The ‘Cool’ Fuel

by Ann Bailey (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Multiple trade groups and ethanol companies offer internships, contests and events to get young people interested in biofuels. The next generation is drawn to ethanol's environmental and economic benefits. -- ... The recent addition of a young millenial to NCERC’s staff at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville has given Caupert (John Caupert, executive director of the National Corn to Ethanol Research Center) a new perspective on the industry, he says. “What I’ve come to realize is the coolness of being involved in an industry that’s creating jobs, that’s good for the environment, that saves you money at the gas pump, and the list goes on and on,” he says.

Besides conducting a marketing campaign about the variety of jobs available in the ethanol industry and the positive environmental benefits of ethanol, Caupert says NCERC has a successful internship program that attracts young people. “[We have] a line of young people, the 20-something crowd, the true millennials, wanting to get involved in what we do at the National Corn to Ethanol Research Center.” Whether the candidate is a student who can work 20 hours a week, someone looking for an internship, a student seeking graduate school research work or a college graduate seeking full-time employment, NCERC has an internship available, Caupert says. The center has between four and 10 spots available all the time.

The NCERC biofuels internships are funded through a $10 million U.S. Department of Labor Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training grant awarded in 2014. NCERC, which has a pilot plant, works with Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and its Lewis and Clark Community College on the Building Illinois Bioeconomy program. “What BIB does, is it takes this four-year university that we sit on at SIUE and our research center here at NCERC and it links up the activities here with four other community colleges across our state,” says Courtney Breckenridge, BIB project manager. “The areas we focused on with the grant were bioprocess and biofuels and water management.”

Because NCERC staff have the training, time, resources and experience needed to make the internship experience successful, he suggests ethanol plants or industry venders contact the center when they are seeking a certain type of employee, rather than offering an internship themselves. “We respect the fact that for venders to the ethanol industry and plants, money is tight and they don’t necessarily have the time and they may or may not have the resources to put the people through hands-on learning they need.” Ethanol plants and industry venders need capable, job-ready, qualified applicants and NCERC can supply that, Caupert says.

In addition to the technical jobs, NCERC recently added intern positions in business-oriented jobs. “Up until about a year ago, our internships were very STEM- oriented (science, technology, engineering and math),” Caupert says. “They were science – so chemistry or biology, engineering, process technology. These are the folks who have a two-year degree in process technology, complete an internship here and go straight out into the industry as a process operator. This year, we expanded it. We have added interns who have had degree fields such as accounting, public relations, you name it.”

Caupert encourages ethanol plants and venders to offer internships, and strongly encourages them to take on interns with backgrounds in business and communications.

NCERC says interns need to learn the skills required for the job, but they also need to master soft skills, such as getting along with co-workers, deductive reasoning and critical thinking. “We spend a lot of time, a lot of research, a lot of effort on soft skills training,” Caupert says.

NCERC also has marketing programs targeted at preschool and K-12 students, Breckenridge says. For example, the center partners with Head Start, doing activities with children and informational sessions about the biofuels industry with their parents.

The NEB (Nebraska Ethanol Board) also sponsors a contest in which high school students submit a two-minute video that features an aspect of the ethanol industry. “It’s anything to do about the ethanol industry; how things are processed, or a plant in particular,” Miller says. “It’s kind of open-ended for them as long as it’s about ethanol.” Students can win a grand prize of $1,000, a second-place prize of $600 or a third-place prize of $400, he says.

Like NCERC, the NEB also offers internships to college students. Interns help promote ethanol at events and go out to middle schools and high schools to talk about ethanol.

“I think what we’ve done is, someone marketing to these young folks that by working in the ethanol industry, it truly is service. Some people choose to serve in the form of wearing a military uniform. This is another form of service. You’re serving your nation in the form of generating fuel that enhances our energy independence, cleans our environment, adds to our fiscal sustainability, lessens our dependence on foreign oil.” READ MORE and MORE / MORE (National Corn to Ethanol Research Center)

The NCERC is the only facility in the world at which corn ethanol, cellulosic ethanol, advanced biofuels, and specialty chemical research is conducted simultaneously. As a public/private partnership, the Center offers maximum flexibility and diversity for private clients while simultaneously advancing public sector research. From petri dish to intermediate and pilot scale, the NCERC is fully equipped with the technology and expertise needed to meet any research or technology validation needs.