Senior Internship

Summer Internship

For our senior year at DRSS, we all had to participate in an internship experience either during STEMmersion or summer break.

For this experience, I chose to do my internship with the Dayton Regional STEM School TAC (Technology Assistance Center) Department. Each day was 8 hours long, and I did 10 days. You can read more about what I did on a daily basis below!

Right: The DRSS TAC logo

Mon June 9


• Re-image student Windows laptops
• Fixing issues with re-imaging
• Laptop organization
• Inventory management
Reinstalling the OS based on a custom version of the OS. It's all automated.

Left: A picture of the imaging station

Tues June 10

• Re-image laptops
• Inventory
• Post-image checks
• Bug fixes

Right: Inventory management

Wed June 11

• Hanging wireless access points in Elementary Swing Space
• Tour of Elemtary School Swing Space
• Re-imaging laptops
• Fixing laptop palm rests

The STEM Elementary Swing Space is a temporary office rental space along Research Blvd that will be used to host the Elementary students until their building is completed.





Left: Me attaching a Wi-Fi access point to the ceiling

Thurs June 12

• Re-imaging laptops
• Post-image checks & sticker removal
• Post-image checks
• Fixing laptop palmrests

The palmrest part of the laptop is the keyboard and the surrounding plastic frame, excluding the back plate and lid assembly. Every internal component is attached to this piece, and to replace it you must remove the backplate and transfer every part over to the new palmrest.



Right: Laptop with the back open

Fri June 13

• Re-imaging laptops
• Post-image checks and sticker removal
• Fixing laptop palmrests
• Fixing lost WiFi connection with QR code scanner
• Brunch with TAC team @ Hasty Tasty

There was an issue with a random selection of laptops where they didn't automatically receive the student Wi-Fi network information. We fixed this by manually entering the password with a QR code scanner.

Left: QR code scanner

Mon June 16

• Re-imaging laptops
• Post-image checks and sticker removal
• Organization of CTE (computer science) lab: cables, PCs, peripherals, tables

Some of the stickers were easy to remove, but there is one type of sticker that's very difficult. There are paper stickers, which are very hard to remove, and there are vinyl stickers, which tend to be easier.

We ask the students to use vinyl stickers so when we rotate laptops we have an easier time removing them.

Right: Sticker removal

Tues June 17

• Re-imaging laptops
• Troubleshoot errors with imaging
• Laptop inspection and organization
• Repair laptop palmrests

There were occasionally some errors during the imaging process, and they ranged from software installs to random hardware failures. We had to make sure everything was working properly and fix all issues.

Left: An error screen from the imaging process

Wed June 18

• Re-imaging laptops
• Troubleshoot imaging errors
• Repair laptop palmrests
• Laptop inspections and organization
• Begin organization of laptop chargers

Each laptop charger has two parts, and they all come disassembled. We have to make sure every part is working, as well as assemble them.

Right: Disassembled laptop chargers

Mon July 14

• Finish re-imaging laptops
• Finish labeling laptops for the new school year
• Inspect Swing Space TV for damages during shipping
• Organize laptops alphabetically
• Dispose of used packaging

This TV came in with a hole in the side of the box, and we had to make sure it wasn't damaged through the packaging.




Left: Potentially damaged TV box

Tues July 15

• E-waste and package disposal
• Take down imaging station
• Organize chargers and Ethernet cables
• Start migration out of DRSS cafeteria
• Organize chargers
•Start labeling elementary school Chromebooks




Right Top: Laptops on shelves ready to return to students
Right Bottom: E-waste ready to be picked up


Conclusion Paragraph

This internship has been a blast thanks to the DRSS TAC team. I greatly enjoyed this experience and it really inspired me to work in this field.

We used a lot of equipment in this internship, mostly including the TAC team's software and tools. The imaging station (Day 1 picture) was put together by Mr. Furtaw, and assembled by Mr. Paquette and the rest of TAC. Ms. Wilson does a lot of the software, and she helped create the Software Center app, which every computer uses. We also used the inventory system, managed by Mr. Slone, to keep track of the assets TAC has and uses.

Overall, this internship has been a very good experience and I can't wait to continue working for TAC during Experiential Learning in my senior year.


Internship Learning Agreement