Internship Highlight: Nisha Shah
Monica Cooney
Aug 19, 2025
Shah visited craft fair where she met a Fordite jewelry maker. Fordite, is made from the layers of paint that built up in old Ford paint shops from the hand-spraying paint process. When cut and polished, the layers look similar to agate patterns.
Materials science and engineering master’s degree student Nisha Shah has been driving toward advancements in electric vehicles (EV) in her internship at Ford Motor Company this summer. In her role as a Research and Advanced Engineering Intern at the company’s Dearborn, Michigan location, she has been focused on characterization and comparison of thermal management composite materials for battery pack applications.
Shah was eager to gain more industry experience after completing the first year of her coursework, and was drawn to Ford specifically because of the opportunity presented to observe and contribute to the EV transition alongside a legacy automaker.
Throughout her internship, Shah incorporated the skills and knowledge acquired in her master’s course and lab work, noting that her experiences at CMU enabled her to more effectively and quickly learn about new materials, processes, or analyses in her work at Ford.
In addition to learning more materials characterization skills, I have improved my science communication skills in a new environment
Nisha Shah, Graduate Student, CMU Materials Science and Engineering
For Shah, one of the most interesting parts of the internship was the “field trips” she has participated in, where she was able to visit various historical Ford locations around Detroit, suppliers, and benchmarking partners, as well as laboratories at other locations.
“It was interesting to see how research operates at a large engineering corporation and the variety of interesting projects happening on both my team and other teams,” said Shah.
The experience that she has gained throughout the summer will make an impact as she returns to campus to finish her master’s degree this fall.
“In addition to learning more materials characterization skills, I have improved my science communication skills in a new environment,” she noted.
Shah, who is a Rales Fellow, is looking forward to continuing her research alongside professor Jay Whitacre, particularly with her enhanced understanding of the specifications that new materials must meet to be viable in large industries.