Career Catalysts: WashU stipends fund internships, fuel professional growth
Student is helping local startup Equine Smartbit build a 'smartwatch' for horses
WashU rising senior Fiona Sun chose to intern at St. Louis-based startup Equine SmartBit for two reasons. One: When else would she have a chance to work with horses? And two: “They really know what they are doing.”
“What the team at Equine Smartbit has accomplished is so novel,” said Sun, a dual-degree student studying biomedical engineering at the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis. “I knew there was so much I could learn from them about biomedical engineering and the business of startups. It was also clear to me that I would not be ‘just an intern,’ but someone who would be able to meaningfully contribute to what they were trying to do.”
Sun is participating in the St. Louis Internship Program for Biomedical Engineering, one of several WashU programs that funds meaningful career experiences at St. Louis-based startups, businesses and nonprofits. The BME initiative provides interns a $6,800 summer stipend and hosts panels, tours and networking events. Many internship alumni have started their careers in St. Louis.
“Our BME students love working at startups,” said Joe Klaesner, a professor of practice at McKelvey Engineering and director of the St. Louis Internship Program for Biomedical Engineering. “When you work for a small company, you can get lunch with the CEO twice a week. The other day, Fiona got to present to venture capital investors for the product she was working on. How many interns get to present to funders like that? At a big company, you just wouldn’t.”
At Equine Smartbit, Sun is developing a case for the company’s device, a sort of smartwatch that quickly and conveniently captures horse biometrics. She splits her time between her home, the Spartan Light Metal Products Makerspace and the barn at the racetrack at Fairmount Park. The work leverages her talent for 3D modeling and has pushed her to develop new skills in electrical engineering.
“I have the opportunity to work in different settings and see things in a different way,” Sun said.
On this day, Sun and Equine SmartBit engineer Riley Silfies are testing their device on a racehorse named Rhythm Section to see if it accurately measures the horse’s heart rate and temperature.
A year ago, Silfies had Sun’s internship. Now he has a job at the company and is Sun’s mentor.
“Fiona is a second hand and logical check. Her approach to certain problems and her experience in biophysics have been super helpful,” Silfies said.
Shower Zhang, co-founder of Equine Smartbit, said that having Silfies and then Sun has been a huge boost to the company.
“We thought we won the lottery after getting Riley,” Shower said. “Now with Fiona, we won a second lottery. She is such a fast learner and eager to jump in.”
Sun is unsure what career path to pursue after graduation next May, but said her internship has helped to prepare her for whatever comes next.
“As a BME student, I take many lectures and many corresponding labs, but what we are doing at Equine SmartBit has never been done before and therefore is not in any textbook,” Sun said. “So this internship has taught me how to apply what I’ve learned in the classroom to many new things that haven’t even been thought of yet.”
