Job Title: Clean Energy Technology Integration Environmental Sustainability Internships

Organization: Idaho National Laboratory

Position Overview: NL is a science-based, applied engineering national laboratory dedicated to supporting the U.S. Department of Energy’s mission in nuclear energy research, science, and national defense. With more than 5,000 scientists, researchers, and support staff, the laboratory works with national and international governments, universities and industry partners to discover new science and development technologies that underpin the nation’s nuclear and renewable energy, national security, and environmental missions. INL hosts over 450 undergraduate and graduate students each year to support INL’s mission. Opportunities for interns at INL range from nuclear engineering to cybersecurity and include non-scientific positions in various operations and business disciplines.

Interns will spend the first week of their assignment working with their mentor to outline their work scope and to secure resources for a successful internship. For the next several weeks, the mentor will provide considerable program assistance and guidance to the intern. In addition to regular activities, interns are invited to attend weekly seminars, tours and community events designed with career development in mind. Completion of a final project is highly recommended and can be completed through a variety of mediums – a traditional poster, electronic presentation or video.

Seeking Degree Programs In: Nuclear, Renewable, Intelligent Systems, Hybrid Energy, Economic Analysis, Geology, Environmental Engineering, Power Systems, Systems Engineering, Anthropology, Earth & Life Sciences, Materials, Chemistry, Biology, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Ecology

Duties: INL works to optimize hybrid energy systems that expand the nation’s integrated energy portfolio to ensure power is available when it is needed most. To reduce the environmental impact of energy extraction, INL scientists conduct geomechanical modeling and benchmarking, develop nuclear fuel codes and used fuel systems engineering, plus develop options for nuclear and radiological materials disposition. Below are descriptions of the type of projects a student may work on:

• Aid in the development and parameterization of earth models targeting enhanced geothermal systems in sedimentary rocks. Use statistical techniques to populate earth models using indirect measurements such as seismic inversion. 
• Participate on the R&D data collection team and work to develop and streamline various reporting solutions, customize internal website collection, and help establish infrastructure for simple and intuitive long-term maintenance.
• Develop an algorithm for quantifying economic financial risk in supply chain logistics. Enter data and develop code to use in the algorithm. 
• Carry out quantitative characterization of microstructures in advanced structural materials intended for high temperature power generation. Correlate experimental observations of material structure with measured elevated creep and creep-fatigue behavior. Relate the structure and properties to underlying mechanisms of deformation and fracture.
• Support VHDL/VLSI programming activities as a part of the existing projects in power electronics.
• Conduct discrete element method (DEM) model based simulation studies of mechanical characterization and bulk flowability of granular particulate materials for biomass particles.
• Test wear properties of a variety of biomass sources using standard and newly developed techniques, and develop microscopy skills to image the surface of materials worn by biomass. Develop knowledge in thermodynamics, solid mechanics, particle motion and collisions.
• Study and characterize biomass feedstocks relative to processing the material for delivery to a bio-refinery for conversion to either a liquid or a solid biofuel. Provide input to experimental plans, collect data from laboratory-scale test equipment, enter the data into spreadsheets, analyze the data using statistical software, and prepare graphs for presentation. 

Minimum Qualifications:

• Complete this application, which is used to place students based on their academic interests, coursework, knowledge and communication skills
• Have the ability to pass a background check
• Enrolled full time student status at an accredited college or university (undergraduate, graduate, PhD)
• Possess a minimum overall 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA)
• Possess authorization to work in the U.S.

How to Apply: Please click here to view the full job description as wall as how to apply.