EDWARDSVILLE - Two Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Engineering students are among eight in the country participating in Levi, Ray & Shoup, Inc.’s (LRS) competitive internship program this summer.
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Located in Springfield, LRS is a global company offering a wide range of computer software products to customers around the globe. Through the company’s internship program, SIUE senior computer science majors Lyric Boone, of Rochester, and Spencer Lemay, of Belleville, are gaining hands-on experience in software development, support and systems engineering.
“This internship reflects exactly what I will be doing after I graduate,” explained Lemay, who aspires to work as a software developer. “I’ve gained great practical experience and feel more confident about my future career.”
“My experience has involved the coding of LRS products, learning about the software the company produces and even traveling to site visits and lunches with customers,” Boone added. “This has taught me the challenge of real-life deadlines and how to make a project finished, rather than just getting it done.”
Lemay learned of the internship opportunity through one of the SIUE Career Development Center’s Interview Days. Boone was connected by SIUE Women’s Basketball Head Coach Paula Buscher.
According to LRS, the goal of its unique internship program is to offer college students more than a chance to “shadow” professionals. Program developer John Runions, director, North America Systems Engineering and Business Development, wanted to give interns an opportunity to learn about the development, support and systems engineering roles at LRS, and an introduction to the company’s culture.
“We want interns to be challenged by LRS,” Runions said. “We want them to learn something at LRS that will get them excited, make them want to come work here and apply what they learned during the internship.”
“This experience has shown me what a high-quality company LRS is, and I would recommend others try to score an internship with them,” Boone said. “They treat you and each other like family, and the company’s environment is amazing.”
“The culture at LRS makes me excited to finish my degree and put it to use,” added Lemay.
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville provides students with a high quality, affordable education that prepares them for successful careers and lives of purpose to shape a changing world. Built on the foundation of a broad-based liberal education, and enhanced by hands-on research and real-world experiences, the academic preparation SIUE students receive equips them to thrive in the global marketplace and make our communities better places to live. Situated on 2,660 acres of beautiful woodland atop the bluffs overlooking the natural beauty of the Mississippi River’s rich bottomland and only a short drive from downtown St. Louis, the SIUE campus is home to a diverse student body of nearly 14,000.
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