Six college students and two professors, who participated in a mentored training program at NETL sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and designed to encourage pursuit of careers in energy industries, presented the results of their summer research projects during a technical forum held this week in Morgantown, West Virginia.

The individuals were participants in the Consortium for Integrating Energy Systems in Engineering and Science Education (CIESESE) – a program that supports DOE's goal of building a continuing cadre of professionals, particularly from the Hispanic community, who are ready to take on the challenges of new energy systems – the infrastructure, technologies, and procedures used to generate, store, and distribute energy.

CIESESE consists of five Hispanic-serving institutions: Universidad Ana G. Mendez – Recinto Gurabo (formerly Universidad del Turabo) under the Puerto Rico Energy Center, Miami Dade College, University of New Mexico, Recinto Universitario De Mayaguez and the University of Texas El Paso. Sandia National Laboratory and NETL are also part of the consortium.

NETL has been a host site for CIESESE since 2017. Since then, 25 persons have participated at NETL, which has traditionally hosted the largest number of participants in the program.

Selected candidates train for 10-13 weeks under the mentorship of program officials and scientists on focused research projects, consistent with the mission of DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy. During their appointment, participants receive a stipend, and some may be eligible for housing and travel allowances for the duration of the program. They also gain insight into how DOE is working to meet the energy challenges of the future.

NETL Director Brian Anderson, Ph.D., who delivered welcoming remarks during the first day of the forum, explained that by participating in CIESESE, NETL strengthens a diverse pipeline of future science, technology, engineering and mathematics professionals, develops relationships with universities, meets its mission to serve as an energy educator and promotes NETL’s mission, and accomplishments.

The NETL CIESESE participants who presented during the forum were: Alejandra Castellano, Marcos Hernandez and Cynthia Morales, all of El Paso, Texas; Eduardo Fenollal-Gines of Cayey, Puerto Rico; Joseph Medina of Carolina, Puerto Rico; Professor Bernardo Restrepo-Torres of San Juan, Puerto Rico; Professor David Suleiman of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; and Alejandro Torres of Miami, Florida.

In addition to NETL leadership and research personnel, the technical forum was attended by top officials from DOE’s Division of Advanced Energy Systems and Office of Fossil Energy as well as the Nuclear Security Administration.

NETL summer programs are inclusive, serving participants from a range of ages, skills and experiences, and demographics – from undergraduates to professors. Trish Adkins-Coliane, who manages NETL’s Graduate Education Programs, said diversity is a key asset provided by the Lab’s internships.

“Our summer programs bring in new faces and new minds to apply new, creative perspectives to the challenges our researchers endeavor to solve,” Adkins-Coliane said. “The next-generation of researchers, scientists and engineers will need to ‘think out of the box,’ and hands-on experience in the lab is a solid foundation for critical thinking, problem solving and applying new ideas. The interns involved in our programs bring their own experiences and perspectives to the research here, which means we have a greater breadth of ideas to enhance the avenues toward innovation. New ideas and different ways of approaching a challenge are imperative to successful research.”