Meet a Leidos Summer Intern: Sean

“Sean has been a great addition to our material modeling research team in many ways,” says Sarah Ward, an aerospace engineer and mentor to summer intern, Sean McDaniel. “His breadth and depth of knowledge in the development and utility of modeling tool chains has expanded the group’s knowledge base of these tools and increased their internal usability. He has also shown a great initiative for learning new tools and always puts forth his best effort in any task we throw at him.” 

Both formal and informal mentoring is an important part of development at Leidos. We encourage and enable all employees, including interns, to use the enterprise-wide mentoring tool to identify and connect with potential mentors.

Check out what Sean has to say about his summer internship experience so far.

Where do you go to school, what are you majoring in and when do you graduate?

I am a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Kentucky (UK) in the field of aerospace engineering. I am hoping to defend my dissertation at the end of the summer and gradate this December.

You're a Leidos summer intern. Are you doing this in person, hybrid or virtually?

I am in person in Huntsville, Ala.

Tell us about your internship experience so far.

This internship has allowed me to work on some interesting projects modeling TPS materials at different length scales. I had the opportunity to learn some new software and experience a different approach to material modeling.

The part that stands out the most is the community and culture at Leidos. All the people I have met have made me feel like I am part of the team and that they are excited to get to work with me. It was also stunning that the CEO would come down to Huntsville for our ERG paper rocket competition and go out of his way to meet and shake hands with as many people as he could. The intern tech talks and lunch and learn events have also been a great experience and are always interesting. In summary, it has been a positive experience, and I am looking forward to the time I have left here.

What made you decide to apply for a Leidos internship?

I applied to a Leidos internship because my advisor at UK started collaborating with some people at Leidos and needed someone to teach them how to use our research code. I thought this would be a great opportunity to learn a different side of our code and expend my knowledge outside of my dissertation research.

How will a Leidos internship help you meet your academic and career goals?

Leidos provides me with an opportunity to broaden my knowledge base and break out of the specificity associated with writing a dissertation. Additionally, Leidos gives me an opportunity to gain valuable experience working in a corporation that works on interesting problems. I have never wanted to continue in academia after completing my Ph.D. So, gaining experience working in this kind of environment will be invaluable for reaching my career goals.

Besides the internship, what else are you up to this summer?

I am going to be working on my dissertation a lot of the time, but during my free time, I am hoping to explore the Huntsville area hiking trails.

At Leidos, whether you join for a summer internship or sign on as a co-op during the academic year, you will have the unique opportunity to work directly with a team on critical projects, either at a Leidos facility or on a customer site. View our current internship opportunities and apply today to join the Leidos family!