Meet the 2023 WISE Interns

From left to right: Ryan Alimento, Aicha Sama, Courtney Cochran, and Evan Erickson

9/10   in the series Showcasing AIChE's Institute for Learning & Innovation (ILI)

For more than 35 years, Washington Internships for Students of Engineering (WISE) sponsoring societies have brought outstanding engineering students to Washington to learn how government officials make decisions about complex technological issues, and how engineers can contribute to the legislative and regulatory public policy processes. Each student independently researches and writes a paper on a topical engineering-related public policy issue that is important to the student’s sponsoring society.

Watch their public policy paper presentations.

This year, AIChE sponsored three interns; however, another organization had the ability to sponsor an additional AIChE student. ASTM graciously sponsored Ryan Alimento as an intern this summer.

  • Making Net Zero Emissions an Attainable Goal: Introducing Graphene-enhanced Technologies to the Regulated Market to Mitigate Carbon Emissions, Aicha Sama, Brown University, AIChE
  • Shaping a Federal Strategy for Chemical Recycling: Toward Sensible Applications of Emerging Technologies in US Plastic Waste Management, Evan Erickson, University of Wisconsin-Madison, AIChE
  • Fortifying the Grid in the Southeastern U.S. through Microgrids: Navigating an Uncertain Regulatory Environment, Courtney Cochran, Mississippi State University, AIChE
  • The Sustainable Energy Interconnection: Challenges Facing the Future Electric Grid, Ryan Alimento, University of Southern California, ASTM

AIChE’s WISE interns will present their policy papers later this year at the AIChE Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL, during a session devoted to Chemical Engineering Policy and WISE. The session is scheduled for November 6, 2023. The students will also host a panel discussion at the Annual Student Conference to discuss their internship experience on Saturday, November 4th.

If you or someone you know would enjoy taking part in this special learning opportunity, AIChE will be sponsoring interns again next year. The 2024 WISE Internship program will run from June 3, 2024 – August 1, 2024. Applications for the WISE Internship will be accepted starting October 1, 2023. The deadline for 2024 WISE Internship applications is Jan. 15, 2024.

Learn more about how to become an AIChE WISE Intern.