POV: Internships from a student's perspective: Mary Grace Guerin

This week we hear from Mary Grace Guerin, '24, a Fashion Merchandising and Management student, on her experience interning at a textile trade company that specializes in repurposing subpar, overproduced, or waste materials generated by the textile industry.

In pursuit of a textile design minor in the fall, this past summer, I interned at R&M International Sales, a “private, family-owned company that specializes in the trade of textiles and plastics both domestically and internationally.” Based on extensive research in carbon innovation, I created several branding designs, logos, and branding for carbon pellet fiber.

Next, I dove deep into the Korean car part market and discovered scientific and governmental studies focused on the required recycled component in vehicles. I researched Korean car parts because R&M has a customer in South Korea looking to break into car part manufacturing. In yet another undertaking, I compiled a comprehensive, strategic plan for visiting booths at the Techtextil trade show in Frankfurt, Germany. This plan was based on their location in the venue and their potential services for R&M. I researched government and small business grant websites to find funding for 3D filament printing in R&M’s manufacturing facility.

I created an R&D and marketing presentation for Dyneema fabric seconds. I was able to establish where the Dyneema fabric seconds, which are usually discarded, could potentially go. Along with this, I made a marketing plan, advertisements, financial models, invoicing, logistics, etc. to present and potentially make this project come to life. That is what I loved about this internship. The things I was doing and the projects I dove so deep into and worked so hard on were relevant and applicable. They were all real-world projects that could and will be carried through, and I got amazing, real-business world experience.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us Mary Grace!