Summer Intern Series: Meet Kelly Ramaeker

Written by: Emily Quinn

Summer Intern, Kelly RamaekerThe Bureau of Reclamation offers diverse internship opportunities for students interested in engineering, hydrology, biology, chemistry, geology, and much more. At Reclamation, we want to see college students land a job that will fulfill their interests.

This summer, Kelly Ramaeker from Mountain Grove, Missouri, is completing an internship with Reclamation. She is currently studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wyoming, in Laramie.

When asked what it was like to complete the application process for her internship, Kelly responded, “The hiring process involves loads of paperwork, fingerprinting, trying not to laugh in a straight-faced ID photo, and completing an FBI background check.” She said, “It definitely takes awhile to complete.” However, Kelly believes that the process was worthwhile.

Since beginning her internship, Kelly has been working on an auxiliary piping project in a reverse osmosis desalting plant, and has enjoyed learning about the system’s functionality and operations.

Throughout the course of her internship, Kelly says, “I have not stopped learning. Every project I work on [gives me] the chance to learn new things.” So far, Kelly has been improving her proficiency in using several types of modeling programs, and is learning about finite element analysis and piping calculations.

The people Kelly gets to work alongside make her time here even more enjoyable. She says, “Everyone I’ve worked with has been incredibly helpful and always willing to sit down with me to explain whatever I need.”

As she continues on in school and in her future career endeavors, Kelly is planning to take with her the information she’s learned about modeling and piping calculations. Her time at Reclamation has proven to be both challenging and satisfying.

Because a day in the life of a Reclamation employee is rarely the same from one day to the next, Kelly is able to experience the challenges associated with learning new concepts on a regular basis. She credits the supportive engineers for their patience and dedication toward ensuring that Kelly learns as much as she can while she’s completing her internship.

In the future, Kelly is planning to obtain her Master’s degree in the Sustainable Energy field, and she’s even thinking about returning to Reclamation at some point. Kelly says, “I enjoy the work, and I think it would be fun to work in a place where I have the option to work on anything from auxiliary piping to working with Servo Motors.”

From Kelly’s perspective, the work performed by Reclamation employees is vital to people in the West because it provides water resources to households and industries through a clean energy platform.

Summer Intern, Kelly Ramaeker

Published on July 20, 2017