NETL welcomed more than 40 research associates June 3 as the Lab opened its doors to participants in the Mickey Leland Energy Fellowship (MLEF) and Consortium for Integrating Energy Systems in Engineering and Science Education (CIESESE) programs. The summer research associates include science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors who will get hands-on experience in NETL’s world-class facilities and conduct research one-on-one with the Lab’s expert scientists and engineers.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy, MLEF kicks off its 24th year with a class of 34 undergraduate and graduate students. The program was named after late Congressman Mickey Leland of Texas, a passionate advocate on many issues who died 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. The program has mentored several hundred talented students from across the nation and provided participants the unique opportunity to gain hands-on research experience with fossil energy. Students gain insight into how DOE is developing solutions to meet the energy challenges of the future, including policy and regulation, project finance, and strategic performance measures at Office of Fossil Energy Headquarters. The program will wrap up in August with a technical forum in which the participants present their research findings.

NETL has hosted students since the program’s inception and traditionally hosts the largest number of fellows across all of DOE.

NETL is also proudly hosting eight CIESESE participants for this year’s 10-week program. CIESESE interns’ research focuses on the infrastructure, technologies, and procedures to generate, store, and distribute energy for use by individual consumers and by the public and private/industrial sectors. The program directly supports DOE's goal to build a sustainable professional and academic pipeline, particularly professionals from the Hispanic community, ready to take on the challenges of current and future energy systems.

The students will make real and lasting contributions to NETL’s mission to discover, integrate and mature technology solutions to enhance the nation’s energy foundation and protect the environment for future generations.