school of internships
Summer Internships| college students
College Freshman and Sophomores soon realize – college is just a stepping stone. It provides you with knowledge, but doesn’t provide you the Skills, Industry experience and the real world Networking that grooms you as a professional.
We do! We build student entrepreneurs here.
Instead of working on a fake Research product at school, why not learn tangible skills and build your entrepreneurial skills and experience solving real-world problems. Thats the future of work when you graduate!
One Month industry specialized program that builds entrepreneurs
Summer Internship
This is an intense, hands-on, skill based summer internship where College Freshman and Sophomore students work towards creation of a product or a service by developing their skills enhancing their ability to solve real world problems
Assessment - a must
We will cater to a maximum of 10 students for the one month Summer Internship. The program is intense, and we interview students after they complete our assessment to ensure we select the right student.
Summer: Internship
Overview:
NOTE: This site is best viewed on a Desktop, not a smartphone or iPad
This is a one (1) monthly program starting May 1st week, June 1st week, July 1st week, and most probably August 1st week. We only cater to a maximum of 10 students per month. All Internships are hands-on and virtual, so the location doesn’t matter. All Internships are designed for students to learn system thinking-problem solving, design-thinking, build projects, create or design a product, solve a problem, collaborate with teams as if they are working in an office environment in reality, and network with Industry professionals from Top Schools. Industry leaders talk about Majors/Minors of the Future and Workforce/Industries of the Future. We provide deep financial literacy, entrepreneurship, communication, resume building, team management, and legal skills that a future student will need.
Outcome: A future Entrepreneur
Please note – this program is about innovation and invention. You actually develop a real product or service that solves a major social problem with your work. All students would be doing their Internship at Project Starfish, a #1 workforce development company that creates opportunities for people with disabilities, minorities, and marginalized people.
Assessment and Interview:
Please apply for the assessment. It is a 60-minute assessment to understand the motive of the student – 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, and 20 years into the future. We are interested in knowing how the student views the future, their career, their skills, and the impact they want to create in the future. We schedule a detailed interview once we find the student we believe we are looking for. Fees are charged in advance to ensure students are serious about the Internship. Please scroll down for Fees and Scholarships.
Our Methods: Summer Internship
You are provided with a social problem, you have to arrive at the root cause of the social problem by studying the problem intently, followed by coming up with a hands-on solution and implementing it. If time permits, you will fine-tune it and measure the impact.
We are non-traditional, futuristic, results-driven, impact-driven, and want students to learn as much as possible, and everything revolves around a startup culture of “fail fast and fail often.” Whatever we do is innovative and exciting. That’s our culture! Normal is boring for us.
Students are measured on outcomes. Did you understand the problem, develop the root cause, build an innovative solution, implement it and create impact? It is just like working at an office. In the end, we were hoping you could become the entrepreneurs of today and monetize your invention.
Industry Tracks: Summer Internship
We have six(6) tracks, all based on Industry 4.0, which is the next Industrial Revolution we are currently in. Old rules don’t work, so you invent the rules. With heavy automation globally, learn to adapt and build the skills to disrupt the industry with innovation.
The central theme of the program is “solving problems.” The way you are trained here is a systematic method of solving the problems and applying real-world skills to innovate a solution, create the impact, and measure outcomes. You have to disrupt the current situation and solve the problem and then develop a tangible outcome. There is work involved, and if you cannot allocate an hour or so every day for your career, this isn’t the right internship for you.
The light bulb wasn’t invented
by the continuous improvement of candles
We are more focused on the application side of Industry 4.0. Please browse the relevant tracks, apply for the program through the assessment, and if you are selected, we will interview you followed by a discussion with your parents.
Track 1: Medical Devices and IoT/AI
Best for students focusing on Bio Medical, Bio Engineering, Bio Design, Medical Devices, Physics, Mathematics, Applied Materials, Healthcare Management, Service Management, Hospice Care, Nursing and Mechanical/ Industrial/Electrical and Aeronautical Engineering.
Objective / Outcome
Just like Traklife where a high school student built a device prototype, your real job is to understand a problem that exists in society today. You need to be passionate about a cause, or you can work with Project Starfish professionals to understand a certain segment in society who can benefit from an innovation through you.
Activity: Interact with people in society to understand the problem and arrive at the root cause and boundaries.
Outcome: A design prototype or service that will solve the problem. You will also have to network in the industry, gather feedback and ensure the product prototype is solving a real problem and understand the market for it and check with those who have the problem if they are in agreement.
Track 2: Robotics & Design
Best for students focusing on Design, Physics, Mathematics, Applied Materials, Social Sciences, Service Management, Hospice Care, Nursing and Mechanical/ Industrial/Electrical, Software Engineering, Electronics, Computer Science and Aeronautical Engineering. We also welcome students who are interested in Government, Public Policy and Finance to participate.
Objective / Outcome
Just like how a high-school student developed a robotic prototype to impact those with cerebral palsy find independence, you will identify a disability that people have, study the problem intently and design a robot that solves the problem.
Activity: This is a hands-on activity of studying problems, root cause analysis and the boundaries of the problem followed by designing a solution that solves the problem.
Outcome: Product design, Industry interaction, social interaction, fine-tuning and bringing it to stage where the Robot is nearly on pre-production. You will also have build a cost and service model for the device you are building.
Track 3: Ecosystem Design & Sustainability
Best for students in the field of Architecture and Planning, Sustainability, Civil engineering, and Capital Projects, Project Management, Government Policy, Human Rights, Politics, Divinity, Math, Finance, Law and Education.
Objective / Case Study
You have been provided with a piece of land and you have to develop a futuristic ecosystem for a Children’s Cancer Hospital. You need to understand what children need, what parents need, what hospital staff need and the challenges involved. You also have to be extremely efficient in building the design, the costing, the minimum viable design, the bill of materials and above all – staging all activities based on time to start executing.
Activity: Understand what it takes to build an ecosystem and an exceptional experience for customers, followed by designing the ecosystem in real life, building a project document with implementation timelines and costing.
Outcomes: You will develop the template, get feedback from the Industry and present it to Industry stalwarts.
Track 4: Smart Ashrams of the Future
Best for students in the field of Marketing, future MBA, Business Majors, Communications, Architecture and Planning, Sustainability, Civil engineering, and Capital Projects, Project Management, Government Policy, Human Rights, Politics, Divinity, Math, Finance, Law and Education. Equally good for students with Computer Science, Anthropology majors/minors, Liberal arts, and Blockchain enthusiasts. We invite future Lawyers, Attorneys, and Tax enthusiasts too! Please note, whoever you are, you need to be a changemaker and be willing to make a difference here. The project is real and you need to make it real by taking it further.
Objective / Outcome
This is a decade-long vision come true as a project. Ashram is a state of living in a community that is minimal, close to nature, self-sustaining, disciplined, and spiritual life – a practice India/ Tibet and other ancient civilizations practiced as a way of living.
Welcome to Smart Ashrams, a global community that adopts the same minimal model as value, yet makes it suitable for the current Digital Age.
Early Bitcoin/Crypto investors for example have made a killing. Many in the late 40’s are no longer interested in running the corporate rat race and now want to live an adventurous life, but a minimal one with travel, laughter, great intellectual friends, close to nature, and a way to contribute back to society and also find a way to do work wherever they go. This is a visionary and futuristic project and you have set out to achieve a big objective. Imagine the possibilities of bringing people who can move between ashrams, sharing knowledge, digitally mentoring students of the future, building networks of the future, building a huge impact by being the key organizer for this project!
Activity: You are being tasked to be in a team of Project Managers, where you start from zero, envision the needs of people, design a total template of an “ashram” and help build the “experience” of the customers.
Outcome: Entire project delivery with design, costing, model, management of the project globally and a live presentation that will appeal to VC’s.
Track 5: Industry 4.0 Augmented Reality & Digital Twins
Open to those in Computer Software, Engineering, Business Architecture, Project Management, Business Management, Enterprise Architecture, IoT, IIoT, Cloud, Manufacturing etc. Also welcome are those looking at Engineering such as Mechanical, Electrical, Mining, Oil/Gas, Chemical and Process Engineering.
Objective / Case Study
You have just joined the Manufacturing production team of a Toolmaking company. The Plant manager has asked you to evaluate the possibilities of AR, VR, and XR to help new production workers. He is interested to know the possibilities and has requested you build a small demonstration and if possible a Proof of Concept.
He has placed a couple of very important questions for you. First, he has 200 plants mostly in rural locations, he wants you to build a successful scalable strategy where AR/VR/XR can scale and impact. He did say there are other problems and decided not to tell you what those problems are. You need to probe what those problems can be in advance. The better you understand the challenges, the more accurate your strategy to scale the project.
He has requested other important pieces including costs, implementation strategy, people required, total Return on Investment and the architecture required. He has given you 30 days to complete the project and then finally present your findings to a panel of people including the CEO.
The CEO, unfortunately, thinks the idea of training factory personnel is a waste of time and feels the Plant Manager is not the right person to lead the factories as it may create problems with the workforce. On the other hand, the Plant Manager has immense faith in you. He knows you are a techie, understands architecture, understands the IT stack and charming personality. If you do well in convincing the CEO – you earn accolade and you save the Plant Managers job as well. Else, both will be let go! Can you help?
Track 6: Cryptocurrency, Trading, and Economics
Open to everyone and anyone! Crypto is the future and understanding the Economics, the Trading aspect, and Finance is critical for the entire student generation
CEO of Crypto Trading
$1000/month
Objective / Case Study
You have joined a non-profit, the CEO has hired you as a person who is a stellar Crypto enthusiast. She has asked you to focus on understanding the value of Crypto and the different ones available to invest in. Is it an asset, currency, a tulip-mania…what is it?
She requests that you understand how to trade Crypto. She has heard about Technical Analysis, and she has made friends in other circles who swear by WD Gann’s methods of drawing charts that can forecast trends and movement, which again is not Technical Analysis. She recently also came by a group of investors who claimed that Crypto( and stocks) can be invested by studying Financial Astrology. Yes, Financial Astrology and the movement of planets. The CEO doesn’t know what to do now with these silos of information.
She has requested that you start becoming a crypto investor, invest $100 and start trading to get the experience, and start forecasting how to make money for the non-profit. Can she depend on you to quickly learn and show profits? She understands you may not know anything about the subject, but she trusts in your enthusiasm to learn. Can you?
The Program Outcomes
Jobs of the Future
Experience the roles that will be paying the money when you graduate.
Industry of the Future
What would the intersection and convergence of Industries be?
Workforce of the Future
Experience working in a company doing real work, but for yourself.
Communicating Effectively
Communication is critical, how do you do it with Industry professionals
Industry Networking
Network heavily right from the start, but how? What should you prepare for?
Entrepreneurial Spirit
The future is about Innovation and building businesses that change status.
Build Skills - very early
Students build skills very late in the game a big mistake to rectify!
Build Financial Skills - very early
Learn trading Crypto currency and other financial skills very early.
Innovate
Stretch your imagination and break out from conventional thinking
Job Shadow
You learn by duplication and you will get a chance to do so and network well.
Collaborate
The future is in collaborating with diverse intellectuals
System Thinking
Understand System Thinking and Design Thinking. That’s the key!
Co-Create
Co-Creation is a magical activity when you collaborate well. Learn it!
Applied Knowledge
A school will provide information, but working on projects = Applied Knowledge ; Learn it!
College Credential
This is your chance to build a credential for college admissions. Project & Essays.
We follow the Harvard Business School model of pedagogy
( It Also means we have HIGH standards and we are obsessed with Quality and Outcomes! )
The Program: How we run it
First of all, our program is hands-on and very, very real. There are no books, no boring PowerPoint online presentations, or online learning. This is about playing different roles in real life ( called Simulation and Gamification ) and learning from the experience with the help of mentors. It is as good as working for a company in real life.
We follow how Harvard Business School PLD program is taught through real Business Cases, Real-world projects, Experiential Learning, and how to solve problems. You will need all of them at a US school, your future internships, the entrepreneurial ventures that you will be asked to build, and also the jobs you seek in the future.
Build your foundation here.
Else, you will have to build it somewhere – you will lose
time, money and opportunity for not doing it now. There are no shortcuts.
For example – you are given a role in a company initiative, and everyone has to collaborate to solve the real-world problem. You will be mentored by HBS/Ivy League Industry professionals and you will learn everything during that process of building an enterprise. Not a boring moment, rather it is exciting!
The Application Process
Unfortunately, we assess every student before they join the program. We look for specific mindsets that meet our standards and we are selective about it. Else, how would we know how to guide and mentor you during the actual program without knowing you? Typically we select 1 out of 3 students for the summer program, and we will let you know upon your selection.
Please note – paying full money will not help you gain a ticket to this program. We are selective and we evaluate students thoroughly before entry.
Fees & Scholarships:
Track 1: Medical Devices & IoT/AI : $800
Track 2: Robotics and Design: $800
Track 3: Ecosystem Design and Sustainability : $800
Track 4: Smart Ashrams of the Future: $800
Track 5: Industry 4.0: Augmented Reality and Digital Twins : $800
Track 6: Crypto Currency, Trading and Economics: $1,000
Scholarships are decided based on Interview. Here are the three elements:
1. You get a referral from your Admissions Counselor or Consultant: $100 off
2. You have clarity of purpose and what you want in life: $100 off
3. You have had past experience in the technology, know 3D design or have a past project that shows you know the area of the project: $100 off
differentiate yourself while you enjoy the summer. Learn & experience what matters
Get In Touch
(978) 674-55 ZERO FOUR (USA#)
Location
Project Starfish America
181 Market St, Lowell, MA
internships at pstarfish dot org ( format guards spams )
Hours
We are 100% global/virtual spanning multiple countries, but if you have a query, we usually answer in a day or two.