DJ Patil Launches 8-Week Makerspace for Students Missing Summer Internships

2 articles · Updated · O'Reilly Media · Jun 4

An initial cohort will join two four-week sprints this summer, giving students without internships mentors, speakers and workspace to build a tangible project they can show employers or schools.
Patil says the program answers a worsening internship crunch: students at schools including MIT, Carnegie Mellon and UC Berkeley have applied to 300-plus roles, received fewer than 10 callbacks and often entered summer with zero offers.
He frames that shortfall as part of a broader AI-era "broken promise," arguing labs are concentrating value while workers fear layoffs and institutions such as hospitals lack the capacity to absorb new tools.
In healthcare, Patil says hospitals are already under strain, with outpatient volumes down 20% to 30% and some systems running about $1 million a day behind, making organizational design and clean data infrastructure more urgent than model advances alone.

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O'Reilly Media4h ago

DJ Patil Launches Makerspace to Aid Students Lacking Summer Internships

YouTube4h ago

A Makerspace to Bridge the Internship Gap with DJ Patil

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Bridging the 2026 Internship Gap: DJ Patil’s 8-Week Student-Led Makerspace Program Launches to Empower Thousands

Overview

DJ Patil launched the Summer 2026 Makerspace Program as an immediate response to the severe shortage of summer internships. This free, 8-week, student-led initiative is designed to bridge the internship gap for students without opportunities, drawing inspiration from Michelle D. Campbell’s 'Hack Your Own Summer' philosophy that encourages students to create their own experiences. Patil’s program aims to be a larger, more collaborative version of this idea, inviting students to help shape the program from the start. The focus is on hands-on, team-based projects that build real skills and provide something tangible to showcase.

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