The Brookhaven National Laboratory paid a visit to students from SUNY Old Westbury’s School of Business this spring to teach them about the lab, internship opportunities and career readiness.
Students were introduced to the variety of internships at BNL, including with the institution-wide Budget Office, business offices across the site, the Fiscal Services Division, Procurement and Property Management, and the Internal Audit Office.
Former Business Services Directorate program interns, including SUNY Old Westbury student Maham Mubashar ‘27 and BNL Staff Specialist Karly Ferazi, shared their experiences.
“Part of providing our students with high-quality education is ensuring they have access to networking opportunities and events that inform them of the next steps they can take to pursue their careers,” said Shalei Simms, dean of the School of Business.
Mubashar said classes like "Information Technology and Applications" and her general accounting courses helped prepare her for the internship.
The foundation I’ve built through this experience has been incredibly advantageous for my future career.”
-- Maham Mushabar '27
“Old Westbury’s connection with BNL helped me network and secure my internship after attending their presentation last year regarding business internship opportunities," said Mubashar.
At BNL, Mubashar has been able to work on real-world accounting tasks and projects with focuses on purchase orders, payroll process documentation, direct deposits/Bank Secrecy Act electronic funds transfers, monthly tracking reports, accounts payable invoice folders, and miscellaneous payments.
“The foundation I’ve built through this experience has been incredibly advantageous for my future career,” said Mubashar. Since completing the internship in summer 2025, Mubashar has stayed with BNL part-time as a fiscal assistant as she completes her degree in accounting.
During the visit, students also connected with BNL Chief Financial Officer Susan McKeon, Business Operations Manager and BSD Intern Program lead Heather Turbush, Senior Budget Analyst Charles Baldassarre and Recruiter Peter Cester.
In addition to reviewing available internship opportunities, the BNL team presented on the data visualization software Microsoft Power BI, the internship application review process and tips and tricks for creating a tailored resume, among other topics.
“I can't say enough about continued education,” McKeon told the students. “You need to continue to learn and learn. I will be doing exactly that this summer when I come back here to teach as an adjunct professor, because I'll be learning as much from all of the students as I'll be teaching them.”
Page Banner Caption: BNL Chief Financial Officer Susan McKeon (left) and former Business Services Directorate program interns Maham Mubashar ‘27 and Karly Ferazi present to students in the School of Business.