Environmental Engineering Process Optimization Intern
Link to full posting and application
Salary $24.47 Hourly
Location Metro Plant - 2400 Childs Rd. St. Paul MN 55106, MN
Position Full-time (40 hours per week) June – August
Application Opening Date 01/07/2025
Application Closing Date 1/21/2025 11:59 PM Central
As an intern for the Environmental Services Process Engineering, Research and Development, Air Quality (PERDAQ) department, you will have the opportunity to accomplish a focused and detailed research project in plant optimization. You will work to improve full-scale system performance and reduce full-scale system cost. Your work experience will include learning about the wastewater treatment process, full-scale sampling, laboratory techniques, and process monitoring with an online instrument.
Your primary focus will be bench-scale dewatering evaluations to optimize chemical dosing. You will also use data from plant instruments to evaluate the impact of solids concentration on incinerator fuel use. Responsibilities will include performing bench scale dewatering tests, measuring solids content on experimental samples, maintaining an online solids analyzer, and analyzing data from the analyzer. This internship will contribute to our work on dewatering chemical optimization for process stability and cost savings at the Metro plant.
Beyond technical work under the guidance of experienced mentors and in collaboration with a range of personnel and background expertise (engineers, scientists, operators, and management), we will provide the intern insight into the opportunities and challenges of research at a public utility, and support for their career/educational path development.
NOTE: Candidate's residence must be in Minnesota or Wisconsin. This position is eligible for a hybrid (both remote and onsite) telework arrangement.
What does a 2025 Internship with the Metropolitan Council entail?
As a 2025 Intern with the Metropolitan Council you will benefit from on-the-job training and mentoring along with participation in team projects, social events and professional development. Interns will receive the opportunity to build professional relationships and enhance their interpersonal skills. Interns will also interact with their coworkers and participate in projects that directly impact business value.
Who is the Metropolitan Council?
The Metropolitan Council is made up of several operating divisions that serve the Twin Cities Metropolitan area in a number of ways.
- Metro Transit provides bus and light rail public transportation for the greater metropolitan area
- Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES) manages wastewater treatment plants and the regional wastewater collection system for the seven-county metropolitan region
- Community Development is responsible for helping the Council shape its regional growth plan and Metro HRA provides affordable housing programs in the region
- Metropolitan Transportation Services (MTS) is responsible for the transportation planning functions as the Twin Cities metropolitan planning organization (MPO) for transportation
- Regional Administration provides support services (Finance, Payroll, HR, etc.) for the Council
What you would do in this job
- Collaborate with staff engineers, scientists, and operations experts to design and accomplish investigations into methods of optimizing a centrifuge dewatering process.
- Perform bench scale dewatering tests, measure solids content on experimental samples, maintain an online solids analyzer, and analyze data from all tests.
- Analyze data generated and available from full-scale operation, identify potential optimization steps and report findings in a summary report and in technical presentations.
What education and experience are required for this job
- Must be enrolled in a degree seeking program (Associate's, Bachelor's, Master’s or PhD) OR be a recent graduate (within 12 months from posting date) from a degree program.
- Candidate's residence must be in Minnesota or Wisconsin during the internship.
- An UNOFFICIAL/OFFICIAL transcript is required to be attached to application.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Declared major undergraduate or graduate student.
- Completion of relevant laboratory courses (ex. Water quality, environmental engineering, chemical engineering, unit operations).
- Completion of relevant engineering coursework that covered mass and energy balance methods.
- Completion of at least two years of college level education.
DEGREE PROGRAM/AREA OF STUDY PREFERRED
Civil/Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Bioproducts/Biosystems Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or related field. The recruitment process:
- We review your minimum qualifications.
- We rate your education and experience.
- We conduct a structured panel interview.
More about why you should join us!
The Metropolitan Council is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action, and veteran-friendly employer. The Council is committed to a workforce that reflects the diversity of the region and strongly encourages persons of color, members of the LGBTQ community, individuals with disabilities, women, and veterans to apply.