At Smiths Detection, America, we recently welcomed the new summer interns. We are happy to guide the young talent and get a fresh perspective and ideas that people in their early careers can bring to our business and culture. Here we profile four people in their early careers about their experience as Interns at Smiths Detection.
June Ikemoto
June Ikemoto graduated from Towson University in 2022 where she majored in English. Based in our Edgewood, Maryland office, June is our Technical Writer intern and will be collaborating with the Product Support and Technology teams to review and edit technical documentation for grammar, content and clarity. Reporting to Nicole Pyles and mentored by Emily Springer, June will also be working to help the teams establish a system and schedule for revising outdated publications and generating existing block diagrams, schematics and illustrations to communicate complex technical concepts.
“I’ve been able to learn about the different types of machines, what the machines do, and how they help people in the world. I’m working on organizing documents in the LMS between Cornerstone and Absorb. I’m also helping Emily Springer with organizing Omnilert, making sure people are signed up/have accounts. Lastly, I’m working on updating the current manuals we have—some individuals are shown not wearing proper PPE, so we are working to replace them with proper photos. I look forward to learning more in a field of tech and understand how I can become of use to the company.”
Camerron Silva
Camerron Silva is a student at the University of Delaware and is pursuing his degree in Mechanical Engineering where he’s expecting to graduate in May of 2025. This summer, he’ll be serving as our STEM Manufacturing/Engineering Intern and will be based at the Edgewood office. Reporting to Tim Wade, he’ll be providing engineering support to our Production team via the development of processes, troubleshooting products, etc. He’ll also be working with cross-functional teams to help drive change and improvement to processes related to safety, quality, cost, and serviceability. As part of our internship program, he’ll be mentored by Hammad Quddusi.
“Organization is the key at a large company like Smiths. In my time here so far, I have seen several instances where keeping a workspace organized allows projects to progress efficiently. One of my main projects I am responsible for now is the shipping of assemblies and parts for the HE-Rail product. This entails identifying what items need to ship when, finding those items on the production floor, and ensuring they are sorted and prepared to be delivered to a manufacturer. It is a heavy mix of technical and physical work, but it has been a great learning experience so far. I am looking forward to meeting new people in the field of engineering and learning what it is like to work in the industry.”
Ella Holtermann
Ella Holtermann joins us from Johns Hopkins University, where she is majoring in biomedical engineering and is expected to graduate in May of 2026. Based in our Baltimore, Maryland office, Ella serves as our Cell Culture and Manufacturing intern and will be working with Hermes Huang and team. In her role, mentored by Maria Rodriguez, she’ll be responsible for working with the Smiths Detection Baltimore Operations, Development, Engineering, and Commercial teams to produce, develop and enhance the technology used with our CANARY™ biosensor technology.
“The main project I’m working on is experimentation for scaling up biosensor production using spinner flasks. Spinner flasks are theoretically more efficient than traditional cell culture flasks, so my job is to validate this. I’ve learned that adaptability plays an important role here. In the biosensor production process, there are many factors beyond your control, like cells not growing as much as anticipated or a liquid nitrogen tank not being replaced, and you have to be able to problem solve as issues arise. I’m excited to learn more about biosensors and to get lab experience in an industry setting.”
Andrew “AJ” Plowman
Andrew “AJ” Plowman is a returning intern for Detection Americas and currently attends Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania where he is a supply chain management and finance dual major and is expected to graduate in May of 2024. Based in our Edgewood office, AJ will be serving as our Logistics and Inventory intern this year, dually reporting to Phil Harris and Colin Slaysman who will also be his mentor during this internship. In this role, he’ll be working with the team in the cycle count process and will be learning how to manage inventory, tracking assets, and running reports.
“The next Inventory is fast approaching so right now we are working on investigative procedures to properly count and ensure that our inventory is in good shape before the big count/audit. I have learned about the process of inventory control. I was able to create cycle count sheets and learned some strategies for investigating missing or incorrect counts in inventory. I am looking forward to sharing new experiences, meeting new people, and building off from my internship I had with Smiths last summer.”