Eastern Student Gabriela Wrobel of Ansonia Selected for Sustainable Energy Internship

2016 Feb 25

The Institute of Sustainable Energy (ISE) promotes energy efficiency and sustainability. The ISE's main goal is to promote the use of less energy while providing performance through technologies that promote sustainable energy. The ISE educates individuals through education, research and technology support.

Gabriela Wrobel '16 of Ansonia is currently working as an ISE intern for the spring 2016 semester. Wrobel's major is Economics.

Students at Eastern who are selected to participate in the internship program with the ISE gain experience by learning practical professional skills while assisting with major projects and aiding with technical support. Students are picked based on their resume and followup interview. The program doesn't require science majors. This year the interns have majors ranging anywhere from education to accounting.

Interns are given several responsibilities such as analyzing energy data from schools, colleges, universities and state buildings. They are also taught to enter data into the EPA Energy Star portfolio manager benchmarking tool and learn about building energy systems and operations. The students also have opportunities to support the Connecticut Green Leaf Schools initiative and assist with education programs and events, lesson research, design and writing curriculum.

The ISE staff guides interns through the steps of their internship; they hold them to a professional standard, while encouraging the students to gain as much experience as possible. "The best part of my work day is getting to work together with so many students. Their experiences as interns help prepare them for a career in their chosen field. We mentor our interns and help them learn important, practical professional skills," said Laura Miller, ISE energy technical specialist.

"The ISE internship is very independent, it feels good to be trusted with important work, and this setup is similar to a real-world work environment," said Wrobel.

ISE interns have participated in such efforts as creating and maintaining the ISE website, researching electric vehicles, assisting in the preparation of a grant application for a charging station on Eastern campus, improving the waste stream at Eastern and planning events for the Solarize U campaign.

"The ISE has a really large impact not only at Eastern but on the community as well. It goes way beyond the terms of conserving energy," said Wrobel.