The Office of Fossil Energy is challenged with several key missions that respond to the concerns of Americans over the quality of their environment and cost of their future energy supplies. They have begun initiatives to develop a new generation of clean coal technologies, to study exciting new approaches for capturing and storing carbon dioxide, and to find ways to tap oil and natural gas that is currently beyond the reach of conventional technology. The Department of Energy named Penn State as one of the educational institutions to participate in their new Technical Career Intern Program.

Application:

Download the application. Deadline extended to February 22, 2008.

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.

Under the Technical Career Intern Program, students may receive the following benefits:

• An internship will be provided at a DOE Office Fossil Energy facility during the summer between the sophomore and junior year and the summer between the junior and senior year.
• 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
• Up to $60,000 coverage may be given towards student loans
• Costs may be covered for an M.S. degree at a named 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 five years. Recruitment of student interns will begin in Spring 2007 with internships starting in Summer 2007. It is a fact that two-thirds of Fossil Energy’s staff are eligible to retire within the next four years, creating an urgent need to attract graduates into service with the federal government. In order for the Office of Fossil Energy to fulfill their missions, they must plan for replacement of scientists and engineers who are leaving and need to attract some of the best graduates from highly-ranked schools, such as Penn State, in the areas of earth sciences and engineering.

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 five 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.

 

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