WAT Internships
Internship Levels
We offer many kinds of positions for different levels of experience
Tier 1
These are broad spectrum internships for intermediate undergraduates interested in a broad range of interests in advocacy, engineering, design, marketing, healthcare, nonprofits and startup culture. These are unpaid internships with the company, but may advance to compensation, competitive with other student interns. Tasks and responsibilities include product development, business planning, social media management, and professional and technical research and writing.
Tier 2
These are more focused project based internships, scaffolded by Wayne State University professors and experts from the TechTown ecosystem. These are suitable for intermediate, senior or graduate students working in engineering, marketing, business, or technical communication. These can be unpaid or compensated positions. Tasks and responsibilities include higher level research skills, more in depth or targeted marketing, business outreach and acquisition to obtain new client base, or building company affiliation with larger healthcare networks, advocacy groups, or networking events.
Tier 3
These are akin to entry level positions, and compensated accordingly. Full-time, part-time, and contract positions are available, and interns are encouraged to participate fully in TechTown meetings with WAT. Targeted weekly work ranges from direct marketing and customer relations, to specified engineering or scientific research to forward current company goals.
Examples of WAT Interns
Meet Matthew Leclaire (Tier One)
“I am a fourth year student at Wayne State University, majoring in mechanical engineering. I met Ron Wilson and Dr. Grogan through my Technical Writing Course (English 3050), where we worked on developing the concept and initial designs, and report writing. I returned to the partnership between Wayne State University and Tech Town as an intern in 2019. As an intern at Wilson Adaptive Technologies, I perform multiple tasks and duties under the guidance and leadership of Ron Wilson himself. I develop technical descriptions for individual components of the shower unit, create and design simple hand sketches and 3-D computer aided drawings of components for the shower unit, and I collaborate in a team setting on drafting technical documents. We’re working with experts on the prototype and negotiating costs to help the WAT business and mission grow. From this internship I have not only been able to apply my skills in engineering but also gain and learn new skills and relationships along the way.”
Meet Rama Al-Hakim (Tier Two)
“I graduated from Wayne State University in the fall of 2019 through the honors program with an English Major and a triple minor in Business Administration, Spanish and Arabic Language Studies. I met Dr. Grogan and Ron Wilson in my ENG 3050 Class. At that time I was working toward a career in the field of journalism, but since then my experience in the workforce coincided with my time working for WAT I redirected my studies towards technical communications. In Dr. Grogans class, I worked on the mission page for the WAT website, and continued my partnership with Ron as an intern. At Wilson Adaptive I have broadened my scope of writing while working on many different projects. I proofread and edited many team documents and opened lines of communications with team members such as Mathew, Dr. Grogan and Ron. In addition to this and strengthening the relationships WAT developed with community collaborators, I also was able to use my experience on the team in my honors project in ENG 4992.”
Meet Ehimare Arhebamen (Tier Three)
“I graduated from Wayne State University in the fall of 2016 with a Bachelor in Anthropology. I came back to Wayne State in 2023 to work on a post baccalaureate degree towards the Physician’s Assistant Studies Program, after 5 years of working as a licensed pharmacy technician. While working on my prerequisite courses, I took a 3060 course with Dr. Elrick. I met Dr. Grogan while taking Dr. Elrick’s course, where my coursework was website design work for Wilson Adaptive Technologies (WAT) with my intern group. It was during this time, I found a compelling interest to work with WAT. I changed my program to a master’s in Medical Anthropology. My team and I worked on more developing ideas for the adaptive shower prototype and website. At Wilson Adaptive, I’ve worked on medical and social justice research, product design with Python and Arduino and started to develop more skill in technical writing. I’ve been able to turn my work with WAT into my own graduate research and use it as my topic in a talk I gave at a conference at Wayne State. I hope to use the skills I’ve gained to do more work like WAT in the future.”
Become An Intern
Detroit, MI
Contact Wendy Wilson and Dr. Jared Grogan for further inquiries about interning at Wilson Adaptive Technologies.
Email: wilsonadaptive@gmail.com