2007 ORAU Annual Report - Oak Ridge Associated Universities

Research Programs a
Win-Win for Participants
and Employers
Filling the workforce pipeline with the next generation of science and technology leaders is critical to the
global competitiveness of the United States. Participants in many of the ORAU- and ORISE-administered
science education programs find themselves moving out of that pipeline and into full-time positions at the
facilities or agencies where they had been placed. The programs work well in that students gain experience
in the national laboratories while their mentors gauge their performance and suitability for employment.
From Intern to Full-Time Employee, Engineer Is Glad He
Never Left ORNL
When Adam Carroll first came to ORNL as a mechanical
engineering intern in the Remote Systems Group of
the Nuclear Science and Technology Division, he never
wanted to leave. As it has worked out, he doesn’t
have to.
After four internships at ORNL and the completion of
his bachelor’s degree in 2007, Carroll was hired as a
research scientist in the same group where he interned
through programs administered by ORISE.
Carroll credits these internships as the main reason
potential employers were interested in hiring him after
college. “When I interviewed with other companies,
before being asked to return to ORNL full time, their
biggest reason for being interested in me was my
experience at ORNL. After explaining to the interviewer
what I really did at ORNL, they told me few people have
Image Information
Adam Carroll found that his undergraduate research
appointments at ORNL positioned him well in the job
market. While many potential employers valued his
experience, he was ultimately able to realize his dream of
becoming a full-time research scientist at ORNL.
even come close to that level of experience until after
college,” said Carroll, a University of Arizona graduate.
The main focus of Carroll’s internships, which involved
research that he continues to do today as a full-time
scientist, was to help design tools and parts for a
highly radioactive environment at ORNL’s Spallation
Neutron Source (SNS), which produces the world’s
most intense beams of pulsed neutrons for research. In
addition to designing tools for the hot cell at SNS, Carroll
also develops conceptual designs for the proposed
Component Test Facility, which aims to extend material
research in ORNL’s fusion energy program.
ORNL mentor E. Craig Bradley said, “Carroll’s internship
experience allowed group members and our customers
to become familiar with him and his capabilities, which
was influential in his hiring. He was able to join our staff
with established working relationships and capabilities,
with little need for additional training or orientation.”
From the Garden to the Lab, Scientist Cultivates
Love of Plants
As a small child, Sara Jawdy remembers helping her
mother select and cultivate the seeds that would grow
to become flowers in her mother’s flower beds at the
family home in Spartansburg, Pennsylvania. Jawdy’s
childhood experience spurred a lifelong interest in
botany, and today Jawdy works as a plant scientist in
the Environmental Sciences Division (ESD) at ORNL.
Jawdy studied plant breeding at university, eventually
earning a bachelor’s degree in horticulture and a
master’s degree in plant biotechnology. During her
studies, she interned at ORNL through the Higher
Education Research Experiences program, which
is managed by ORISE. ORISE also helped fund a
postmaster’s internship with the lab so that she could
continue her work there.
In February 2007, after being associated with the lab
since 2001 with the help of the ORISE programs, Jawdy
was hired in a permanent position as a technical staff
scientist. Jawdy works on multiple research projects
at ESD, mainly involving studies of the genes of the
poplar tree. The goal of the research is to increase
understanding of the molecular mechanisms that trees
use to develop and survive in the forest.
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