Every summer, Seton Hill University students complete internships. CareerWorks noted four students who participated in exciting internship experiences.

Mia Gunawan, of Glendale, Md., completed a summer internship at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Gunawan was enrolled in the Summer Undergraduate Fellowship Research (SURF) Program.

Gunawan’s project was to develop a 3-D evaluation system to assess the changes in morphology of the left arterial pulmonary veins before and after cardiac ablation. Gunawan worked with Dr. Maryam Retmmann, a research associate, to create a system making measurements of images of the heart and creating a c-based algorithm that will compute a center line in the pulmonary vein and measure the cross-sectional area of the veins.

This project was part of a pilot study of a clinical trial that will take place at the Mayo Clinic in the fall.

“I truly enjoyed this project. This is the kind of research that I would like to pursue for my future career,” said Gunawan.

Gunawan will have the opportunity to continue being part of the study because Dr. Richard Robb, the director of the Biomedical Imaging Resources at the Mayo Clinic, invited Gunawan to continue her work in his laboratory upon graduation from Seton Hill in December.

Sarah Huck, of Beverly, Ohio, was an intern with Kraft Foods International. She learned of this internship opportunity through her involvement with Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE). Huck served as a sales representative for Kraft and traveled to stores from Greensburg, Pa., to Clarion, Pa. selling point of purchase displays to stores.

“My biggest accomplishment was selling a cardboard display to a Wal-Mart manager that refused to buy displays in the past. The highlight of my summer was attending a corporate meeting. I had the opportunity to develop my networking skills when speaking with key Kraft personnel,” said Huck.

Huck has been offered a full-time position with Kraft upon graduation from Seton Hill.

Kimberly Poling, of West Mifflin, Pa., worked as an intern with the Women’s Independent Press-Women’s Yellow Pages., which is a business and networking tool for female professionals.

Poling’s responsibilities included formulating lists of potential prospects and researching businesses and websites that were relevant to the Women’s Independent Press. Poling also profiled Seton Hill University associate professor of business, Catherine Giunta, Ph.D.

“I exceeded my personal and educational goals, which were to learn as much as I possibly could, benefit from that learning, and implement classroom lectures at the internship site. My internship experience will assist me as I transition from a student to a young professional,” said Poling.

Larisa Verstivschi, of Greensburg, Pa., served as the first intern with First Commonwealth for Women (FCFW).

Verstivschi assisted with the development, implementation, and assessment of the FCFW Career Mentorship Program, which offers FCFW employees the opportunity to advance as leaders. Through the program, employees develop and/or enhance their leadership ability, presentation skills, and decision making skills.

The FCFW Career Mentorship Program will be launched in October 2009.

Verstivschi looks forward to working with FCFW in the future.