Alejandro Koszarycz - 2018 Summer Internship Experience

Alejandro Koszarycz (Computer Science)

Where did you intern?

I interned in Germantown, MD which is about 35 minutes from the Department of Energy Headquarters in Washington, DC.

How did you get your internship?

I was afforded the opportunity to receive my internship through the DOE Fellows Program at FIU.

What did you do there? What projects did you work on?

I was tasked with 2 main projects which I worked on intensively during my 10 week internship, including the remediation of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) 280 building and the Web Refresh Project. The LLNL 280 building project had started just prior to my arrival so I was able to see the progression of how these projects scale and how fast some tasks are completed while others can take longer while waiting for upper management approval. Besides those 2 projects, I was able to attend many weekly/monthly meetings for all of the current nuclear reactor projects that are being funded.

What was the coolest thing about your internship or that happened during your internship?

The two coolest things that I personally got to experience during my internship was a site visit to Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) in South Carolina and getting to know my summer mentor in Germantown. We were afforded the opportunity to travel to SRNL to see a decommissioned nuclear facility that was completely entombed with concrete, which was projected to maintain the facility’s condition for over 1000 years. After seeing all of the effort and money involved with decommissioning of nuclear sites, I felt that this was a practical solution that could be used more often as allowed by site specific circumstances. While at Germantown, I was able to talk in depth with my mentor and gained many personal and professional insights.

What advice do you have for those beginning the internship process?

The best advice that I would have to those beginning the internship process would be to ask questions and meet everyone that they can. Some of the best contacts I met while at Germantown were people that I met by knocking on their doors; one of the main projects that I was able to work on was identified by knocking on a door and offering my services to help. I learned a lot during this project, and otherwise would have missed this opportunity if I didn’t go around asking questions and meeting people.

What did you like most about your experience?

What I liked most about the entire experience was being able to see the infrastructure and how tasks were delegated for such large tasks. I took many notes on the structure and the layers of communication everyone had with the projects involved. Many weekly meetings were held to go over the scope of complicated tasks and status the progress being made at different sites. I also really enjoyed the work environment at Germantown and how friendly and hospitable everyone was with all of the interns; everyone made an effort to take the time to interact and make us feel at home.

What did you learn about yourself?

What I learned about myself during the internship was to focus on my passions and to have that lead me in the future. Most of the people working at Germantown have been there for over 30 years, so it gave me added perspective to make sure that I am doing something that I love because I may be fortunate enough to continue along that path for the next 30 years.

How did the position increase your professional confidence?

While I had a certain level of professional confidence going into the internship, this position allowed me to see the inner workings of the department and see where I would like to fit in a professional setting. It gave me clarity in the direction that I see myself going forward.