David was earning his Master's Degree in Systems Engineering when he completed his internship.

Why did you choose to intern with the Weldon Cooper Center, Center for Economic and Policy Studies?

I heard about CEPS through Dr. Small. I had taken one of his classes in the spring semester before the summer and he informed me of the opportunity to work with CEPS for the summer. I was really drawn to the problem area of clean and sustainable energy and how they are using modern software tools to conduct research in that area.

What projects did you work on during your internship?

While at CEPS I worked on a project for direct carbon air capture technology. We created a framework using energy cost data to determine the financial sustainability of direct carbon air capture devices. I also worked on implementing methods for making the research and software tools we used more reusable, accessible, easier to use, and deploy. 

What have you learned as a result of working at CEPS?

I have learned a lot about clean energy and how we can apply data science to give us insights that lead to clean energy solutions. At the end of the day, data driven insights should drive our decision making when it comes to developing an engineered solution or legislative policy. CEPS taught me how to use data to drive decision making.

Has your experience in the Demographics Group helped you in your academic studies, given you skills you can use in a future career or helped you to think differently about your academic and/or career path? 

 CEPS has helped me greatly in my career. It helped me hone my data science skills and apply them to a real world problem. It has also helped me land a job as it gave me more experience to talk about with employers. Moreover, CEPS has helped instill in  me a data driven mindset that has made me an even better engineer.

What did you enjoy most about your internship?

There was a lot that I enjoyed about working at CEPS. I really enjoyed the people, both the faculty and other interns. Everyone was nice, helpful and the staff were really great mentors. I really loved how the faculty at CEPS empowered us to take ownership for different parts of the project but also continued to guide us. CEPS was a wonderful summer experience.

Would you recommend working at the Center for Economic and Policy Studies to future students?

I would highly recommend CEPS to other students. The ability to work in a multidisciplinary team and apply your knowledge to real world problems is an invaluable experience. Not only did CEPS make for an enriching summer experience but it was a lot of fun as well!