LSU Engineering Student Goes to Germany, Lands Co-Op

Headshot of Fischer RobinsonBATON ROUGE, LA – Fischer Robinson, a junior LSU student from Houston, was studying abroad in a small town in Germany when he earned an opportunity to co-op at Ethicon Inc., a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) and a company credited with making the first sutures.

Robinson was studying abroad as part of LSU College of Engineering’s Encounter Engineering in Europe, or E3, program. One of the stops students made was in Brannenburg, Germany, a small city outside of Munich. While there, Robinson received an unexpected email from a recruiter about the opportunity at Ethicon.

“It was a pretty big shock to me, but also very exciting,” Robinson said. “I had a day or two to prep for the [phone] interview, so I didn’t have too many nerves going into it.”

Robinson researched questions asked in JNJ interviews and prepared answers to the possible questions. Most of his unease came from the unreliable Internet and phone connections.

When the interview finally happened, he realized he was not ready for all of the questions asked. Despite this, Robinson came out of it feeling confident. That feeling was rewarded when he received a phone call a week after returning to Louisiana asking if he wanted to accept the position.

“I did not hesitate to say yes,” Robinson said.

Robinson received immense support from his family, who are just as excited for this opportunity and eager to see where it takes him.

Despite the co-op being a big move and change, he is excited to gain hands-on experience in the medical field and plans to attend medical school after graduation. Currently, Robinson is pursuing a degree in biological engineering with a minor in robotics.

“The medical field is a rising and tremendously broad field, so I’m excited to get exposed to more aspects of it… [I hope to get] a better idea of what I would like to do in the future,” Robinson said.

As part of his co-op, Robinson will work on a team of engineers developing a new medical device that will assist in running mechanical tests and risk mitigation.

“I think it’s going to be weird not being in school for a semester, [but] I was never nervous to move to a new city,” Robinson said. “I think the biggest adjustment for me will be working eight-hour days. Coffee might become my best friend,” Robinson said.

Like us on Facebook (@lsuengineering) or follow us on Twitter and Instagram (@lsuengineering).​

###

By Olivia Blackstock

Communications Intern