Share Your Journey: Alaina Hawley

Describe your internship. Where was it? How long was it? What were your key responsibilities? 

Over the summer of 2016, I was fortunate enough to spend  three months at Intel as the Energy Conservation Engineering Intern. I worked for Intel's corporate sustainability team and my mentor was one of Intel's energy conservation engineers. My intern project was to create an energy consumption dashboard for one of the large consumers at the Hillsboro plant, the chilled water system. I was given autonomy to work with a variety of people and disciplines to create energy consumption models and then implement them into a dashboard software that is used at other Intel sites around the world. 

Why did you choose to intern at this site?

Intel offered me a chance to directly use the knowledge that I have learned in the very specific Energy Systems Engineering program here at OSU-Cascades. Additionally, Intel gave me a glimpse into the large corporate world, something that I had no exposure to and allowed me to decide if that was a setting that I could see myself working in after graduation. Lastly, the immense scale that the intel plant operates under proved to be a great setting to learn about equipment and systems that I had only seen in a textbook.

What life lesson did you take from your internship?

I learned that in most jobs, you won't have the skills you need when you walk through the door, but that is okay. As long as you are dedicated and are quick to pick things up the company will help set you up to succeed. 

How did your internship influence your career interests, goals, or future plans?  

My internship opened my eyes to entirely new field where I can apply my degree, and it turned out that I found energy efficiency and energy conservation fascinating. As I am searching for full-time employment after graduation, this discovery has allowed me to broaden my search criteria and has expanded my career options. 

What advice would you give to students to help them make the most of their internship experience? 

Take every advantage to network. While the skills you learn during your internship will be helpful moving forward in your career, the relationships you build and the connections you make are invaluable. 

Do you have a journey to share? We would love to hear about it!