INL holds intern expo

Idaho National Laboratory interns got a chance to show off what they’ve learned this summer.

The intern expo is the culmination of their summer internship with INL. From nuclear energy to clean energy, interns displayed the various areas they studied. However, these interns learned more than just science.

“What I didn’t expect to learn, one of the biggest things, was how to work with other people,” Ezekiel Villarreal, INL intern, said. “Science doesn’t happen alone in a lab, which is sometimes that vision that you have. I’m gonna mess with my test tubes, science is gonna happen. It’s really not that way. You have to learn how to talk to people, how to work with other peoples ideas, how to try new things.”

In return for their teachings, INLhopes that someday these interns will come back…as employees.

“It really helps with our future talent pipeline,” Amy Lientz, INL employee, said. “We really want to give people an experience where they can work along side with researchers and scientists and hopefully we can convince them to take on future and longer careers in the energy and the science areas.”

With 337 interns this summer, INL has a good chance at doing just that.