Siemens

Global engineering company with projects in industry, energy, healthcare and infrastructure

Courses

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Course 6)

Materials Science and Engineering (Course 3)

Mechanical Engineering (Course 2)

Location

multiple

Host Type

Industry

Siemens AG is one of the largest engineering companies in the world. Based in Germany, this multi-billion dollar international company employs more than 362,000 people worldwide.

The most important divisions in Siemens are Industry, Energy, Healthcare, and Infrastructure & Cities. The company is a prominent producer of medical diagnostics equipment---its medical health-care division is its second-most profitable unit, after the industrial automation division.

MISTI works closely with Siemens Medical Centers in Erlangen and Nuremberg.

Student Story|Darya Guettler, MechE '20

Darya Guettler, MechE '20

I was stationed in the Power Sector, which, as the name states, focuses on large scale power generation, specifically turbine technology. The campus that I was stationed at was unique in that manufacturing and engineering were located in the same place, so the turbines were being produced mere feet away from the people designing them.

Upon arriving at Siemens, I was first given the task of learning as much as I could about the turbines themselves. My technical background and MIT studying skills enabled me to gain a greater understanding of the intricate machinery that goes into making these turbines. After several days of acclimating, I was given my project. While I can vaguely explain, the technology that I was tasked with investigating and developing a manufacturing and business plan for is patented and very new to the power industry, so I had to sign several non-disclosure agreements in order to receive this task in the first place. However, I can say that my task required me to examine the problem from the perspective of an engineer, a manufacturing lead and the administration, which was at times difficult, as these perspectives often drastically diverge from one another and finding a reconciliation between them is thus difficult.

Since I am a freshman, this internship was my first ever interaction with the engineering workplace. While I had done shorter internships at engineering firms in high school, I was never chosen to take on real life tasks that would impact the future of a project, which was the case in my internship this summer. Since my project dealt with prototyping, this is definitely something that I will bring back with me to MIT and use in the future. I was also able to pick up valuable skills in engineering project management, and the sheer number of people that need to be involved in aspects of a project just to get something done. My internship has reinforced my interest in mechanical engineering and project management, with a specific focus on energy, so I will continue to pursue this path in the future.

Student Story|Zoe Gong, CS '19

Zoe Gong, CS '19

The Medical Imaging Team (MIT) worked halfway between research and product development, so there was both the flexibility and freedom of research as well as the direct impact of working on products. The team collaborated on projects with several other Siemens Healthineers departments. My project involved researching the use of deep learning to detect tumors in digital breast tomosynthesis volumes. The research team consisted of about 10 fulltime employees, PhD students writing their theses with the company in conjunction with Friedrich Alexander University, and “working students”. The working students were a mix of machine learning Masters students and medical students.

The highlights of this summer were Bergkirchweih, a beer festival in Erlangen, and Annfest, a beer festival in a nearby town called Forchheim. I really felt like I had the opportunity to experience German culture, and it was fun seeing people dressed in Dirndls and Lederhosen. I did find that people were usually quite reserved, but at the beer festivals they relaxed and had fun.

My experience in Germany was an incredible opportunity to learn more about a new culture, improve my German language skills, and explore a new field. I had the opportunity to work with experts in deep learning, and with their advice and guidance conduct deep learning research myself. As a result of my experience this summer I am seriously considering pursuing deep learning as a career.

Student Story|Dimitris Koutentakis, MechE '18

Dimitris Koutentakis, MechE '18

Before going, I expected a dull industrial city full of factories and offices. I thought that Stuttgart would have nothing more than big factory plants and soul-less buildings. I was happy to discover this was not so.

My main project on photovoltaic panel power and battery storage capacity was twofold. Develop a GUI tool that provides information for maximum-power-points of desired photovoltaic (PV) panel installation at a desired location, and based on data from the aforementioned tool as well as data for power consumption at certain locations, optimize photovoltaic panel power and battery storage capacity for maximum return on investment.

Working at such a big company was a first for me. I found it interesting how the organization worked in order to keep everything running smoothly. I had only experienced working in smaller startup-style companies, where my work was more recognized and had more of an impact. However, I learned that despite the great number of employees and size of the company, there is still freedom for people and teams to make decisions and follow projects of their choice, and team members can still make meaningful connections.