Student participants chosen across three internship programs will gain valuable research experience under NETL mentors as part of the Lab’s 2021 summer internship initiative. Interns from the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship (MLEF), Consortium of Hybrid Resilient Energy Systems (CHRES) program and Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Advanced Manufacturing Office (EERE-AMO) Energy Storage Internship Program will spend 10 weeks conducting research virtually and receiving guidance from their mentors as they gain experience to become the next generation of energy innovators.

Participants include science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors who will get one-on-one mentorship experiences collaborating with NETL’s world-class scientists and engineers.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), MLEF kicks off its 26th year with a class of undergraduate and graduate students. The program was named after late Congressman Mickey Leland of Texas, a passionate advocate on many issues who passed away in a 1989 plane crash while on a mission to Ethiopia. The MLEF program was created in 1995 to improve opportunities for under-represented students in STEM fields and strengthen a diverse pipeline of future STEM professionals. Having mentored several hundred talented students from across the nation, the program provides participants the unique opportunity to gain direct research experience in fossil energy. Students gain insight into how DOE is working to meet the energy challenges of the future, including policy and regulation, project finance and strategic performance measures at FECM headquarters. The program will conclude in August with an online technical forum where participants will present their research findings.

The goal of CHRES is to expand the workforce pipeline of graduates ready to pursue a career in DOE and other STEM-related fields. CHRES directly supports DOE’s goal of building a sustainable professional and academic pipeline of next the next generation of engineers and scientist from the Hispanic community, ready to take on the challenges of current and future energy systems. NETL is hosting four students from four universities in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, as part of CHRES.

The EERE-AMO Energy Storage Internship Program consists of students and recent graduates interested in the development of newer chemistries, battery designs and manufacturing processes needed to usher changes in energy storage. NETL will host two students participating in the program.

This year’s interns, from all three programs, come from across the nation, representing 37 colleges and universities from 16 states, with three participants from Puerto Rico. The students will make real and lasting contributions to NETL’s mission to ensure the safe and sustainable use of our nation’s fossil energy resources.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory develops and demonstrates for commercialization advanced technologies that provide clean energy while safeguarding the environment. NETL’s work supports DOE’s mission to ensure America’s security and prosperity by addressing its energy and environmental challenges through transformative science and technology solutions.