DOE Technical Career Internship Program

The Office of Oil and Natural Gas, in the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Fossil Energy, is sponsoring an internship program leading to employment at DOE in the Office of Oil and Natural Gas. The Department of Energy named Penn State as one of the educational institutions to participate in their new Technical Career Intern Program.

Application process currently closed.

Program Objectives:

DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy initiated a Technical Career Intern Program to recruit highly qualified students from the nation’s top earth sciences and engineering universities for internships in fossil energy programs. This program provides employment for students once they graduate and a “pipeline” of employees for DOE’s Office of Fossil Energy.

Who Should Apply:

• Sophomores through seniors majoring in geology, geophysics or petroleum and natural gas engineering
• Seniors with intent to pursue a Master’s Degree
• GPA of 3.0 or higher
• Have an interest in pursuing a career in oil and natural gas at the Department of Energy

Benefits of the Program: (depending upon class standing)

• Up to two paid summer internships will be provided at a DOE Office Fossil Energy facility
• Approximately one-half tuition will be paid during the junior year
• Full tuition support will be provided during the senior year
• A position with DOE will be available upon graduation if the student commits to the program the summer prior to their senior year.
• Employment commitment is approximately equal to the time in the program.
• Up to $60,000 coverage may be given towards student loans.
• Similar level of support would be covered for an M.S. degree for senior applicants.

Examples of Potential Projects to be Conducted by Interns at DOE:

• Exploration techniques for new sources of natural gas such as offshore marine methane hydrates.
• Maximization of carbon dioxide storage in CO2 enhanced oil recovery.
• Environmentally sound techniques to minimize waste water in hydraulic fracturing.

How do I apply?

Application includes the following: application form, resume, transcript, and essay and be submitted electronically to Dr. Sharon Miller (sfm1@psu.edu) (include “DOE Technical Career Intern Application” in subject line). Application form can be found online at http://www.energy.psu.edu/osd/doeinternapp.html.

Students of interest will be contacted and interviewed by DOE at University Park. Check out the DOE website at http://www.fossil.energy.gov/education/tcip/index.html for information on this internship program, and http://fossil.energy.gov/programs/oilgas/index.html for information on DOE’s Oil and Natural Gas Program.

This program is administered through the Office of Student Development, The Earth and Mineral Science Energy Institute at Penn State University.

Note:
Before the start of your senior year, you and the Department of Energy will evaluate your performance and your interest and continuation in the program. During your senior year, if you proceed in the program you would receive full tuition coverage, a job offer from the DOE and as much as $60,000 in repayment of student loans. If at the start of the senior year you commit to continue in the program, the DOE will expect that you serve with them for two years.

Requirements:

As part of the program, the Department of Energy would hire selected college graduates who may be eligible for:

• Students must complete coursework on energy and fuels subjects (e.g., 6 credit hours)
• Student must be a U.S. citizen
• Student must work with DOE for two years after graduation
• Student must meet program performance expectations during internship

Several Penn State University students are participating in this program. More information can be found at http://www.fe.doe.gov/education/tcip/

Career Opportunities:

The Energy Department’s Fossil Energy organization is made up of about 1000 scientists, engineers, technicians and administrative staff. Its headquarters offices are in downtown Washington, D.C., and in Germantown, Maryland. The organization also has field offices in Morgantown, West Virginia; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Tulsa, Oklahoma; New Orleans, Louisiana; Casper, Wyoming; and Albany, Oregon. The Office of Fossil Energy is responsible for several high-priority Presidential initiatives including implementation of the Administration’s $2 billion, 10-year initiative to develop a new generation of environmentally sound clean coal technologies, the $1 billion FutureGen project to develop a pollution-free plant to co-produce electricity and hydrogen, and the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve and Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, both key emergency response tools available to the President to protect Americans from energy supply disruptions.

Current DOE TCIP Interns Present Summer Research at
DOE Headquarters August 6th, 2009

Dani Petrucci (Sr, Energy Engineering) was selected in 2008 to participate in the DOE Intern Program. Dani conducted her first summer internship at DOE Headquarters in Washington, DC and recently completed her 2nd summer internship in Germantown. Dani’s 2nd summer internship research was titled "Coal-to-SNG (synthetic natural gas) and Coal-to-Chemicals" and presents a review of domestic and international gasification projects producing SNG and feedstock for the chemical industry. Dani has elected to continue in the program and will be reporting to DOE as a full-time employee in the Summer of 2010.

Doug Middleton (Jr, Energy Engineering and Energy, Business and Finance Major) was selected to participate in the program in 2009. Doug completed his first summer internship at DOE Headquarters in Washington, DC under the supervision of Robert Kane. Doug's presentation was titled "Carbon Capture and Grow" on the use of algae as a CO₂ capture strategy. Doug is continuing in the program and will be conducting research at Penn State during his Junior year on the relationship of algae grow as a function of CO₂ concentration.

2008 DOE TCIP Summer Intern Research at DOE Headquarters
Justin Weber (Sr. Mechanical Engineering) “Low Swirl Combustion of Biogas”- PowerPoint or click here for the paper, both as pdfs.
Click here to read about Justin's DOE summer intern research.

Michael Ducker (Sr. Mechanical Enginnering)

2007 DOE TCIP Summer Intern Research at DOE Headquarters
Justin Weber (Jr. Mechanical Engineering) Survey of Perspectives of six different interest groups regarding coal-to-liquids, clean coal technology and carbon sequestration" as a pdf.

Michael Ducker (Jr. Mechanical Engineering) “Exploring Policy Changes Toward Climate Change Mitigation”- PowerPoint or click here for the paper, both as pdfs.

2006 DOE Internships Recipients
Adam Bimle (Jr., Chemical Engineering) and Andrew Thomas (Jr., Chemical Engineering) were awarded DOE Technical Career Internships.

2005 DOE Internships Recipients
Elizabeth Fedorowicz (Energy and Environmental Engineering) , Aaron Flyer (Mechanical Engineering) and Michael Sanders (Mechanical Engineering)

2004 DOE Internships Recipients
Courtney Falconer (Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering) , Jordan Kislear (Mechanical Engineering) and Erik Turner (Mechanical Engineering)

Intern Update – Where are they now?

Students who completed the program are as follows:

Jordan Kistler works in the Office of Fossil Fuels at DOE Headquarters in Washington, DC and was one of the first students who participated in the program in the Summer of 2004. Jordan continues to participate in the program interviewing potential TCIP candidates.

Michael Slanders began the program in 2005 and upon graduation became a DOE employee in the Germantown, MD office in 2007.

Justin Weber began the program in 2007. Upon graduation in 2009, Justin began his employment at DOE in Morgantown, WV.

Michael Ducker joined the program in 2007 and upon graduation began his employment in the Summer of 2009 at DOE Headquarters in Washington, DC.

Projects Conducted by Interns at DOE:

• Survey of Perspectives:
  Perspectives of six different interest groups regarding coal-to-liquids, clean coal technology and carbon sequestration, J. Weber- Survey of Perspectives pdf
• Coal-to-Liquids and Biomass Comparisons, Follow up to "Survey of Perspectives," pdf - J. Weber
• Exploring Policy Changes Toward Climate Change Mitigation paper as pdf or PowerPoint as pdf, M. Ducker
• FutureGen and the importance of project management pdf
  
• Carbon sequestration: novel concepts pdf
• The impact of federal air quality standards on domestic natural gas development pdf

For More Information, Contact:

Dr. Sharon Falcone Miller, Director
Office of Student Development
407 Academic Activities Bldg
University Park, PA 16802
Email: ei-studentdevelopment@ems.psu.edu
Office Phone: 814-863-8893
Fax: 814-863-8892