{"id":3034,"date":"2015-12-08T18:19:58","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T18:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/?p=3034"},"modified":"2025-01-31T12:02:41","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T17:02:41","slug":"doe-fiu-partnership-renewed-new-class-inducted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eicdev.fiu.edu\/phparc\/feature\/doe-fiu-partnership-renewed-new-class-inducted\/","title":{"rendered":"DOE-FIU partnership renewed, new class inducted"},"content":{"rendered":"

DOE-FIU partnership renewed, new class inducted<\/strong><\/p>\n

Clara-Meretan Kiah<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Twelve FIU students have earned the opportunity to participate in hands-on research, competitive summer internships and personal mentorship that will train them to be the next generation of scientists and engineers in charge of environmental restoration in the United States.<\/p>\n

These students are the newest members of FIU\u2019s Department of Energy Fellowship, a workforce development program that prepares students in STEM majors for jobs in environmental remediation; high-level waste treatment and disposal; radiochemistry; nuclear forensics and more. The goal is to address the aging workforce in the Department of Energy\u2019s Office of Environmental Management, where only 1 percent of employees are under the age of 35.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re responsible for the cleanup of the world\u2019s largest, and really most costly and challenging, environmental project that mankind has ever created,\u201d DOE Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Monica Regalbuto said at the 2015 DOE Fellowship induction ceremony held in November. She was referring to the cleanup now necessary across the United States following last century\u2019s nuclear arms race.<\/p>\n

The DOE DOE Fellows program is part of a recently renewed partnership between FIU and the U.S. Department of Energy, which granted FIU $20 million over the next five years to continue funding for the fellowship and research on environmental remediation at FIU\u2019s Applied Research Center.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.<\/a>

Dr. Ken Furton, Dr. Monica Regalbuto, Dr. Triay and Dr. Lagos signing<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

During the fellowship, students work with faculty mentors to conduct research at ARC. New fellow Alejandro Hernandez, a senior majoring in chemistry, is currently conducting research at ARC to stop the spread of nuclear contaminants at the DOE\u2019s Savannah River Site, where the soil is polluted with radiation leftover from nuclear power plants that existed there in the 1950s.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe program is very great,\u201d Hernandez said, explaining that doing research as a fellow now will prepare him for a life in research. \u201cIt\u2019s like a pipeline between being a student and the DOE workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

An important feature of the DOE Fellowship is the emphasis on field experience; each student has the opportunity to take part in a 10-week summer internship with the DOE at one of its cleanup sites or laboratories across the nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough the internship, you\u2019re able to meet other scientists, and you just interact with so many people at a time that it\u2019s a great thing,\u201d said Lapierre, \u201cand research at a national lab is pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n

Electrical engineering alumnus Elicek Delgado MS \u201913, who now works as a radio frequency engineer for Motorola Solutions, said that overall, the DOE Fellowship prepared her for the real world of engineering, and that her superiors were impressed with the skills she already had entering the job, especially preparing and analyzing reports.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt helps you with the little things you don\u2019t learn in school,\u201d she said, \u201cand that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou really do represent the next generation of engineers, scientists and leaders,\u201d Regalbuto told the inductees. \u201cIt gives me great pleasure to see a lot of young, very talented and very well educated faces here with the right set of skills, because it gives me the confidence that in the years to come, when many of us are ready to retire, there will be many of you to replace us. And I think that the world is in good hands.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"2015<\/a>

2015 DOE Fellows<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

This year\u2019s DOE Fellows inductees include:<\/p>\n