Maryland-based Shah and Associates has a new STEM internship program

Shah & Associates, an electrical engineering consulting firm whose clients range from NASA to the Architect of the Capitol, has announced an internship program looking to draw underrepresented students to help them get on the path to careers in STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math.

The Power Up program is looking to increase the number of women and minorities to help them compete in an ever-growing innovation and technology-driven job market.

“We created the program…to teach, train, nurture and educate students on the value of STEM careers,” said Shreedhar Shah, CEO of Shah & Associates.

“We are convinced their skill base can expand, by enabling underrepresented communities to participate in the economic growth of this region, and are honored to work with local technical and community colleges to offer this exciting opportunity that will impact the local economy in a positive manner.”

The internship program, which started as a partnership with Montgomery College, is a paid internship that gives students exposure toward working on large-scale engineering projects, at around 12-15 hours a week.
S&A has 40 paid employees on staff, and will bring on four interns for three-month, open-ended internships.

Despite the national push from the Department of Education to help direct students to STEM careers, the workforce hasn’t grown much more diverse than it was over ten years ago.

According to data reported by the National Science Foundation, women have earned nearly half of all engineering and science bachelor’s degrees although their level of participation working in those fields vary.

African American and Hispanic Americans make up 4.8 percent and 6 percent respectively, of employment in science and engineering occupations, according to the same NSF dataset.

Exposing students to science and engineering technical occupations when they are starting their careers can benefit both employers and prospective workers by helping them discover occupations they might not have previously considered or thought about.

Company CEO Shreedhar Shah got exposure to engineering early. He started working at the family-owned company when he was a young child, and claims to have done every job at the company, before buying the business from his father, according to the Washington Business Journal.

Now, Shah hopes by creating these internships, he will help “pay it forward” to another group of young students, who may not have had the opportunity or exposure to careers in engineering and science as part of their future.