With the successful completion of a pilot program in the Summer of 2021, the University of Florida’s Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering and Groundswell Startups have partnered again to place top engineering and business students with high-tech startups who are members of the Groundswell Startups ecosystem.
The partnership is part of a broader initiative to showcase the Space Coast as a premier destination for students upon graduation. The Space Coast, widely recognized for the diversification of industries that call it home, was recently ranked the second best performing city by the Milken Institute (Milken Institute, 2021).
The uniqueness of the partnership between the two organizations is reflected in the personalized approach taken by Trey Womack, Assistant Director of Engineering Extension and Outreach at the University of Florida. Womack, a frequent visitor to Groundswell Startups, takes time to meet directly with each company, understanding their business model, their technology, and their internship needs, and then purposefully and meaningfully curates matches with students. Working with professors, deans, and program directors, Womack can identify students with the unique capabilities that startups are looking for, leading to an excellent experience for students, and companies.
This personalized approach is at the heart of how Groundswell Startups operates. Founded in 2016, Groundswell Startups is a nonprofit high-tech incubator and coworking space dedicated to helping high-tech founders scale on the Space Coast. Located in Melbourne, the 11,000-plus sq ft skate park turned incubator has been a catalyst for building the startup ecosystem. Having helped over 37 companies raise over $70 million in outside venture capital, the incubator is one of the most diverse in the state of Florida. “Our primary goal is to surround our startups with the best resources possible as early in the process as possible. The ability to connect with top talent at UF, has been a differentiator for our ecosystem and our companies. After just one summer, we’ve seen so many successful outcomes. Students getting hired full-time, getting hands-on experience building different products and software components - it is a really exciting partnership,” said Jarin Eisenberg, COO of Groundswell Startups.
For the Summer of 2022, students will have the opportunity to work with companies that are revolutionizing unmanned systems to helping to develop new ways to connect people with the food they crave.
Check out the Summer 2022 UF + Groundswell Startups Internship Pairings:
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Sara Grofter is pursuing a Bachelor’s in Business Administration with a minor in Anthropology and Economics. Sara’s understanding of cultures, people and how that shapes the thinking of individuals and outcomes is the perfect match for conducting consumer and market research for Craverr, a food-focused app connecting people with the home cooked meals they crave. |
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Katherine Bi-Ji is a member of the honors program and pursuing a Bachelor's in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. She is a John V. Lombardi and Stamps scholar, is well versed in various valuation techniques, Bloomberg Market Concepts, and will join Sara as an intern for Craverr. Katherine will focus on managing several projects for Craverr including the continuous development of their platform and strategies for market outreach. |
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Matthew Pokorny is an upcoming Senior majoring in Industrial and Systems Engineering. This summer Matthew is interning at Kalogon, the maker of the world's first smart seating technology, as a systems sngineer. Matthew will be overseeing the production team, and working closely with Kalogon's vendors and partners, like Brevard Achievement Center. |
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Patrick Mena, is currently pursuing a Bachelor with a major in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Art with a major in Spanish. He always wants to help people and support businesses that do the same. It is his hope to develop the business side of the company with a desire to continuously learn, through his work ethic, and organizational skills. He believes these skills combined with the information he has been learning, can leave a lasting impact on a company. At Kalogon, Patrick will be revamping the CRM system as well as aiding the sales and marketing departments. |
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David Schooler is an upcoming senior pursuing an undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering along with minors in Engineering Innovation and Business Administration from the Warrington College of Business. Throughout his time at UF, David has been involved in research positions and leadership roles that focus on his combined interests in electrical engineering entrepreneurship for large-scale projects. From working on CubeSAT missions with NASA, to designing future Hyperloop technology with SpaceX, David has ensured to succeed and learn in all that he does. This summer David will be interning with Protodromics as an Electrical Control Systems Intern. |
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Drew Meyerson is a senior studying mechanical engineering at the University of Florida, with an interest in mechanical design. Drew is spending his summer as a junior mechanical engineering intern at Tomahawk Robotics. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with friends and his dogs and cheering for the Tampa Bay Lightning. |
