Eric Hynes calls the McMaster Startup Internships (MSI) program “one of the biggest skill-building experiences” of his life.
Hynes, a fourth-year anthropology student, was one of thirteen students to participate in the inaugural program in 2025.
The MSI offers paid internships to undergraduate and graduate students from all faculties and programs. Interns gain hands-on experience in marketing, operations, business development and R&D while working in McMaster’s innovation ecosystem – supporting startups in clean energy, AI, digital technologies, health, medicine and more.
When Hynes saw an internship posting for Staccato, an AI music generator for music producers, he thought it would be the perfect fit.
“My entire family are musicians, so when I saw the opportunity for a marketing role, it was right up my alley. I’ve been working with digital music and composing with my computer for about eight years,” he says.
Along with his retail work experience, Hynes thought the job would enhance a combination of skills he already had and skills he wanted to build.
“Seeing the product grow and knowing that it was partly a result of the care I was putting into my work made me feel like I was really contributing to the growth of the company,” says Hynes.
Staccato co-founder Jason Kowalczyk says the internship came at the perfect time for the company.
“We had launched our flagship product and we needed help with marketing. Grant programs in Canada are incredible for research and development, but not as easy to come by for growth aspects like marketing,” says Kowalczyk.
“I needed help getting the product off the ground. That’s where Eric came in, and it was a huge success having him join our team.”
In fact, when Hynes asked to stay on part time at the end of his internship, Kowalczyk and his co-founder, Jeff Lupker, had already decided to ask him the same question.
Kowalczyk says he would absolutely recommend the program to other companies.
“We are creating good employment for young people, which is also going to help them later in their careers. And there’s endless research about how challenging it can be to retain highly skilled talent and the difficulty in accessing capital, so programs like this are very important for tech companies in Canada,” he says.
Hynes encourages other students to apply to the MSI program.
“You won’t regret it,” he says. “You don’t always know what skills you need to improve or where to find valuable opportunities until you put yourself into an unfamiliar situation.”
Saanvi Sood had a similar experience. The third-year mechanical and biomedical engineering student did an internship at Trillium Meditec, which is developing hydrogel-based therapies for osteoarthritis.
“I was really excited to be doing healthcare research that impacts patients. And in engineering, where co-ops and work experience are very important, opportunities can be hard to come by – especially for first- or second-year students who don’t have as much experience. This program is an amazing starting point,” she says.
Applications are now open for the McMaster Startup Immersion Internship Program. Apply online by February 16, 2026 and register for the Meet & Greet on February 10 to learn more.
Established by the McMaster Entrepreneurship Academy in 2024 with support from the Office of the President and the Marnix E. Heersink School of Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship, MSI operates in collaboration with The Forge Business Incubator and The Clinic.