Crystal A. Trujillo
Name: Crystal A. Trujillo Name of lab and location where you interned:Department of Energy NNSA Office of Secure Transportation, Kirtland Air force Base Albuquerque, NM Lab where I interned:Office of Secure Transportation Description of summer assignment:My summer assignment was to create and implement an energy reduction plan to comply with DOE Order 430.2B. By implementing the plan the main goal of the Office of Secure Transportation is to have a 30% energy intensity reduction by FY2015 from a FY2003 baseline and a 16% water intensity reduction by FY2015 from a FY2007 baseline. What did you like about the assignment?I really liked this assignment because it was different from what I am used to. I was able to research ways for our department to save energy and go green, which is very important. When I come back for the fall internship, the project will move on to its next phase and will follow through with my implementation schedule. Did you have a mentor? If so, describe your interactions with your mentor.My mentor was Carlos Sanchez and he helped me adjust to working with the Office of Secure Transportation in a timely manner. Going over all of our sites and how our organization was intertwined within DOE was very helpful. I talked with my mentor on a regular basis. He was always there to answer any questions that I had dealing with my projects and was very supportive. He allowed me to make my own decisions on how I wanted to approach things but was always there if I needed something else. What did you learn? (Both technical and professional skills)My mentor was great. I learned a lot of useful information that I’m going to take with me and use in my everyday life. I learned how to approach projects in different ways from which I was used to and different communication skills that will benefit me in my future. My mentor gave me on advice when it came to decisions with school and applying for different programs within DOE. Advice for other students about interning:Do intern, it’s a great experience, you meet a lot of great people, and have connections that will help you out in your future. Describe the hiring process you used to get the internship:The hiring process was very straight forward for me. Any emails that I had with questions regarding the internship got answered in a timely manner. A few weeks after I submitted all required information, I got a call from OST asking if I was interested in working with them for the summer. What was your biggest challenge and how did you handle it?My biggest challenge was my project. I had to do extensive research on how different company’s implemented energy saving plans. There are so many different ways to conserve energy, but picking ways that would benefit our department was the tricky part. |
