At Middlesex Community College, students receive access to hands-on experiences within the first few years of their college experience. Through their connections at Middlesex, current student Victoria Junor and recent MCC graduates Tisa Patel and David Pompel participated in summer internships at Northeastern University.
“My favorite part of chemistry class is the lab, and I wanted to explore deeper into
what it meant to
work as a real chemist in a professional laboratory setting,” Junor said. “All this
added up to me being able to independently research a paper to make a compound, making
my calculations of products needed, writing a procedure, setting up my tools/glassware,
purifying my products, analyzing them, and keeping a lab notebook organized enough
to hand off when I leave. The internship also helped me to be patient, come up with
solutions when problems arose.”
From Lowell, Chemistry Transfer student Junor worked in carbene chemistry at Northeastern over the summer. Though the lab had not taken on an undergraduate student from a different college before, Junor completed the necessary pre-requisite work to be considered. During the experience, she challenged herself to become more confident with hands-on skills and working with sensitive materials.
During her summer internship, Patel worked in the chemistry simulations program, collaborating
with faculty and Ph.D. students. Using a program called GaussView, she used machine
learning to predict new and improved molecules for a better understanding. She graduated
from MCC in 2025 with honors and transferred to UMass Lowell (UML) to continue her
studies.
“My internship with Northeastern helped me to learn machine learning and computational chemistry,” Patel said. “I worked online for 20 hours at least each week for six to seven weeks. Going to MCC was the best decision I made because it has helped me a lot in academics, and also has helped me get internships. All the professors were so nice and were also ready to help, and they also helped to find internships or at least talk about the opportunities.”
Pompel, of Maynard, also graduated from MCC in 2025 with high honors and transferred
to UML to 
study chemical engineering. For his summer internship, he participated in the National
Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Pathways program.
Throughout the summer, he gained experience working in a lab, completing a mini research
project, collecting data using advanced laboratory equipment, analyzing results, and
presenting his findings to peers and professors.
“The program gave me a glimpse into the realities of postgraduate research and the obstacles that come with it, while also offering the chance to connect with like-minded peers from a variety of disciplines,” Pompel said. “The program also included an introductory C++ coding course using Arduino. We met once a week over the 10 weeks, developing our coding skills and problem-solving abilities.”
Junor, Patel and Pompel were recommended for their internships by MCC Professor of Chemistry Sophia Kazanis. Partnering with MCC’s Office of Career Integrated Learning (OCIL), Kazanis helped her students write resumes and cover letters highlighting their skills and strengths.
“It has been very rewarding for me to watch my students gain confidence by putting into practice the analytical research skills they learn here at MCC to conduct academic research at other institutions during the summer,” Kazanis said. “I personally know how such experiences can change the trajectory of one’s career.”