Luciana Custer diversifying her skill set at Mentis Sciences
Diversifying skills
Luciana Custer is a biotechnology and bioengineering student who wanted to try something different for her internship experience.
“I’ve mostly been involved in biomedical projects, but this summer I accepted an internship at Mentis Sciences through the AMP program,” said Custer.
She’s also transferring from GBCC to UNH this fall.
She said this internship isn’t typical for someone in her field.
Luciana Custer, 21 (on Left)
Position: Intern
Company: Mentis Sciences, Manchester
Hometown: Jacksonville, NC
Salary: $15/hr ($7.50/hr from Mentis, $7.50/hr from NH Advanced Manufacturing Partnership)
Renaissance woman: “I’m an artist, amateur programmer, website designer, wanna-be polyglot, blacksmith, crocheter, and more. I’ve always jumped between hobbies and fields with enthusiasm.”
“I believe in diversifying my skill set as much as possible,” saod Custer. “My main goal is to take advantage of these opportunities so I can apply an interdisciplinary approach to my ultimate desire, researching mental illness.”
At Mentis she performed technician-level work like machining composites on CNC or manual mills, and helped support the shop with projects like making angle gauges.
Custer connected well with Jon Diaz, a former Community College intern who’s now a senior engineer.
“He was eager to teach and show me how to use any machine we had,” said Custer. “Jon Dignam, the CEO, had a good point he made to the interns: We can’t see a path from ourselves to CEO, but Jon Diaz is young enough that we can see how he got where he is and take inspiration.”
Custer’s career goals are fluid.
“I’d love to do research into the biochemical/neuropsychological root of mental illness,” Custer said. “I’ve considered applying for MD-PhD programs to become a physician-scientist, but I’ve been offered a lot more support to go into engineering.” ◾
