At the rate Marco Iorio, '24, is going, he may set a record for the number and variety of internships undertaken by a single Farmingdale State College student.
Iorio, an Electrical Engineering Technology major from Amityville, has completed three responsibility-heavy internships arranged through the Nexus Center for Applied Learning and Career Development and gained valuable on-the-job experience in a variety of engineering areas. “The Nexus Center gave me awesome help and support.”
The role of the FSC Nexus Center is to connect students and alums to jobs, internships, and opportunities for career development and applied learning.
Most recently, he worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory under the Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program, doing assignments directly related to electrical engineering technology. He spent 10 weeks designing the electrical hardware and software needed to construct a scintillometer system with a stabilized light source. A scintillometer is a device for measuring the flashing of light caused especially by atmospheric conditions. He also learned to solder and explored the importance of being an all-purpose engineer.
During the Spring 2022 semester Iorio interned with the Drive Electric Coalition, teaching Long Islanders about alternative-energy vehicles. He designed a system that collected peoples’ contact information from events and developed a frequently-asked-questions list.
The Nexus Center staff has been invaluable in helping Iorio secure and prepare for internships. “Having someone to guide you… is very reassuring as you are on your way to experiencing the real world for a few months,” he said. “They provide resume advice and make sure the resume is very polished.”
Iorio was eager for work experience, said Rena Varghese, Esq., Executive Director of the Nexus Center. “Marco proactively engaged with the Nexus Center to land multiple top-notch internships, and we were happy to support him also with college grant funding,” she said.
Iorio’s first internship in Summer 2021 came with a lot of responsibility and noise; but he described it as “overall, an amazing experience.” At the Daikin North America company in Texas, he participated in a packing and engineering internship, designed to show the last stages of an engineering project. He helped hoist heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) units up to a 45-degree angle, launch them into a wall, and then inspect them to see how they held up. HVAC units can withstand a fall of 12 inches to the ground, Iorio said. “There was a lot of different engineering involved,” he added. “I got to experience different teams.”
Electrical engineering has been an interest since high school, according to Iorio. “I loved math, science, and physics,” he said. “I watched videos of different types of engineering.
"Mechanical engineering is one way of modeling things. But with electrical engineering you can model things in different ways using circuits and software. You can say, ‘this is what you want to happen and this is how you get there.’”
He plans to earn a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, and then, he joked, “When I am over-educated, go into the industry.”
Iorio chose FSC in part because it was familiar. He participated in the Smart Scholars program while he was in high school, and took college classes on Saturdays at FSC. “It felt like home,” he said of the campus. “I like the professors and it’s smaller, so that helps me focus better.
“They push you to new levels,” he said. “It’s more helpful in doing what you love. I would 1,000 percent recommend internships. If you are just doing college, I don’t think you’ll have the same experience. This way, you can understand what you are learning in class.”
Iorio is an ideal representative for FSC. “Marco's successes benefit his own career progression, and these also have a far greater impact than even he may realize,” said Varghese. “Our students are our best ambassadors for the College. With each terrific student, like Marco, that we help to place, we strengthen our recruiting relationships with our industry and community partners. They come back to us eager to hire more talented students.”
