|
Last year, the Minnesota Technical Assistance program helped companies realize more than $3 million in energy savings
by judy woodward
If you had asked Laura Fletcher (ChemE ’08) a
few years back what she would be doing the summer
after her senior year, chances are she wouldn’t
have said, “solving problems and saving thousands
of dollars for a wastewater treatment plant.” Yet,
that’s exactly what she did. Now, as an Institute of
Technology chemical engineering graduate, Fletcher
works full-time as an engineer for the Metropolitan
Council Environmental Services where she considers
her work vital to the community. “Without effective
wastewater treatment, there would be major
environmental health concerns,” she said.
Fletcher’s foray into the somewhat unglamorous
subject of sewage was through a summer internship
at St. Paul’s Metro Wastewater Treatment Plant, the
Twin Cities’ main sewage treatment facility. She got
her internship through the University’s Minnesota
Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP), where she
was one of eight college juniors and seniors chosen
to spend the summer of 2008 working with Minnesota
companies on specific waste-reduction and energy
savings projects.
Each year, MnTAP receives more than a thousand
requests from Minnesota businesses looking to reduce
waste and improve energy efficiency. Last year,
the program helped companies realize energy savings
of more than $3 million. MnTAP staff often visit
participating companies to make on-site evaluation
of their concerns, and when they do, said Krysta Larson,
MnTAP Intern Program coordinator, they often
identify projects where summer interns could be
useful.
“We look for projects that will make a difference
to the company and the State of Minnesota, but we
also want companies that show a commitment to
the project,” Larson explains. “Without upper management support, no capital investment is likely
to take place.” Approximately 30 companies consider
the intern program each year, and about 15 go
through the full application process.
“We’re not looking for projects featuring energy
efficiency by itself,” she said. “Rather than focusing
on waste management, we look for pollution prevention
opportunities.”
Companies are carefully matched with student
interns who have appropriate academic backgrounds.
“Of the roughly 70 students who apply
for positions each summer,” Larson said, “the best
candidates ‘float to the top’ through the interview
process. They must have excelled in the technical
coursework, but they also must have initiative and
creativity. No one is going to hold their hand, and
they must be comfortable in a manufacturing setting.”
Each student is paid a $2,500 stipend and is assigned
both a staff mentor at MnTAP and a supervisor
at the company where they intern. Advisors and
supervisors act as resources and backup support,
however, interns have full control over the day-today
details of their projects.
Internships offer practical benefits to both students
and employers. On the business side, there are
advantages to having the energy and fresh insights
of young newcomers who haven’t yet learned how to
do things the “company way.”
“We’re getting, very inexpensively, someone who
is dedicated full-time to just one project,” said Mike
Costello, who has supervised interns at a medical
device firm, Aritech, Inc., and at a previous employer.
“The students get an idea of how their education
will apply in the real world. That connection fuels
their enthusiasm.”
For the students, the payoff can be immediate.
Like Fletcher, many are offered permanent employment
once their internship ends.
|
