MEng Student Nancy Matti Secures Internship After Mock Interview

Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) first-year Master of Engineering (MEng) student Nancy Matti has always aspired to work for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This summer, Nancy will take another step toward achieving her goal, thanks in large part to the KGI mock interview event this past February.

Each year, KGI hosts a mock interview gathering in which corporate guests (including alumni), trustees, and Advisory Council members meet with students. This year’s event, which took place on Feb. 23, was a chance for students like Matti to get facetime with corporate individuals.

“The annual mock interview is a great networking event for our students,” said Angela Cossey, KGI’s director of career services. “The corporate guests provide useful feedback in the interviews and the event helps our students launch careers in industry.”

During the event, Matti spoke with Advisory Council member Weaver Gaines, who is chairman of the board at the biopharmaceutical company Nanotherapeutics.

“I was introduced to Weaver and we chatted for 45 minutes about my interests and what I want to do,” Matti said. During their conversation, the subject of an internship came up. “Weaver put me in touch with manufacturing personnel at the company, and the rest is history.”

As part of the MEng program at KGI, students choose from four options during their first summer: an industry internship, studying abroad, a Team Master’s Project, or independent research. Matti earned her undergraduate degree in biology from UC Riverside and she is interested in manufacturing audits.

“I know that gaining as much technical experience early on in my career will be most beneficial,” she said. “Nanotherapeutics created this position for me based upon what I already know.”

Matti took advantage of all the resources that KGI offers its students, and is grateful to have obtained her internship.

“This wasn’t a typical internship that you apply to,” she said. “Weaver pushed my application up, and it’s due in large part to my interaction with him during the mock interview event. That is what is so unique about the Advisory Board at KGI—they take the time to listen and talk to you.”

Matti’s internship with Nanotherapeutics begins on June 1. She will return to KGI in the fall to begin her final year in the MEng program. And after that?

“I know that my internship this summer will be the next step to eventually working for the FDA,” she said.