that downtime to relax or watch YouTube. Sure, they got their tasks done, but that is just the bare minimum. If you want to stand out to your employers, complete your tasks, and then complete more. Use that downtime to learn about your program or ask your manager what else you can do. I utilized mine to learn how to write test cases in Python and take on more requirement packages, and I can’t express how much that separated me from the other interns.