For Wichitan Janett Lerma-Reyes, a paid summer internship at Shuttlewagon has sharpened her technical skills and confirmed that she belongs in the world of manufacturing. 

The mechanical engineering sophomore at Wichita State University is spending 10 weeks as an operations intern at Shuttlewagon, a company based in Kansas City that designs and builds railcar movers, which are powerful vehicles used to move train cars in railyards, ports and industrial facilities.  

Getting paid during her internship has allowed her the ability to feel financially stable and maintain a work-life balance. 

“Wabtec covered both my housing and transportation to Kansas City, which made relocating much easier,” Lerma-Reyes said. “The pay itself has also been excellent and has really allowed me to enjoy my summer more. I have more time for myself, and I’ve been able to start working out regularly and take my younger sisters on trips, which has been really meaningful.” 

Since May, Lerma-Reyes has been diving into assembly processes and figuring out how to make them safer and more efficient. She spends her days developing instruction manuals with annotated photos, conducting time studies to establish accurate cycle times, and designing fixtures that improve workflow and precision. 

She has also been trained on a range of heavy machinery, expanding her hands-on experience on the shop floor. 

That experience has been overwhelmingly positive — and surprisingly affirming. 

“I was initially nervous about being treated differently as a woman in a manufacturing environment, but the acceptance and support I’ve received have been outstanding,” she said. “I genuinely enjoy being on the floor, engaging with operators, and learning how different elements of the assembly floor work together.” 

Janett’s supervisor, Kevin Brown, said she’s been a welcome addition to the team. 

“Janett is willing to learn new skills and takes the time to build relationships with her team members. She has a great attitude about her work and cares for the team she is supporting,” said Brown, a manufacturing engineer at Shuttlewagon. 

Lerma-Reyes credits her Wichita State classes for preparing her well — especially her First-Year Seminar, Intro to Tech and Design — where she learned about continuous improvement. 

“That’s been a major part of my role here,” she said. “I’m always looking for ways to make the assembly process more efficient and ergonomic, thinking about how certain movements might impact the operators’ bodies over time.” 

She also took the initiative to learn SolidWorks through Wichita State’s LinkedIn Learning subscription (which all students have access to) — an extra skill that’s paid off in her internship. 

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Wichita State University is Kansas' only urban public research university, enrolling more than 23,000 students between its main campus and the WSU Campus of Applied Sciences and Technology (WSU Tech), including students from every state in the U.S. and more than 100 countries. Wichita State and WSU Tech are recognized for being student-centered and innovation-driven.

Located in the largest city in the state with one of the highest concentrations in the United States of jobs involving science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), Wichita State University provides uniquely distinctive and innovative pathways of applied learning, applied research and career opportunities for all of our students. The National Science Foundation ranked WSU No. 1 in the nation for aerospace engineering R&D, No. 2 for industry-funded engineering R&D and No. 8 overall for engineering R&D.

The Innovation Campus, which is a physical extension of the Wichita State University main campus, is one of the nation’s largest and fastest-growing research/innovation parks, encompassing over 120 acres and is home to a number of global companies and organizations.

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