Savannah River Site Program Bridges Transition From Student to Employee

The Technical Student Program allows students like Donavyn Simpkins, left, a senior process engineering major at the University of South Carolina Aiken, to continue gaining work experience at the Savannah River Site while in school. He is learning from managers like Pedro Flores, Defense Waste Processing Facility deputy engineering manager, right.

AIKEN, S.C. - A U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management program at the Savannah River Site (SRS) that simplifies the process of transitioning interns into new hires has grown to record levels for one SRS contractor.

Many science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) students have jump-started their careers at SRS through summer internships with Savannah River Mission Completion (SRMC), the SRS liquid waste contractor. To retain interns who are good matches for the liquid waste program, the Technical Student Program (TSP) was created in 2021.

Since its inception, the program has been successful, averaging about a half dozen or so students who are in it each year and hired by SRMC.

However, this year the program jumped from a handful of students each year to 26 participants in the TSP - nearly half of the 58 interns who were working for SRMC this summer.

The TSP allows select students to stay employed with SRMC after their summer internships end. As students work to finish school, they remain part-time employees of SRMC, reducing the time it takes to become SRMC-qualified engineers when they are hired full time.

The program is mutually beneficial for students and for SRMC, according to Tom Burns, SRMC chief engineer.

"Our Technical Student Program is an excellent avenue that allows us to offer these top-notch students the opportunity to work, learn and get their career off to a great start," Burns said. "We believe this process is an excellent example of SRMC's core value of continuous improvement. Also, our job is to ensure the workforce continues to add the best and brightest employees to meet our mission requirements."

Donavyn Simpkins, a senior process engineering major at the University of South Carolina Aiken and current TSP participant, worked this past summer with the Chemical Process Cell group in the Defense Waste Processing Facility doing various process engineering tasks, such as updating an extensive list of parts to critical spare designation, and design documents for isolating several pressure control and safety valves for a series of systems taken out of service.

As part of TSP, he continues his work on the designs for isolating the valves, as well as completing necessary classes and training.

Simpkins, who will graduate in May, said he is thankful for the opportunity to continue gaining work experience while in school.

"The TSP represents opportunity both in gaining real-world experience through my work and mentorship under the guidance of my co-workers," Simpkins said. "I enjoyed working this summer, and I relished at the opportunity to not only continue working at SRMC but also pave a path that would allow me to have an advantage in continuing work there after college."

-Contributor: Dean Campbell