Trenchless Technology Center Launches Global Pipeline Internship Program

It has been well established that oil, gas, and water pipelines are deteriorating at a rate exceeding public and private owners' ability to renew and/or replace the systems. This condition becomes more critical each day. It is essential that industry, academia, and government cooperate to address the urgent needs of buried assets which are truly global buried treasures beneath our feet.

The Trenchless Technology Center (TTC) at Louisiana Tech University (LA Tech) is an industry/university/government cooperative research center. It has been providing global leadership as a center of excellence for more than 25 years to advance the science and art related to underground infrastructure pipeline networks.

TTC is supported in part by industry leaders who serve on the Industry Advisory Board (lAB). This lAB is dedicated to not only providing financial support but direction for advancing the industry through research, innovation, validation and education

Providing a new breed of underground infrastructure industry leaders is urgent, and immediate action is required. TTC is launching a rapid response to meet this need through its new global internship program for civil engineering (CE) and construction engineering technology (CET) students.

This internship program is structured to maximize students' exposure to the underground pipeline industry during their college education experience. It consists of the following three phases:

Phase 1: Students who have completed their freshman year in CE or CET -- these students will be assigned to work in the field to get maximum exposure to real-world construction projects.

Phase II: Students who have completed their sophomore year -- these students will be assigned to work in the office to get maximum exposure to the administration of construction projects.

Phase III: Students who have completed their junior year -- these students will be assigned back in the field to work under a project manager mentor.
Each phase will consist of a minimum of 10 weeks at 40 hours per week. The minimum pay scale should be:

$15/hour for Phase I
$20/hour for Phase II
$25/hour for Phase III

It should be emphasized that this income is essential for the students to continue to invest in their college education.

Support Provided by TTC

• Promote the program within the College of Engineering and Science to attract excellent student candidates at all levels.
• Review previous experience and background, conduct internal interviews and mentoring sessions.
• Develop a relationship with partnering organizations to understand their needs and objectives.
• Work with the interns and organizations to ensure compatibility.
• Follow up with interns and organizations to ensure that objectives are being met.

Benefits to the Industry Internship Partners

• Organizations begin to identify and evaluate potential full time employees early.
• They can be proactive  in the students  education  and training  to insure  they thoroughly understand the culture of the organization.
• The student evaluation consists of a three-year process with the student assigned to three phases of work related to three separate work environments.

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