SWE - Spring 2009 - (Page 34)

telling me I had been selected as the ASHRAEsponsored WISE intern. Professional and personal growth Professionally, the most valuable lesson I learned was how important it is for engineers to take an active role in politics. Whether it be an outdated engineering code, or a new technology America needs to employ, we engineers are the ones who actually understand the science behind it. While policymakers are incredibly intelligent, they cannot possibly understand the ins and outs of every technology to make educated decisions. It is up to us, the engineers, to make sure they are at least making informed decisions on important science issues. Many of the people in D.C. who advocate STEM issues are not trained in STEM themselves, so it is important that we participate. The internship taught me a number of professional-development skills. In my engineering classes, professors warned against getting too technical in our presentations, because there would be “someone” present who knew nothing about engineering and would therefore be completely bewildered, for example, an investor for your project. I never understood this advice completely until I was Finding the right internship in D.C., where that “someone” is I suggest that anyone applying for not even remotely familiar with an internship try to think outside the your subject matter. Initially, it was box. Understand that you are not redifficult to explain complex engistricted to internships available in your neering topics to non-engineers, city or state, or ones that pertain disuch as aides to policymakers. rectly to your field. You can also comDuring the course of the summer, bine your interests; if you want to travel, there are plenty of opportunities however, it became easier, and the better this skill was honed, the betto do that, by taking an internship in ter response we received from another country! It’s a matter of doing those we were speaking to. your research and taking a risk. I wasI learned how to be on time. I n’t sure how I would end up, like to think of myself as punctual, taking a non-technical internship for but more often than not, I arrive at my last internship, but it worked out a meeting right on the dot or make really well. it just before or after the scheduled The actual experience went far bestart. In D.C., everyone’s time is yond my expectations. I expected to precious. If you are visiting a conbe working a 9-to-5 job in D.C., but gressman or congresswoman’s ofthis certainly was not the case. WISE fice, or attending an event on the does a great job of helping the stuHill, it is critical that you arrive at dents understand the legislative least 15-20 minutes early. This process and experience the city for the short time we were there. They un- meant buffering travel time (what if I get stuck on the Metro?) to an derstood that politics are not what we extreme. Sometimes, literally, you do, but that we were capitalizing on an interest. Because of this I feel like I en- only have a 5-minute meeting scheduled, and if you miss it, you joyed the internship a lot more. There miss it. But if you get there early, was a lot of work integrating governyou might get lucky and get 10 ment and engineering, especially the extra minutes! visits to different offices. Networking is key in every profession. Nearly everyone we talked to in D.C. got where they are today because “they knew someone who knew someone” or they randomly met so-and-so in an elevator on the Hill. By the end of the summer, I had collected many business cards through networking. Before the internship, the only time I lived in a new city with no friends (or car) was when I started college. After I arrived in D.C., the shuttle service dropped me off at George Washington University with my three bags for the entire summer, and I was all alone. I had never roamed such a metropolitan city by myself, and I was nervous. Two months later, I was a pro at navigating the district. I proved to myself that I could survive in a new city, something I was unsure of before the internship. I was so fortunate to have met the great group of WISE interns who shared the experience with me. I would never have known there were 11 other engineering students who had strong interests in policy. We were able to debate issues intelligently, as well as have a great night on the town. Before the internship, I felt alone in my engineering-policy passion, but I learned that is definitely not true. Stand-out people and experiences I loved having the opportunity to explore the district both as a local and a tourist. We did some of the fun things that sightseers do, like visit the international spy museum, but my morning runs took me by the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial. Spending the Fourth of July in D.C. was special. I watched the official parade; saw the president hop out of a helicopter; and the group of WISE interns picked a spot by the Reflection Pond, in front of the Lincoln Memorial, to watch the fireworks. Everything was spectacular. Exploring the Library of Congress was truly a gift. It is one of my favorite spots, because the science and engineering library is beautiful, and the main study area is breathtaking. I expected to visit all of the engineering entities, which we did, but I was unprepared for the magnitude of so many bodies working together. We visited NASA, NSF, NAE, NIST, NTSB, DNFSB, and NRC, among so many others. I was impressed by the dense amount of information, and the huge amount of research, that takes place at these offices to keep our country running. One particular experience stands out above them all. I was a guest during the briefing on the High Performance Building Caucus (more info can be found at http://www.ashrae.org/publications/detail/16789). Just prior to the briefing, another WISE intern, James Bryce (from ASTM), and I met with one of the co-chairs of the caucus, Rep. Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.). It was surreal to see a huge group of attendees — very important attendees, at that — discussing the importance of my industry and its future. All the while, legislative aides were taking diligent notes, asking me questions, and trying to gather as much information on the issue as possible. During Rep. Carnahan’s speech, he recognized James and me as the “future of engineering,” and we received a rousing applause from the crowd. The reason this experience impacted me so deeply was that it summarized the lessons and observations of my entire summer. There is such a disconnect between what happens in D.C. and what happens in the real world. The “two sides” care about each other but don’t always pay attention to or understand each other. Without a means of bringing both together, communication is lost. This is why it is so important for engineers to take an active role in the relationship. Those working in government are pulled in a million other directions! Take-home lessons A rigorous aspect of my internship was preparing a paper for publication in the WISE Journal of continued on page 70 34 SWE SPRING 2009 http://www.ashrae.org/publications/detail/16789 http://www.ashrae.org/publications/detail/16789

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of SWE - Spring 2009

SWE - Spring 2009 Heritage Club Contents President's Note View from the Executive Suite Editor’s Page Honoring Women’s History Public Policy Update First Lady: The “Second-Hardest Job in America” Bringing Science and Engineering into Public Policy At the Intersection of Engineering and Public Policy From Research to Reality Coffee Table Dialogues Membership Information & Calendar A&B Winning Essays from the Lava Lounge Engineering World: Issues • Events • Technology • People Point of View: Your Role in Public Policy Career Toolbox: Communicating with Congress; Finding Your Voice Corporate Partnership Council Media Shelf: Women’s History Opportunity Index SWE Scrapbook: Dressed for Success

SWE - Spring 2009

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