(February 2026) Kendra Vaz, a junior in Mechanical Engineering, spent Summer 2025 as a research intern in Dresden, Germany through the DAAD RISE Germany Summer Research Internship.
DAAD RISE Germany offers undergraduate students from North American, British and Irish universities the opportunity to complete a summer research internship at top German universities and research institutions. RISE Germany is funded by the German Federal Foreign Office.
As a recipient of the DAAD RISE Germany fellowship, Vaz had the opportunity to conduct research the Dresden University of Technology, exploring inverse design, production and testing of spinodoid architected materials.
We had a conversation with Vaz to learn more about her research experience abroad.
Q: “Can you give a high-level overview of your summer research topic?”
Vaz: “I worked at Dresden University of Technology, under Alexandra Otto. My research was creating a neural network to predict material properties for a spinodoid metamaterial. I used tensor flow to create the neural network. I also did a literature study to determine when to determine yield stress.”
Q: “What was your favorite part about your summer in Germany?”
Vaz: “I really enjoyed the research and getting to learn more in depth about subjects that we don’t go into at school. It was so cool getting to learn more about an incredible topic. I also loved being in Dresden. Dresden is a beautiful city and it was really cool walking around and getting to see the sights, alongside the other interns.”
Q: “How did this experience impact your academic and professional goals and aspirations? What did you learn from this experience?”
Vaz: “This experience taught me that learning on the job is okay. I went in knowing a lot less than I thought I knew, but my supervisor was incredibly understanding and got me situated with what I needed to know. I had never conducted literature studies before, so compiling information was really cool, as I got to the point where I understood these higher-level concepts. I also had never worked with neural networks, and hadn’t seen how my field of mechanical engineering and neural networks could be used together. I have a lot more confidence approaching new and challenging problems as well as experiencing new things.”
Q: “What advice would you have for a future applicant to the DAAD RISE program, or more generally to a future student doing research in Germany?”
Vaz: “It’s okay if you don’t understand everything the first week on the job, people are understanding and want to help you get your feet underneath you. I would also make sure that you are doing this for the research topic. You’re going to be spending a lot of time working on research, so make sure that it is a topic that you are interested in and really want to learn more about. Additionally, getting to meet other interns in your host city is a great experience. Visiting new places with the other interns made the experience way more fun.”
Colorado School of Mines students who wish to apply to theDAAD RISE Summer Research Internship in Germany may seek advising and support from the Office of Nationally Competitive Scholarships, nationalscholarships.mines.edu. For more information, please contact Ashley Weibel, in Mines’ Office of Nationally Competitive Scholarships: ashley.weibel@mines.edu