Engineering PhD: intern or research over the summer?

[bposadas]

I am curious to hear how engineering PhD students are spending their summers. I am currently pursing internship opportunities, but could easily stay on campus and work on my research. I want to go into R&D after finishing my degree, so I feel I should get some more industry experience and make connections where I want to work. On the other hand, if I stay I can finish my degree more quickly and start working full time sooner.

How are other students deciding between the two? Do your advisors give you an option or promote one over the other? Does it depend on how far along in the program you are? What other factors should be considered when planning your summer?

[.letmeinplz//]

CS here (HCI/AI/etc) I talked with my current adviser about this because there was an industry research internship over the summer but I was told if I was accepted to a PhD program I could start in the summer doing research. My adviser said go with the industry research unless that RAing is at Stanford/MIT/etc because it 'looks' better on your CV and helps you get future internships and better access to data.