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<p>He should <em>definitely</em> be doing some research in his last year of school then. One semester will be required (Senior Design class) but the other semester he should reach out to professors and ask to help out in their labs. My guess is his lack of engineering “work” experience is what may be holding him back.</p>
<p>I guess the ECE department may be different from MEMS. In MEMS we stress doing research and finding an internship from sophomore year onwards. I think it makes a big difference emphasizing how important this is.</p>