Entrepreneurship@CornellInternship Program
Testimonials
Vybion, Ithaca, NY
Vybion develops and manufactures proteins for biopharmaceuticals and diagnostics and uses novel proprietary tools in the development process.
“Meredith is an enthusiastic and energetic addition to the company. She is
doing a great job in identifying leads for our technologies and services.
It is a program I highly recommend.” Lee Henderson, CEO, Vybion
“My internship with Vybion was uniquely able to capitalize on my science background while still providing me with important business skills. I’ve also expanded my knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry in general, which will no doubt be important for my future career.“ Meredith Hart, Intern
Datapoint Labs/Materiality, Ithaca, NY
Datapoint Labs is a testing facility with expertise in plastics, rubber, food, ceramics, and metals. They work in every industry segment where quality product development occurs: automotive, aerospace, biomedical, consumer products, food and toys.
"Anna, being a very smart intern, could look beyond the intimidating
technical jargon of our web-based technology. Soon, she was training our
client base of mostly engineers on its effective use. I wish summer was
longer." Renu Gandhi, Marketing Manager, Datapoint Labs/Materiality
"My internship with Datapoit Labs gave me confidence in dealing directly with clients and exposed me to a variety of marketing strategies. By working on independent projects, I was able to develop my creative thinking and problem solving skills. My employers welcomed questions and valued my input." Anna Wilson, Intern
Novomer, Ithaca, NY
Novomer is a specialty polymer and materials company built upon a breakthrough catalyst technology platform discovered by Cornell University Professor Geoffrey Coates. Through a partnership with Cornell, Novomer has state-of-the-art facilities and equipment to support polymer synthesis scale-up and contract research endeavors. Novomer’s patented catalyst systems provide unprecedented control in the synthesis of a variety of materials, including aliphatic polycarbonates, poly and polyolefins.
“Simon was a great addition to the lab this summer. He was enthusiastic, hard working and completed a number of different projects that had a significant impact on the company. Thanks for sending me his resume last spring!” Scott Allen, Novomer
“In a large corporation, I'd get a project and spend the summer researching it. What I got at Novomer was something different. Every day was a new experience and my tasks were varied. For example, on Wednesday, I'd help manually assemble the new lab while researching an appropriate green policy, while on Thursday I'd run polymerizations in the lab. In many ways, I had a lot more responsibility than I expected to, free to carry out the work that I thought was most important to the company. The freedom was at first a bit challenging to get accustomed to, especially as a student. And while most of my work was done in the lab or pertained to chemistry, I learned a great deal about small companies and their role in big industries: the type of lessons invaluable to entrepreneurs.” Simon Frid, Intern
Systanix, Ithaca, NY
Systanix has developed a scaleable and adaptable system for chemical synthesis, called SysFlo. With its patent-pending microreactor and catalyst technology, SysFlo’s modular design enables highly efficient, on-demand chemical production while decreasing equipment footprint.
"Dan has been an extremely valuable asset to Systanix this summer. He has been a key contributor to the progress that Systanix has achieved over the course of the summer. This internship opportunity has been advantageous both for Dan and the company as a whole." Steve Broadwater, President/CEO, Systanix
"Working for Systanix this summer has been great. The job has heightened my interest in and understanding of the chemistry I have learned in my classes. More importantly, this has been an experience that will help me to decide what I would like to do upon graduating. I am very fortunate to have been given such a great opportunity." Daniel Kubis, Intern
Sacyl Scientific, Ithaca, NY
Sacyl has rights in certain patent applications held by Cornell to discoveries in the area of treatment of infectious disease.
"Thank you for supporting our intern program! With your help, we obtained
invaluable assistance from Bryan Hall in researching potential markets for
our business, valuing our intellectual property options, and otherwise
setting strategy with the benefit of intelligent research and analysis
provided by an exceptionally well qualified intern. This is our first
contact with your office, and we come away very pleased and impressed and
looking forward to future dealings." Michael Pinnisi, President/CEO, Sacyl Scientific
“My Sacyl internship was a unique and rewarding experience in which I had
the opportunity to use my business, technical, and legal skills together to help an emerging technology company with its real-world problems. Having just finished my first year in law school, this practical experience on the intersection of the business, technology, and the law will be invaluable to me as I explore future career options.” Bryan Hall, Intern
Cell Preservation
“The CAT internship program has been an excellent opportunity for our organization to bring in additional technical personnel to contribute to key research projects. Working with a Cornell undergraduate student has offered unique challenges and benefits to our entire staff. Keith West, while only just completed his freshman year, has been a diligent, attentive, inquisitive laboratory research assistant. Keith’s fresh perspective has been a positive addition to our research team. As a Cornell graduate myself, it has been gratifying to pass along practical working knowledge to current students. We would be fortunate to have students like Keith return in the future.” Kristi K. Snyder, Ph.D., Director of Operations & Principal Scientist
“My experience this summer has been excellent. I've learned more from being in a real lab environment than I ever could have from taking a course at school. Everyone here from the graduate students to Kristi and John have been more than willing to answer all my questions and help me along.” Keith West, Intern
Concepts in Health
"During the time I was away, Matt completely ran my business, performing all of my ongoing business functions and did a spectacular job. His knowledge enabled me to go away without worrying about my business at all. Over the course of the summer, Matt performed a number of independent projects including developing an e-commerce web-site from scratch, conducting a market research study, compiling a media contact list for public relations use. He was extremely detail oriented, dedicated and reliable in all of his ongoing responsibilities and project work. He was a huge help to me this summer." Holly A. Rosenthal, Concepts in Health
2006 Quotes
Advion Biosciences, Ithaca, NY
Advion BioSciences, Inc. provides bioanalytical contract services and products to the pharmaceutical industry. The company provides various analytical services, as well as sample management and storage, biomarker discovery analysis and P450 inhibition services.
“Rachel contributed to many on-going projects such as conference planning, contact management support, reprint request fulfillment, marketing literature design and market research. She also helped in other areas of the company such as sample management and procurement. Rachel contributed to the team effort and worked well with our staff. This was a good experience for everyone." Holly D. Wietgrefe, Director of Technical Communications, Advison BioSciences, Inc.
“The internship offered me the opportunity to learn new software as I helped develop some of Advion’s marketing efforts. I also was able to help with the company’s web site and learned more about the marketing side of the pharmaceutical industry.” Rachel Musiker, Intern
Gene Network Sciences (GNS), Ithaca, NY
Gene Network Sciences (GNS) translates pre-clinical and clinical data into accurate and robust computer models of human cells and tissues. These data-driven models and simulations are used in drug development to determine the mechanism of action of new drugs, as well as associated biomarkers for drug efficacy and toxicity. GNS improves clinical trial success rates to bring better drugs to market faster.
“I am very happy with the program - the process seems pretty straightforward, the interns are always quite good, and the fact that we get financial support means we can have more interns in our program than would otherwise be possible. Greg has helped develop a software testing tool that should be useful to the software developers in our company, and Moses worked on several computer modeling projects and obtained several useful results. Moses will continue to study computer models of the heart in Robert Gilmour's lab at Cornell, so I think he also got a lot out of the internship - I believe he will be doing a senior thesis project that, to some extent, grew out of his summer work.” Jeffrey Fox, GNS
International Climbing Machines (ICM), Ithaca, NY
ICM has developed portable, remote-controlled devices that can scale vertical or inverted surfaces and are operated safely from the ground, thereby saving people from exposure to dangerous heights or to dangerous chemical or toxin environs. The machines can climb walls, tanks, ships, building structures, dams, towers, etc.
“My internship with ICM afforded me the opportunity to manage an entirely new robot safety rigging project from developing initial conceptual designs to testing prototypes. Additionally, the hands-on experience further strengthened my manufacturing and engineering skills." Ian Colahan, intern
Lux Capital, New York, NY
Lux Capital Management is a research-driven investment firm focused on de novo, seed and early stage investments in the physical and life sciences.
"Lux has now employed 5 interns over the past two summers from Cornell and we couldn't be happier with the results. They have added tremendous value to the Lux franchise and were an integral part of the team while they were here; we were all sad to see them go. They worked side by side with each of the partners, covering all aspects of venture capital and the operations of a venture firm. They were encouraged to make suggestions, challenge our judgment and offer their expertise where appropriate. We continue to speak with several of our past interns, having offered a job to two of them and serving as a reference for the others. We sincerely couldn't be happier with the quality of the students we've worked with or the results." Adam Kalish, Partner, Lux Capital
"Working at Lux Capital this past summer was a truly memorable experience for me. I was able to gain valuable hands-on exposure to the exciting world of venture capital in a dynamic, challenging, and motivating workplace. The partners treated me with care and respect and allowed me to take independent responsibility for several important projects. My Cornell education in both Materials Science and Entrepreneurship definitely helped me to analyze new companies and recognize good deals. I feel lucky to have had such a wonderful opportunity, and look forward to pursuing a career within the industry." Zach Schildhorn, Intern
Novomer, Ithaca, NY
Novomer is a specialty polymer and materials company built upon a breakthrough catalyst technology platform discovered by Cornell University Professor Geoffrey Coates. Through a partnership with Cornell, Novomer has state-of-the-art facilities and equipment to support polymer synthesis scale-up and contract research endeavors. Novomer’s patented catalyst systems provide unprecedented control in the synthesis of a variety of materials, including aliphatic polycarbonates, poly and polyolefins.
"Dan was a huge help for Novomer this year. Since he worked with us last
year, it was easy for him to dive right into a project. The project I gave
him this year was pretty difficult, but Dan was able to work through it. His
efforts have led to an optimized synthesis of a catalyst that we are
commercializing and will be offering through a major chemical distributor." Scott Allen, Novomer