INTERNSHIPS
PIECING IT TOGETHER For Kiara Bean (’23), a Forensic Accounting and Fraud Examination graduate, her interest
Thanks to Embry-Riddle’s connections, faculty and immersive learning experience, Bean was able to secure an internship that prepared her for her current role. “I had the amazing opportunity to participate in the Honors Internship Program at the FBI office in San Diego,” she said. “It was very exciting to work alongside the agents and apply my knowledge at the Bureau.” Today, Bean enhances her expertise by creating financial analyses for various cases, which managing directors of the company use when they communicate with clients and their lawyers or when they testify in court as expert witnesses.
in forensic accounting began with a love for numbers, mysteries and puzzles. As she pursues her current role as a forensic accounting associate II for a national consulting firm in California, Bean reflects on her journey as an Eagle. “I like the challenge of looking into the financial statements and trying to confirm or disprove the claims in a legal case,” she said. “Looking for fraud in the financial statements reminds me of looking for different puzzle pieces in the big picture. When the puzzle pieces fall into place, the mystery is solved.” As one of few universities in the nation to offer an undergraduate degree in Forensic Accounting, Embry-Riddle’s Prescott Campus allowed her to combine her shared interests and transform her future. “I was learning about forensic accounting from my first accounting class, and I did not have to wait for an M.S. program,” she said. “I also liked that the teachers in my program had real-life experience, which made their lectures more exciting, and my classes allowed me to apply my knowledge to real-life scenarios through projects.”
From Innovators to Interns Every year, the JUMP into STEM competition invites students to tackle lab-sponsored challenges. This year, the task was to develop innovative thermal energy storage solutions for buildings to optimize energy use, enhance sustainability and increase resilience.
Top prize winners receive paid internships at one of three U.S.
A FUTURE IN FORENSICS
Department of Energy national labs: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) or Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Mechanical Engineering students Jared Williams (’24) and Spencer Marinac (’24) showcased their senior design project — a system that can be easily installed on homes to reduce energy consumption, lower electricity costs and store thermal energy for outages. “Working on this project allowed me to apply what I’ve learned in class,” Marinac shared. Williams, a senior and accelerated master’s student, and Marinac, a scholar-athlete planning to pursue a master’s degree, earned the top prize, securing internships at ORNL and NREL, respectively. Looking forward, the team will build and test a prototype of the winning design, backed by funding from Embry‑Riddle’s College of Engineering and Department of Mechanical Engineering, as well as an Ignite grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research.
Read Kiara Bean’s full story about her Embry-Riddle experience.
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