Engelmann Takes Part In Internship Program, Makes Spring Dean’s List At South Dakota School Of Mines And Technology
Seven undergraduate students turned in their end-of-semester lab reports, photography portfolios and engineering designs to begin their 10-week internships at Sanford Underground Research Facility (Sanford Lab) in Lead, South Dakota.
The students represented a cross-section of the professions that converge at Sanford Lab each day, from the mining engineers tasked with designing sound subterranean workspaces and scientists who lay intricate snares for elusive particles, to the creative minds that convey the unfolding story of underground science at Sanford Lab.
Among those selected for the internship program was Ste. Genevieve High School graduate Thomas Engelmann, an industrial engineering and engineering management major at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.
“I like to picture industrial engineering as a broad stroke field, with a lot of different pathways,” Engelmann said. “One of them is safety engineering, and I’d like to take my career into healthcare systems. That’s exactly what I’ll be seeing in motion with the environment, safety, and health department this summer.”
Peggy Norris, deputy director of education and outreach at Sanford Lab, said the number of departments interested in mentoring students this year has increased, enabling Sanford Lab to hire a greater number of interns.
“Our seven interns are majoring in mining and mechanical engineering, industrial hygiene and safety, environmental and physical science, mass communication, physics and biochemistry,” she said.
During the introductory tours, the 2019 interns received a broad introduction to the facility, viewing hydrology systems, experimental detector design and the hoistrooms that power shaft conveyance. The tour introduced students to the diverse fields that each one will be focusing on this summer, while demonstrating impacts each area has on the entire facility.
Earlier this month, Engelmann was honored as one of more than 500 South Dakota School of Mines and Technology students named to the Dean’s List for the spring semester.
In order to make the dean’s list, students must earn a grade point average of 3.5 or higher for the semester. Full-time students must have earned a minimum of 12 credit hours that term.
(Information in releases from Sanford Lab and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.)