The ENtern Entrepreneurship Intern Program

The ENtern Entrepreneurship Intern Program was created by the Engineering Entrepreneurship Program in the Penn State College of Engineering School of Engineering Design and Innovation. The goal of the program is to provide entrepreneurship students with experience in startups and to provide startups with student help they may not be able to otherwise afford.  Through a partnership between the Engineering Entrepreneurship Program and Happy Valley LaunchBox powered by PNC Bank, the entrepreneurship internship (ENtern) program pairs entrepreneurship students with startup companies currently participating in Happy Valley LaunchBox’s FastTrack Accelerator or Invent Penn State’s Summer Founders program. We also partner with companies working with the Ben Franklin Technology Partners, the Small Business Development Center and other local startups. 

Through their internships, ENterns are directly exposed to the startup environment and can explore their entrepreneurship interests and the startup culture. They gain real-world experience as an employee of an early-stage venture, building their resumes and potentially identifying employment opportunities in the Centre Region.

If you are a startup founder interested in learning more about the program or are ready to hire an ENtern, please contact Ted Graef, Director of the Engineering Entrepreneurship Program, for more info by clicking the button below. 

 

 

How the Program works

To apply for an ENtern position, a student must have taken or be currently taking entrepreneurship classes such as ENGR310, Entrepreneurial Leadership. Optimally the student has declared the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Minor which is available to any student at Penn State.  ENterns receive an award from the Engineering Entrepreneurship Program for their first 150 hours helping a startup. Applicants apply for one of the positions below and get “hired.” You will be onboarded through the program and complete your 150 hours of assistance over a time period worked out between you and your sponsor. Provide the Engineering Entrepreneurship program with a one page report on what you have learned through your experience at the halfway point and the end point along with your time log, and the award is processed.  

ENtern Voices

One thing I have learned about the startup experience is that it is very unstructured, which I take as a good thing. I like the feel of being able to contribute and voice my opinion on things. In a startup there is a lot of discussion and communication about almost every aspect,

Working for a small company taught me about the necessities to grow a business. It was a bit overwhelming to have to do such a wide variety of duties and being the sole person performing it, but it was a learning process. I would recommend every person to gain experience working for a startup as it is more challenging and a better learning process!!

Being an ENtern gave me the opportunity to work with a diverse team of developers and marketers. This experience helped me develop strong communication skills, as I had to learn how to effectively convey my ideas and ask for help when needed. I also learned the importance of being proactive and asking as many questions as possible in order to fully understand a task or project. This not only helped me complete my work more efficiently, but it also helped me build the confidence to speak up and share my thoughts with the team. Overall, my internship helped me develop strong communication skills and the confidence to ask questions and seek out help when needed.

 

Current ENtern positions

Here are the current ENtern postings. Contact the company directly as specified, get yourself “hired” and then email tedgraef@psu.edu with details. Copy the host company’s contact on this email.